MLS Power Rankings: Red Bulls climb on top
- by Ridge Mahoney @ridgemax, Apr 13, 2015
In their four games this season, the Red Bulls have seldom been dominant but they have yet to lose, and by rallying for a 2-2 tie Saturday at RFK they took over first place in the Power Rankings.
Real Salt Lake also remained unbeaten by tying, 0-0, at Sporting Park to move ahead of D.C. United. The Whitecaps struggled through a rough double dip -- tying Columbus, 2-2, at home and losing, 1-0, at San Jose -- and dropped from first place to fourth.
MLS Week 6: ResultsSunday, April 12
Portland 0 Orlando City 2. Highlights
LA Galaxy 1 Seattle 0. Highlights
Saturday, April 11
D.C. United 2 NY Red Bulls 2. Highlights
Sporting KC 0 Real Salt Lake 0. Highlights
Houston 3 Montreal 0. Highlights
San Jose 1 Vancouver 0. Highlights
New England 0 Columbus 0. Highlights
Philadelphia 2 New York City 1. Highlights
Friday, April 10
FC Dallas 0 Colorado 4. Highlights
Wednesday, April 8
Vancouver 2 Columbus 2. Highlights
Only league results are evaluated in compiling the Power Rankings. The team’s rank is followed by its record in parentheses and its record the previous week.
1. NY RED BULLS (2-0-2), 2. The Red Bulls shook off the rust of another bye week and left RFK Stadium with a 2-2 tie. Damien Perrinelle got free on a corner kick to cut a 2-0 deficit in half with his first MLS goal and in the final minute Sacha Kljestan bounced a free kick on frame that produced a rebound for Lloyd Sam to convert. Head coach Jesse Marsch has imbued some tough-hombre grittiness into his team, which is at home for the next three games.
2. REAL SALT LAKE (2-0-3), 5. Following a 0-0 tie at Sporting Kansas City RSL is 1-0-2 on the road. Though it has scored just one goal away from Rio Tinto Stadium, it hasn’t conceded any. A tight defensive effort limited SKC to just one shot on goal. The two home games, on the other hand, have been wide-open affairs featuring nine goals. Is that what’s in store for the visit of Vancouver on Saturday?
3. D.C. UNITED (3-1-1), 3. Here’s your quintessential tie that felt like a loss; that’s what happens when you concede less than a minute after doubling your lead and can’t hold out until the final whistle. Perry Kitchen scored the first of his two goals from a corner kick and by that route New York cut the deficit in half before equalizing in the final minute when Bill Hamid bobbled a free kick. Set plays giveth and they taketh away, in this case two points.
4. VANCOUVER (4-2-1), 1. A blip might have been expected after outclassing the Galaxy a week ago, but garnering just one point from a home game with Columbus (2-2) and a road trip to San Jose (0-1) four days apart didn’t meet expectations. Worse, the ‘Caps were taken apart by Kei Kamara, and twice needed to rally. Against the Quakes they were leg-weary and cautious as their five shots (none on target) would attest. Tough road date with RSL is next.
5. SPORTING KC (2-1-3), 7. SKC held RSL without a shot on goal but itself managed just one attempt on frame in a 0-0 tie that was its third shutout in the last four games. Graham Zusi missed his second straight game with a hamstring injury yet there were a few good chances. Krisztian Nemeth hit the post and Jacob Peterson’s followup just missed. An offside call nullified a Dom Dwyer shot.
6. FC DALLAS (3-2-1), 5. Getting crushed and embarrassed, 4-0, by previously winless and goalless Colorado should take care of any complacency issues for a few months at least. Yet the loss followed a 3-1 defeat at Portland and that result should have sent a message. Hard to predict what happens next. FCD gets a chance to atone at home Saturday as the “TFC Across America” tour visits Texas.
7. LA GALAXY (2-2-2), 8. Robbie Keane didn’t suit up -- Clint Dempsey also sat out -- and the Galaxy needed some spectacular moments from Jaime Penedo to snap a four-game winless streak and down the Sounders, 1-0. Penedo’s flying save of a Lamar Neagle header might have been best of show and there were 10 in all. Alan Gordon got the start in place of Keane and celebrated a double-century of appearances by scoring his 46th MLS goal.
8. SEATTLE (2-2-1), 7. After scoring in each of his first three games, Obafemi Martins as well as his teammates were Penedoed at StubHub Center. Neagle had no trouble finding space to shoot but though five of his six attempts were on target none hit the net. Dempsey sat out with a groin injury not disclosed until a few hours before the game. The Sounders are in the midst of playing five of six on the road and head to Colorado, which has allowed just two goals in its five games.
