da realbet： The 22-year-old forward put his team on his back against the Vancouver Whitecaps while sending a message to the national team

da wazamba： While American soccer's focus was fixated on an American, born English-raised superstar setting the world on fire in France, there were games played stateside on Wednesday night. And the biggest statement in those games was made by a U.S. men's national team forward, Jesus Ferreira, who showed that he still has plenty to say in a striker race that has been dramatically changed by Folarin Balogun's arrival.

Ferreira wasn't the only superstar on the scoresheet on Wednesday, the first midweek session of the MLS season. Several contenders ran absolutely rampant, with their superstars leading the way. That includes Thiago Almada, Atlanta United's World Cup winner, who continues to find new ways to dazzle as his time in MLS ticks down.

Still, it wasn't all good news, as several struggling teams continued to struggle. A midweek match wasn't a cure for their ailments, and now all involved face a short turnaround before another busy rivalry weekend.

GOAL takes a look at the big winners and losers from Wednesday night's MLS action:

Getty ImagesWINNER: Jesus Ferreira

FC Dallas star Ferreira has been scoring all season, but his brace on Wednesday night felt like it came at an important time. As American soccer raves over their newest recruit, Balogun, Ferreira is having a hell of a season, and drawing European interest himself. Napoli are the latest team to be linked to the 22-year-old, and a move to the Serie A champions would be nothing to sneeze it.

Ferreira was at his best on Wednesday in a 2-1 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps, scoring both of his team's goals to lead the charge. He now has eight goals on the young season, tied for second-best in MLS, and he's showing no signs of slowing down.

Like Ricardo Pepi, Josh Sargent, Daryl Dike and the rest of the USMNT strikers, Ferreira now has a point to prove. Is Balogun's arrival a rising tide that will raise all of the USMNT forward boats? We'll find out, but Ferreira was the first to offer a hell of a response to the upcoming competition.

AdvertisementLOSER: Chicago Fire

New-ish coach, same Chicago Fire. After a brief high point over the weekend thanks to a win over 10-man St. Louis City SC in Frank Klopas' first game back in charge, the Fire did what they've been doing all season under Ezra Hendrickson on Wednesday night: Squandering leads.

Playing in Charlotte, the Fire took the lead in the 29th minute thanks to Kacper Przybylko, but it was all downhill from there. Charlotte FC youngster Brandon Cambridge proved to be their undoing, scoring the game-tying and game-winning goal just weeks after being voted Player of the Matchday in MLS Next Pro. It was a superstar performance from a very new face, and one he'll remember for a long, long time.

The Fire, though, had another night to forget. This team simply can't protect leads, and that has been, and will continue to be, their undoing.

GettyWINNER: Atlanta United

When Atlanta United are in this kind of mood, they're downright frightening. The Colorado Rapids were the unfortunate team on the end of the Atlanta bulldozer, falling 4-0 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The wild part is that the Rapids were very much in it, at least until the 80th minute.

Luiz Araujo scored at that point, making it 2-0 with a goal that, Atlanta will hope, could do wonders for his confidence. Then came one from Tyler Wolff in the 87th and a Giorgios Giakoumakis exclamation point in the 90th.

The pick of the bunch, though, was the first, which came from none other than Thiago Almada. How could you not put a man on the post on an Almada free-kick? The Rapids found out the hard way what happens when you don't, as the World Cup winner scored yet another stunner.

Atlanta have had some rough moments, but make no mistake: when this team is on, they are so damn good. Wednesday night provided more evidence of just what this team can be.

Getty ImagesLOSER: LA Galaxy

They simply can't stop the bleeding. It isn't getting any better for the LA Galaxy, who continue to find ways to lose games. The latest defeat came in Columbus, as the Crew sealed a 2-0 win to end their own four-game winless slide.

The Galaxy seemed to have turned something of a corner, tasting victory in two of their last four after failing to win any of their first seven. But, even after a win over the San Jose Earthquakes over the weekend, a rotated Galaxy team came crashing down to earth.

Even with the Galaxy chasing, Greg Vanney was still unwilling to put Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez on the field with Dejan Jovelic, instead using the former to replace the latter in the second half. The Galaxy cannot get two of their three best players on the field together, and that will remain a problem going forward.

Still, despite being a shutout, this one was down to the defense. Efrain Alvarez failed to track back in any meaningful way before Jalen Neal got absolutely destroyed by Lucas Zelarayan for the opener. And, on the second, Lucas Calegari was totally posterized by Malte Amundsen for a close-range header.

There's no side of the ball where the Galaxy are clicking right now, and that's why they are where they are: at the very bottom.