MLS Power Rankings: Real Salt Lake stays top
- by Ridge Mahoney @ridgemax, Apr 19, 2016
A spectacular game by Giovani dos Santos tore apart Houston and edged the Galaxy in third place, a notch behind FCD. Montreal pushed into the fourth place as the top-ranked Eastern Conference team, and Colorado took over fifth place.
Sporting Kansas City lost both of its games and dropped from second all the way to 11th place.
MLS Week 7:
April 13
Portland 1, FC Dallas 3. Highlights
San Jose 2, NY Red Bulls 0. Highlights
Sporting KC 1, Colorado 2. Highlights
April 15
Houston 1, LA Galaxy 4. Highlights
April 16
Columbus 3, New York City FC 2. Highlights
Portland 3, San Jose 1. Highlights
Seattle 2, Philadelphia 1. Highlights
Montreal 2, Chicago 1. Highlights
D.C. United 0, Toronto FC 1. Highlights
Real Salt Lake 1, Vancouver 0. Highlights
Colorado 2, NY Red Bulls 1. Highlights
April 17
Orlando City SC 2, New England 2. Highlights
FC Dallas 2, Sporting Kansas City 1. Highlights
Only MLS results are used in compiling the Power Rankings. After a team current rank is listed its record (W-L-T) and ranking last week.
1. REAL SALT LAKE (4-0-2), 1. The simmering chemistry between Juan Manual Martinez and Joao Plata is singeing foes nearly every week. Martinez scored the only goal against Vancouver and Plata’s assist pushed him atop the combined stats with four goals and four assists. Not so visible but just as vital is a toughened defense: after conceding five goals in its first three games, RSL has allowed just one in last three.
2. FC DALLAS (5-1-2), 3. An impressive double of road win against the defending champion and efficient comeback defeat of Sporting Kansas City -- both games without Mauro Diaz -- featured goals in each game by Michael Barrios, whose game is really flying after a sluggish start to the season. Mauro Rosales came off the bench to curl a wonderful free kick for the winning goal against SKC.
3. LA GALAXY (3-1-2), 5. The Gio Show has played to mostly tepid reviews but it stunned the house in Houston. He scored twice and played a role in the other two goals as Steven Gerrard roamed the midfield to shake free of pressure and deliver precise passes. Baggio Husidic bagged the winner and a goal by Gyasi Zardes rounded off the rout four minutes into the second half.
4. MONTREAL (4-2-0), 6. An insidious back-heeled goal by Didier Drogba in his second appearance of the season set the stage for a spectacular winner drilled from the edge of the penalty area into the top far corner by Ignacio Piatti in stoppage time. A flying save by keeper Evan Bush in the 76th minute stunned the Toyota Park crowd and kept the score at 1-1.
5. COLORADO (4-2-1), 9. Are you ready to believe the Rapids are for real? They are getting big games from several sources. Three years leading the U.S. to victory in the Snow Clasico, Jermaine Jones stormed through the white stuff again to score the first goal and slide a through ball for sub Dominique Badji to bang home the second goal. Against SKC, Shkelzen Gashi cleared a ball off the goal line and then scored the winner by heading in a rebound for his first MLS goal.
6. TORONTO FC (2-2-2) 8. Sebastian Giovinco scored in the first minute at RFK and TFC battened down the hatches to register a second victory that snapped a four-game winless streak. Clint Irwin preserved the lead with three saves and several vital catches and punches in traffic.
7. ORLANDO CITY SC (2-1-3), 4. One of the crazier games in the Lions’ MLS history left both teams aggrieved at the officiating. Kaka netted the earliest penalty-kick in league history after Julio Baptista drew a foul 14 seconds after kickoff, Kevin Molino scored an apparent winner after apparently committing a handball, and a terrible handball call against sub Servando Carrasco give New England a dubious PK equalizer in stoppage time. The ball hit Carrasco in the collarbone as he stood just outside the penalty area but to the spot pointed referee Baldomero Toledo.
8. PHILADELPHIA (3-3-0), 7. A game of milestones didn’t produce any points. Sebastien Le Toux marked his first game as Union captain by scoring a goal, Roland Alberg was sent off for the first time in MLS, and Joshua Yaro, the No. 2 overall SuperDraft selection, started in his pro debut. Another stunning save by Andre Blake, who is making a habit of such displays, wasn’t enough to avert defeat.
