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Darlington Nagbe, Victor Vazquez and Cubo Torres all had big games, but the LA Galaxy and San Jose Earthquakes continued to struggle under new coaches. For all our MLS winners and
losers from a critical Wednesday night.
Wednesday's Winners
Darlington Nagbe already has one
MLS Goal of the Year, scored in his rookie season in 2011, and he could get a shot at a second after scoring a golazo, a shot chipped over
U.S. national team keeper Tim Howard from inside the penalty area, in Portland's 2-1 win over Colorado.
USMNT in MLS: GOALKEEPERS: Jesse Gonzalez (FC
Dallas), 90 minutes, 3-3 vs. Houston Brad Guzan (Atlanta United), 90 minutes, 0-1 at D.C. United Bill Hamid (D.C. United), 90 minutes, 1-0 vs. Atlanta United Tim
Howard (Colorado), 90 minutes, 1-2 at Portland
DEFENDERS: DaMarcus Beasley (Houston), did not dress, 3-3 at FC Dallas Matt Hedges (FC
Dallas), 90 minutes, 3-3 vs. Houston Justin Morrow (Toronto FC), 90 minutes, 3-0 vs. Philadelphia
MIDFIELDERS: Paul Arriola (D.C. United), 90 minutes,
1-0 vs. Atlanta United Alejandro Bedoya (Philadelphia), 78 minutes, 0-3 at Toronto FC Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), 90 minutes, 3-0 vs. Philadelphia Darlington
Nagbe (Portland), 79 minutes, 1 goal, 2-1 vs. Colorado Kellyn Acosta (FC Dallas), 90 minutes, 3-3 vs. Houston Chris Pontius (Philadelphia), sub-28 minutes, 0-3 at Toronto
FC Cristian Roldan (Seattle), 90 minutes, 1-1 at Vancouver Gyasi Zardes (LA Galaxy), 90 minutes, 0-2 at Columbus
FORWARDS: Jozy Altidore
(Toronto FC), 90 minutes, 1 goal, 3-0 vs. Philadelphia Clint Dempsey (Seattle), sub-22 minutes, 1-1 at Vancouver Jordan Morris (Seattle), 68 minutes, 1-1 at Vancouver
The Seattle Sounders would have liked to gotten out of B.C. Place with three points, which looked possible after Vancouver's Tony
Tchani was red carded in the 60th minute with the Sounders leading 1-0, but the 1-1 tie was good enough to extend the Western Conference leaders' unbeaten streak to 10 games, a club record.
It might be too late for Real Salt Lake to make the playoffs -- it's only three points behind sixth-place Vancouver but has played
three more games -- but it certainly looked sharp in the 4-0 win over San Jose. Young DP signings Albert Rusnak and Jefferson Savarino combined for two goals and two assists.
D.C. United will take them any way it can. Its 1-0 win over Atlanta United thanks to a Michael Parkhurst own goal marked the first
time in MLS history a team has won back-to-back games thanks to a solitary own goal. The win also moved it out of the MLS basement and into 19th place in the overall standings.
Toronto
FC's riches were on display in its 3-0 win over Philadelphia as MLS Newcomer of the Year candidate Victor Vazquez had two assists to give
him the league lead with 13. The second was on this sweet combination play with Jozy Altidore. MLS Comeback Player of the Year? That's easy.Cubo Torres didn't score in 22 MLS games
with Houston in 2015 and 2016, but his two goals in the 3-3 tie with FC Dallas give him 14 in 22 games in 2017.
Wednesday's Losers
Not much has changed for
the LA Galaxy since Sigi Schmid replaced Curt Onalfo and Jonathan dos Santos joined his brother, Gio. An early
red card to captain Ashley Cole -- the Galaxy's fifth of the season -- left the Galaxy with just 10 men, and it fell at Columbus, 2-0, extending its winless streak to nine games (eight losses
and one tie). The result would have been worse but LA goalkeeper Jon Kempin saved two penalty kicks, including Federico Higuain’s penalty kick awarded after Video Review.
The San Jose Earthquakes also continue to struggle despite a coaching change. The Quakes' 4-0 loss at Real Salt Lake would have
been worse but for an RSL goal disallowed on Video Review. San Jose has lost all five road games under Chris Leitch, and they haven't been close: 19-3 margin.
FC Dallas broke out of its scoring drought with three in a span of six minutes on either side of halftime, but it couldn't hold on to a 3-1 lead and had to settle
for a 3-3 tie with Houston. Those were three points FC Dallas needed and had in hand, so the home tie hurts a lot.
Atlanta
United could become the first expansion team to make the playoffs in its first season since the Sounders in 2009, but if it doesn't, it will rue its play against D.C. United. It was swept,
dropping its third game to D.C. United with its 1-0 loss.