9. SAN JOSE (3-3-0), 11. Another player stepped into the spotlight to earn the Quakes a gritty victory and pull them back to the .500 mark. Sanna Nyassi has already started as many games -- six -- as he did all of last year for the Fire and after two shots were blocked during a bang-bang sequence, he put his foot through the ball in the 75th minute to score. Vancouver managed just four shots, none on goal, in San Jose’s first shutout of 2015.
10. ORLANDO CITY (2-2-2), 13. Is this team destined to be the league enigma of 2015? Already it has lost twice in stoppage time at home yet it won a second road game, 2-0, at Portland. Cyle Larin’s chested goal of a line-drive Kevin Molino cross was as inventive as it was effective. With Brek Shea pushing up the left side at every opportunity, Kaka found lots of spaces inside. Columbus away is up next.
11. NEW ENGLAND (2-2-2), 10. The return of Jermaine Jones, who came on halftime for his first appearance since the MLS Cup final, couldn’t lift the Revs higher than a 0-0 tie with Columbus, which limited the home team to just five attempts at goal. Strong winds hampered the Revs’ attack and the absence of Chris Tierney, sidelined as a precaution after taking a knock against Colorado, limited their wide play on the left side. They connected with just 19 percent of their crosses.
12. HOUSTON (2-2-2), 14. Rob Lovejoy celebrated a goal and assist as the Dynamo took advantage of Montreal’s midweek fatigue in a 3-0 victory. His appearance in the 64th minute opened up a game that had been stuck at 1-0 since the 15th minute, when Giles Barnes ran onto a great free kick from Brad Davis and headed it home. In his fourth pro game Lovejoy sent over a cross that Ricardo Clark touched past two opponents into the net, and then floated a shot into the top corner from just beyond the penalty arc.
13. COLUMBUS (1-2-2), 15. Road games 3,000 miles and three days apart produced two points that could have long-term benefits for Crew SC’s camaraderie. Missing three regulars who were being rested, plus suspended playmaker Federico Higuain, at Vancouver, Berhalter’s Brigade parlayed two Kamara bursts into a 2-2 tie, then followed up by outshooting the Revs, 8-5, and controlling 57.5-percent of possession in a 0-0 deadlock at Gillette Stadium.
14. NEW YORK CITY FC (1-2-2), 9. Another fine goal for David Villa sparked a revival from a listless first-half performance but NYCFC couldn’t finish off the game and conceded a 92nd-minute goal by which Philly prevailed, 2-1. NYCFC controlled 64 percent of possession and Villa took five of his team’s shots but despite the improved second half there’s been a lack of cohesion. A rematch with Philly Thursday offers a chance to made amends.
15. PORTLAND (1-2-3), 12. The Timbers aren’t playing badly but they aren’t doing enough to win. Ex-Timbers keeper Donovan Ricketts thwarted them several times in a 2-0 Orlando City victory as Portland once again failed to prevail at home, where it is 1-2-1. Diego Chara’s encroachment nullified Adam Kawarasey’s excellent penalty-kick save and snuffed any chance of a comeback. Maybe a visit to Yankee Stadium can shake PTFC out of its funk.
16. CHICAGO (2-0-3), 16. Unless decimated by injuries no teams wants a bye week after two straight victories but that’s what the schedule dealt the Fire, and the team will also sit out this weekend as a favor to Montreal, which plays the CCL finals against Club America next week. The Impact game has been moved to September and thus the Fire will have been off 20 days when it next plays NYCFC April 24 at Toyota Park.
17. TORONTO (1-3-0), 17. Less than a month remains in TFC’s long wait to get back into BMO Field; there are three more league games and a Canadian Championship showdown with Montreal prior to the grand re-opening May 10. The players will visit BMO Thursday to get a sneak peek at the facility still being renovated before traveling to Dallas.
18. COLORADO (1-3-1), 19. After a long night, dawn broke like thunder for the Rapids. They shocked FCD with a goal in the second minute, struck again shortly before halftime, and rolled to a 4-0 victory that ended their 18-game winless streak and long goalless drought (602 minutes). Four different players scored as Colorado posted its fourth shutout in five games.
19. PHILADELPHIA (1-3-2), 20. Take your choice for the most memorable moment of Philly’s first win of the season: Eric Ayuk's outrageous series of back-flips that followed what turned out to be a Zach Pfeffer goal; Vincent Nogueira’s determined run to stab home the winner in stoppage time; hometown hero John McCarthy’s emotional post-game interview. It’s just one game but for a few hours all was right at PPL Park.
2O. MONTREAL (0-2-2), 18. It’s cruel to drop Montreal into the cellar just a few days after its historic achievement in Costa Rica, but for these rankings league results are all that matters and a 3-0 loss in Houston is what it is. The Impact has two more weekends off from league play thanks to schedule juggling and thus will have maximum opportunity to prepare for CCL games April 22 and 29 against Club America.
