MLS Power Rankings: New York teams move up
- by Ridge Mahoney @ridgemax, Aug 2, 2016
FC Dallas stayed on top by beating Vancouver and the Galaxy’s tie in Seattle took it into second place. Frank Lampard’s first hat trick in MLS and the first in NYCFC team history took it into third place and sent down Colorado several notches.
Week 21 Results
July 30
New York City FC 5, Colorado 1. Highlights
July 31
FC Dallas 2, Vancouver 0. Highlights
Seattle 1, LA Galaxy 1. Highlights
D.C. United 1, Montreal 1. Highlights
Sporting KC 1, Portland 0. Highlights
Philadelphia 1, Real Salt Lake 2. Highlights
Toronto FC 3, Columbus 0. Highlights
Chicago 2, NY Red Bulls 2. Highlights
Houston 1, San Jose 1. Highlights.
Orlando City SC 3, New England 1, Highlights
Only MLS results are factored into the Power Rankings, which include a team’s record and its rank last week.
1. FC DALLAS (13-6-5), 1. Many fans and pundits were apparently more frazzled about the Fabian Castillo Fiasco than his teammates; on a blisteringly hot day they parlayed goals by Kellyn Acosta and Max Urruti – with yet another superb finish – into a 2-0 victory.
2. LA GALAXY (9-3-9), 3. A pair of goal line clearances by Jelle Van Damme held off the Sounders sufficiently for Sebastian Lleget’s first goal of the season to mean something. The tie stopped a four-game winning streak yet isn’t this team starting look something like those in past championship seasons?
3. NEW YORK CITY FC (10-7-6), 7. The Frank Lampard Era officially began at Yankee Stadium. He landed all seven of his shots on target and bagged the first hat trick in team history with David Villa suspended. Tony Taylor and Steven Mendoza also scored as NYCFC ran its record in the last 10 games to 6-3-1.
4. NY RED BULLS (9-9-5), 5. The other New York team is unbeaten in its last five games and with a Connor Lade goal in the 90th minute avoided defeat in Chicago. Bradley Wright-Phillips scored his 63rd goal in all competitions for the club. Still, that 1-7-4 record away from Red Bull Arena is a bit jarring.
5. COLORADO (10-3-8), 2. A 5-1 thrashing at Yankee Stadium snapped the Rapids’ 15-game unbeaten streak but tying four of their previous five games had provided hints the end was nigh. Sheklzen Gashi’s rip in stoppage time averted a shutout.
6. MONTREAL (7-5-9), 4. Down to 10 men after the dismissal of Didier Drogba, the Impact snatched a point at RFK. Subs Hernan Bernardello and Matteo Mancoso got the equalizer after an excellent save by Evan Bush had kept his team within a goal. Bernardello’s goal in the 86th-minute was his first-for the club and Mancosu set it up with his first MLS assist.
7. SPORTING KC (10-10-4), 9. There’s not been much buzz about SKC the past two months and while a .500 overall record is nothing to sing about, Jacob Peterson’s classy header provided a fifth victory in the last eight games.
8. TORONTO FC (8-7-6), 11. Two assists and goal by Sebastian Giovinco left Crew SC dazed and bewildered, and somewhat bruised as well by the return of Jozy Altidore, whose late goal was his fifth of the season. Tsubah Endo’s early goal – eighth minute – was his second of the season; Good teams are supposed to beat up bad ones at home; having done this, TFC needs to knock off good teams as well.
9. PORTLAND (7-8-8), 6. Only keeper Jake Gleeson stood -- literally between a 1-0 loss and a multiple-goals rout. He made five saves on a night the Timbers generated just one shot on goal, though an effort in stoppage time by Jack McInerney would have snatched a point but for the crossbar it rebounded from.
10. REAL SALT LAKE (9-6-7), 13. Terrific goals six minutes apart by Joao Plata and Javier Morales wiped out a 1-0 deficit in Nick Rimando’s league-record 412th start.
11. VANCOUVER (8-9-6), 8. The ‘Caps were fricasseed in Frisco and have taken only 10 points from their last 10 games. The sum total of eight moves made in July pushes Gilles Barnes alongside incumbent Blas Perez on the list of players expected to score goals down the stretch.
12. SAN JOSE (6-6-9), 13. The ninth goal of the season for Chris Wondolowski, a former Dynamo player, snagged the Quakes a point in Houston that owed much to a pair of excellent David Bingham saves. Houston had been one of the few teams Wondo had not scored on and the Quakes spurned several chances to grab a victory they deserved.
13. PHILADELPHIA (8-8-6), 10. The Union has been leaking goals for a while, and conceded two more after Roland Alberg converted a penalty kick just before halftime. That runs its recent record to 19 goals conceded in the past seven games. Four of those games are losses.
14. ORLANDO CITY SC (5-5-11), 15. The Lions clawed the Revs after falling behind to kick off the reign of head coach Jason Kreis successfully. Kevin Molino set up the equalizer for Cyle Larin and bagged two goals for himself on assists from Brek Shea and Kaka.
15. NEW ENGLAND (6-6-8), 14. On the board early through Kei Kamara, the Revs lost their power in the second half. Charlie Davies got on the field for the first time in months; cancer treatment has pushed the disease into remission.
16. HOUSTON (4-9-8), 16. Scoring remains a problem. Alex scored just the Dynamo’s fifth goal in the last seven games, during which it has gained seven points.
17. CHICAGO (4-10-6), 17. A late Red Bulls’ goal denied the Fire its fifth straight home victory. Toni Polster scored for the visitor after an error by Sean Johnson and after a David Accam equalizer he atoned by heading the Fire in front.
18. D.C. UNITED (5-8-8), 18. A Patrick Mullins headed goal in the 20th minute, from a fine cross by Taylor Kemp, didn’t stand up and worse, Montreal scored while a man down. Mullins’ goal is his first for United since he arrived in a trade July 20.
19. SEATTLE (6-12-3), 20. The debut of Nicolas Lodeiro earned him praise but for his teammates, not so much. Jordan Morris labored through another rough match, The Sounders led 1-0 in the 49th minute on a Cristian Roldan goal but squandered many other opportunities – sound familiar?—to send home another big CenturyLink Field crowd (48,458) disappointed.
20. COLUMBUS (3-8-10), 19. Recently acquired forward Adam Jahn debuted for Crew SC and keeper Steve Clark became the third keeper in team history to record 300 saves. William Hesmer (412) and Jon Busch (367) occupy the first two slots. Jahn came on as a sub in the 74th minute, replacing Harrison Afful, as Crew SC’s winless streak extended to nine games.
