The eighth weekend of the 2025 Major League Soccer season is officially over, with the Columbus Crew beating St. Louis City SC, 2-1, during Apple TV's "Sunday Night Soccer" to cap things off. Here are the big takeaways from a topsy-turvy weekend in the league: Vancouver cleared every hurdle Vancouver had a busy week. On Monday, it flew 2500 miles down to Mexico City, missing a full day of training and recovery. On Wednesday, it faced Pumas UNAM — one of Mexico’s most fearsome outfits — in a must-win Concacaf Champions Cup match. The match was played in front of a hostile away crowd at an altitude of 7300 feet, but Vancouver got the job done, eliminating Pumas from the tournament and sealing its own spot in the semifinals. On Thursday, it turned around and flew 2500 miles straight back to Vancouver. On Friday, it finally sat down to think about Austin FC, its weekend MLS opponent, and less than 24 hours later, it lined up to kick off against Austin’s league-leading defensive line. Vancouver was, naturally, expected to struggle. That didn’t happen. Forget the travel, forget the altitude, forget the fixture congestion, forget the lack of training, forget Austin’s game-strangling defense: this Vancouver side is irrepressible, indefatigable and utterly unbothered. It won 5-1 at home on the back of four goals from USMNT striker Brian White. The rest of the league should be shaking in its cleats: Vancouver is the best side in MLS, one that turns every game it plays into appointment television.