Although FC Dallas dropped points for the first time this season, their scoreless draw against Seattle still saw them stay undefeated, and remain the top team in MLS with 10 points. At the other end of the spectrum, Chicago Fire entered the weekend without a single point, but took all three from their match against Philadelphia Union. The New England Revolution also notched their first victory of the season, taking down San Jose 2-1.
Let’s get to the games:
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New England Revolution | 2 | (1-1-2) |
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San Jose Earthquakes | 1 | (2-0-2) |
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Kelyn Rowe’s first half brace was enough to see the Revs through to their first win of the season. When Lee Nguyen pulled the ball back to Rowe at the edge of the area in the 21st minute, Rowe fired a strong right-footer past the keeper for his first. Then, in the 37th, the ball fell to Rowe again, off a curled free kick and an attempted header, and he tapped in his second from close range. A controversial decision gave the Earthquakes a penalty in the 61st minute, and Chris Wondolowski converted to turn up the heat on the home side. But the Revs defense held strong, and earned them their first victory.
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Montreal Impact | 2 | (0-2-1) |
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Orlando City SC | 2 | (1-2-1) |
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Although the game was a draw, it was a tale of two halves in Montreal, with a flurry of four first half goals, followed by staunch defending in the second. When Orlando’s Sean St Ledger handled the ball in the area in the 13th minute, the referee had no choice but to award a penalty, and Ignacio Piatti converted to make it 1-0. When Jack McInerney scored from inside the box in the 27th minute with a fantastic lobbed shot over the keeper, things were looking good for the home team, who had failed to score a goal until this weekend. But just two minutes later, Pedro Ribeiro scored off a great run into the box, and fantastic assist from Kaka. And Kaka wasn’t finished. In the next minute, Kaka rounded out the three minute, five goal frenzy, scoring off an assist from Ribeiro this time as the two charged into the box on a breakaway.
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D.C. United | 1 | (2-0-1) |
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Los Angeles Galaxy | 0 | (1-2-1) |
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D.C. United thrilled their home fans with a last-gasp victory over defending champs L.A. In the 93rd minute, Nick DeLeon took the ball down the right hand side, flicked it over the defender brilliantly, then found Chris Pontius with his cross; Pontius did very well to redirect the ball toward the back post, where it found both the net, and the victory for DC.
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New York City FC | 0 | (1-2-1) |
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Sporting Kansas City | 1 | (1-2-1) |
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NYCFC started their season strong, but it was the team that moved over to the Western Conference to clear out space for them in the East, Sporting KC, that handed the debutantes their first defeat of the season, in front of the home crowd at Yankee Stadium. Ike Opara scored from a strong header in the 12th minute, and the visitors’ defense held throughout the rest of the match–despite NYCFC owning 63% of possession–to frustrate the home fans.
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Columbus Crew | 1 | (1-0-2) |
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New York Red Bulls | 2 | (2-1-0) |
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Bradley Wright-Phillips and the NY Red Bulls won their second straight game, defeating the Crew 1-2 in Columbus on Saturday. After a scoreless first half, Emanuel Pogatez gave away a penalty in the 48th minute when he went to ground clumsily, and Wright-Phillips converted to give his team the advantage. Tony Tchani brought the home side level on 58 minutes when, following a corner, the ball fell to him unmarked at the far post and he tapped it in. The Red Bulls found the winning goal in the 67th minute; off a turnover, Wright-Phillips turned provider, feedingMike Grella on the break, who took a gamble, chipping the ball from outside the box, and catching the keeper off his line.
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Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 2 | (3-0-1) |
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Portland Timbers | 1 | (0-3-1) |
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With their newfound tendency to throw away points near the end of games, the Portland Timbers are beginning to earn the sadly unenviable title of ‘USMNT of MLS.’ Although Octavio Rivero failed to score for the Whitecaps for the first time this season, the home side won 2-1 on the back of goals from Nicolás Mezquida and Robert Earnshaw. Mezquinda scored in the 15th minute off of a fantastic direct free kick, beating Kwarasey at the near post, down at the bottom corner. PTFC pulled one back when Francesco Adi found the ball fall to him at the six yard box in the 82nd minute, and converted. The timbers dominated the next ten minutes, and Adi nearly netted another in the 89th minute, but the defense then failed them; the backline fell asleep, played Robert Earnshaw onside by a whisker, and the through-ball found the new Vancouver striker clear through on goal for the winner in the 91st minute.
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Houston Dynamo | 0 | (1-2-1) |
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Colorado Rapids | 0 | (0-3-0) |
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The Dynamo and the Rapids played out to a 0-0 draw in a match where chances were at a premium. Colorado was looking to score on the break, and their defense did the job as they kept a clean sheet. However, the midfield did their part too, earning a nearly equal share of possession at 49%. Still, they couldn’t break successfully, and the match ended in a stalemate, with a point probably a fair result for each side.
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FC Dallas | 0 | (3-1-0) |
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Seattle Sounders FC | 0 | (1-1-1) |
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Without Blas Perez, away with the Panama national team, and with perennial Western contender Seattle in town, FC Dallas faced a tough challenge in their quest to make it 4/4 victories this season. That challenge went from difficult to all but impossible when FC Dallas went down to 10 men in just the 17th minute. Although the referee did well to first play the advantage after the foul, he likewise rightly came back to midfield to send Kellyn Acosta off for his high, studs up challenge. FC Dallas didn’t lie down, however, creating a few chances–and nearly scoring in the 28th minute, hitting the bar with a free kick–but it was their defense that won the day, earning a point with just ten men for the vast majority of the match.
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Chicago Fire | 1 | (1-0-3) |
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Philadelphia Union | 0 | (0-2-2) |
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Chicago Fire earned their first win, and even their very first point, of this season in front of their home fans against Philadelphia Union on Sunday. In the 37th minute, Harrison Shipp sent a free kick into the area, and Adailton got on the end of it, heading it home to give Chicago the lead. In the second half, Philadelphia introduced former Brazilian International striker Fred in hopes of leveling the match. The decision would backfire, however, as Fred spent only five minutes on the field; although the Union were on the front foot following Fred’s introduction, the Brazilian got himself sent off in the 72nd minute for throwing a punch, helping to seal the Fire’s first win.
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Real Salt Lake | 2 | (1-2-0) |
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Toronto FC | 1 | (1-0-2) |
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Real Salt Lake earned all three points this weekend in a thriller in Utah. Playing without their No.1 goalkeeper Nick Rimando, on USMNT duty, RSL secured the lead on 38 minutes off a Luke Mulholland header, who was found unmarked at the back post by Morales. Sebastian Giovinco made life difficult for Rimando’s replacement, Jeff Attinella, but the keeper proved himself up to the task, denying Toronto’s midfielder again and again throughout the second half. When the RSL keeper was finally beaten in the 88th minute by Toronto substitute Jackson’s close range shot, it looked as though Toronto had secured a draw. But just a minute later, Morales once again found the head of one of his teammates with a curled ball into the area, and Jordan Allen’s header secured all 3 points for the home side.