Former Loons manager Adrian Heath reflected on the Danladi selection during an interview with the Pioneer Press in December. At the time, Ebobisse, who had left Duke early, had briefly trained with MNUFC during its final season in the North American Soccer League in 2016. The Loons were encouraged by what they saw.

While plenty of newcomers lit up opening day, here are the four who shined the brightest. Emmanuel Latte Lath, Atlanta United FC: Pre-match hopes were precipitously high for Atlanta's new Ivorian center forward;

And although Saturday's bench appearance was the consequence of squad rotation after Giroud played 66 minutes at Colorado in LAFC's Concacaf Champions Cup opener, perhaps Twellman also sensed Giroud's leash could be growing shorter if Ebobisse keeps producing for his new club.

“I am not the coach who's going to sit here and say possession is great if we don't score any goals; the point of possessing the ball is to be dangerous and to create chances and to score,” Cherundolo said, with LAFC having 64% possession.

Left wingback Joseph Rosales exited at halftime, a surprise because he was one of the Loons’ best players in 2024 and there were no glaring issues in the first 45 minutes. It remained unclear as to why he came out until Apple TV commentator Taylor Twellman said Anthony Markanich subbed in for tactical reasons.

MLS is officially back as the first batch of games on matchday one is now behind us! Here is what went down across all the grounds on a thoroughly entertaining opening night. What happened Rich