MLS Weekly Recap

FRIDAY

Real Salt Lake 5 Colorado 1

RSL made it a sweep of the Rapids this year overcoming an early 1-0 deficit to rout their rivals 5-1. Joao Plata scored his 13th goal to tie the match, and Javier Morales, Chris Schuler and Carlos Salcedo all added goals of their own. Designated Player Sebastián Jaime made his first start for RSL logging 70 minutes up top. Jaime, who is from Argentina, spent the last few years playing in Chile for Unión Española for whom he scored 44 times in 123 games.

SATURDAY

Portland 3 Vancouver 0

Diego Valeri scored a brilliant goal early and Fanendo Adi scored twice in a 5-minute stretch during the second half as Portland shut out Vancouver 3-0. Vancouver entered play holding a one point advantage for the 5th and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, but Portland was the better team in Oregon on Saturday and with the win they vault over the Caps and into 5th place. Adi now has 8 goals in this, his first MLS season. Donovan Ricketts made 4 saves to earn his 4th shutout.


Philadelphia 0 Houston 0

Raïs Mbolhi didn't face a single shot on target as he earned his first shutout in MLS, but Philadelphia's offense couldn't muster a goal as the Union were forced to settle for the one point. Houston's Tyler Deric, making just his 7th start in 6 seasons earned the second shutout of his career with 3 saves.

New York 4 Seattle 1

Seattle opted to rest Clint Dempsey, DeAndre Yedlin and Obafemi Martins in this battle of East meets West and the Red Bulls capitalized behind a hat trick from league leading scorer Bradley Wright-Phillips. The hat trick was BWP's third of the season giving him 24 goals and moving him within striking distance of the league's all-time single-season scoring record. Dempsey came on as a second half substitute and quickly brought the Sounders back within one before Tim Cahill put the game away with just his second goal of the season.

Columbus 1 New England 0

Federico Higuain dealt the Revs their first loss in the Jermaine Jones era as the Crew picked up a huge three points in their quest to hang onto the 5th and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Higuain's game winner was his 10th goal of the season giving him back-to-back seasons with double digit goals for Columbus. Steve Clark tied a career high with 6 saves as he earned his 7th shutout of the year.

Montreal 2 San Jose 0

Montreal was officially eliminated from the postseason despite dealing San Jose a 2-0 loss north of the border. Jack McInerney scored the go-ahead goal in the 81st minute, his first goal since late June, and Dilly Duka added an insurance goal to propel the Champions League cinderellas to a rare league win.

Chicago 3 DC United 3

In a battle between highly touted goalkeepers Bill Hamid and Sean Johnson, the Chicago crowd was treated to an unexpected shootout. Quincy Amarikwa and a Jeff Larentowicz penalty got the Fire up 2-0 early, but a pair of goals by Luis Silva and another by Bobby Boswell shot DC United out in front. But Amarikwa picked out Matt Watson for an equalizer late in the second half giving the Fire a record-tying 16th draw of the season. Johnson and Hamid each made three saves.

Los Angeles 2 Dallas 1

The Galaxy are suddenly even with the Sounders on points thanks to Alan Gordon's heroics on Saturday night. Gordon came off the Galaxy bench scoring as a substitute for the third time in a month and sent the Galaxy to a 2-1 win over FC Dallas. Blas Perez had given Dallas a 1-0 early in the second half, but Robbie Keane scored the tying goal and set up Gordon for the game winner. Gyasi Zardes had an assist.

 SUNDAY

Toronto 3 Chivas USA 0

Chivas USA's woes continued as they fell to Toronto FC 3-0 and extended their losing streak to six. Chivas USA hasn't won since they rattled off four straight wins in late June and early July, a span of 11 matches. During that stretch they've been outscored 27-3 and have been shutout 9 times. Jackson, Luke Moore and Gilberto scored the goals for Toronto while Michael Bradley added an assist. Joe Bendik earned his 4th shutout of the season.