9. PORTLAND (2-3-2), 11. The Timbers atoned for a limpid home loss to FCD by taking out their frustration on the Quakes. Jack McInerney struck first when he stole the ball on a slide tackle and drove a low shot inside the far post, and Fanendo Adi danced around a defender to score the first of his two goals. Eleven times in his MLS career Adi has scored twice in a game.
10. SAN JOSE (3-2-2), 10. A strong showing that downed the Red Bulls left the Quakes drained in Portland. Fatai Alashe scored with a deflected shot and Chris Wondolowski nailed home a perfect cross from Shea Salinas to dispatch NYRB, but they wilted in the second half at Providence Park. Sub Matias Perez Garcia, who had assisted on Alashe’s goal, sparked a revival that produced a Wondo PK in stoppage time and a goalmouth flurry that froze up a few hearts before a third goal arose from a last-minute counterattack.
11. SPORTING KC (4-3-0), 2. A second home loss equaled the total number of defeats SKC incurred all of last season, and Colorado scored the winner just five minutes after Dom Dwyer had equalized. At Dallas, Lawrence Olum headed home a Benny Feilhaber corner kick, but SKC conceded a tying goal 13 minutes later and gave away the free kick that Rosales stroked over its defensive wall and into the net. After shooting out of the gate with three straight wins, SKC has lost three of its last four games.
12. CHICAGO (1-2-3), 12. The Fire wasted a brilliant goal by Kennedy Igboananike that provided a 1-0 lead though only a fabulous save robbed rookie Alex Morrell of a goal in his second appearance off the bench. In four games without David Accam (strained hamstring), the Fire has scored just two goals.
13. NEW ENGLAND (1-1-5), 15. None of New England’s five ties have been anything like this one. Kudos to the Revs for bouncing back from twice from a penalty kick resulting from the opening kickoff and a second goal set up by a rather obvious handball. Teal Bunbury scored the first equalizer and Lee Nguyen steadied his nerves to equalize from the penalty spot in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
14. D.C. UNITED (1-3-3), 13. Shocked by a TFC goal in the first minute at RFK, United controlled 56.3 percent of possession and generated 18 shots but put only three on target. Luciano Acosta came on as a sub midway through the second half yet completed only one of five passes into the attacking third and misfired with his only shot. The defeat dropped D.C.’s home record to 1-2-1 and twice at RFK it has been shut out.
15. VANCOUVER (2-4-1), 14. Blanked for the third straight game, the ‘Caps are running out of options. Octavio Rivero and Nicolas Mezquida were paired up top and the attack generated five shots on goal without reward. Six goals in seven games is not what is expected.
16. SEATTLE (2-3-1), 17. The first MLS goal by Jordan Morris rated top billing yet Man of the Match Andreas Ivanschitz set up both goals and nearly scored himself with a fierce rocket repelled by an excellent save. Still the defense was breached a few times and it labored to shackle C.J. Sapong.
17. COLUMBUS (1-3-2), 19. The red card mistakenly issued to Michael Parkhurst for denying a goalscoring opportunity has been rescinded and defender Tyson Wahl will instead serve a suspension stemming from Crew SC’s first win. Justin Meram served passes from which Ethan Finlay and Kei Kamara scored, and Meram himself netted the decisive third goal. It’s all well and good to exploit a porous opponent at home; can it do the same this weekend against Houston?
18. HOUSTON (1-3-2), 16. The Dynamo supplied proof that short corners can work; a clever move freed Alex to launch a far-post cross headed home by David Horst in the first minute. Three minutes later started an epidemic of defensive glitches: Horst and Raul Rodriguez got tangled up going for the same ball and LA equalized; keeper Joe Willis’ weak swat of a cross dropped perfectly for an opponent to slam into the net; two defenders were burned by dos Santos on a third goal, etc.
19. NEW YORK CITY FC (1-2-3), 19. After David Villa, this team doesn’t have much it can rely on. He scored both goals, including a PK stemming from Parkhurst’s foul that was actually committed by Wahl. Speaking of mistaken identity, a midfielder alleged to be Frank Lampard was excused from team training last week.
20. NY RED BULLS (1-6-0), 20. After several lineup changes failed to earn a result in San Jose despite holding 58.3 percent possession, the Red Bulls sloshed around in the Colorado slush and snapped a scoring drought of 337 minutes when Ronald Zubar headed home a Sacha Kljestan cross on the hour. Still, they lost again. Now what?
