Only four games were played last weekend because of the FIFA international break, but several teams made slight moves.
The Red Bulls moved up a spot with a 2-2 tie at FC Dallas despite
not closing out a game they twice led by a goal playing against 10 men.
The Chicago Fire ended its six-game winless streak with a victory in Montreal,
Kei Kamara hit his
first pro hat trick for the Revs, and
Gyasi Zardes netted his first goal of 2017 in a rare Galaxy home victory.
MLS Results, Week
26: Sept. 2 Montreal 0, Chicago 1. H
ighlights FC
Dallas 2, New York Red Bulls 2.
Highlights New England 4, Orlando City
0. H
ighlights LA Galaxy 3, Colorado 0.
Highlights Only MLS results are factored into the Power Rankings that
include a team’s record in parentheses and rank last week.
1. TORONTO FC (16-3-8), 1. Streaks of four straight wins and nine games unbeaten go on the line Saturday at
home against San Jose.
2. NEW YORK CITY FC (14-7-5), 2. NYCFC is also on a nice roll (4-1-2) heading into home games Wednesday (Sporting Kansas City) and Saturday (Portland).
3. SEATTLE (11-7-9), 3. Head coach
Brian Schmetzer and his staff will be monitoring closely the nine Sounders called up for international duty. They host the Galaxy Sunday.
4. NY RED BULLS (12-10-4), 5. The first road tie of the season should have been a victory. Up a man, NYRB twice conceded equalizers that negated a strong game from
Sacha Kljestan,
who rifled a shot into the top corner for the first goal and lifted a delicate free kick that
Aaron Long nodded in for the second.
5. SPORTING KC (10-5-10), 6. Its
game Wednesday at Yankee Stadium is one of three in a row against Eastern Conference teams, or four if you count U.S. Open Cup final Sept. 30 against the Red Bulls. SKC is unbeaten (2-0-6) against the
East so far in 2017.
6. MONTREAL (10-10-6), 4. So much for the home-field advantage. After losing to league kingpin TFC, 3-1, last weekend at Stade Saputo, the Impact fell
again. It conceded the only goal nine minutes after debutant
Deian Boldor was sent off early in the second half when referee
Baldomero Toledo used VAR to change his yellow card to
red.
7. VANCOUVER (11-9-5), 7. The ‘Caps start a busy and vital run of games Saturday against Real Salt Lake. All of their next four games are at home and three are against
Western Conference rivals that trail them in the standings.
8. PORTLAND (11-9-8), 8. The Timbers make their last trip of the regular season to the Eastern Conference for a match
with NYCFC. They are 1-3-0 this season in the Eastern time zone.
9. HOUSTON (10-8-8), 9. The only Western Conference team unbeaten at home (8-0-3) takes on the only such team
without a road win, Colorado (0-11-2).
10. ATLANTA UNITED (10-8-6), 10. Finally!
The first MLS game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium takes place Sunday. Can AUSC calm its nerves and
shake loose the rust of playing just three games since Aug. 6?
11. REAL SALT LAKE (10-13-5), 11. With 18 points in its last nine games, RSL is at Vancouver on Saturday
to start a run of three matches against the Cascadia teams it is chasing.
12. SAN JOSE (10-11-6), 12. The Quakes ended a skid of five straight road losses by winning at
StubHub Center before the break, and their task this week is much tougher: at TFC.
13. COLUMBUS (13-12-3), 13. Ten points in the last four games have
solidified Crew
SC’s place in the playoff tier with just six games to play; the transfer of defender
Nicolai Naess to Heerenveen puts a little more pressure on
Jonathan Mensah,
Josh
Williams, and rookie
Alex Crognale.
14. FC DALLAS (9-7-10), 14. As a reward for its courageous 2-2 tie in which it scored twice playing 10 against 11 following the
ejection of
Jacori Hayes, FCD gets the daunting task of opening Atlanta’s new stadium. A great game by
Michael Barrios, who won the penalty kick converted by
Mauro Diaz,
highlighted a remarkable team effort.
15. D.C. UNITED (8-15-4), 15. United resumes play on a three-game win streak and gets a very good opportunity to extend that run against
Orlando City at RFK.
16. MINNESOTA UNITED (7-14-4), 16. How’s this for schedule craziness? After a home game this weekend against Philly, the Loons fly cross-country to play
Vancouver midweek, then take the short trans-Canada shuttle to Montreal for a Saturday game. Jet lag? You betcha.
17. CHICAGO (13-9-5), 17. Twenty minutes after scoring a vital
goal that helped the Fire snap a six-game winless streak,
Bastian Schweinsteiger left the match with what he said was tightness in his right quadriceps. He punched home a low cross from
Matt
Polster, who rode a tackle near the byline before centering a ball converted by Schweinsteiger.
18. PHILADELPHIA (8-12-7), 18. Four games without a victory makes
just
about every remaining match a must-win, starting Saturday at Minnesota United.
19. NEW ENGLAND (9-12-5), 19. A
Kei Kamara hat trick -- his first as a professional -- and a
record-tying, four-assist game by
Lee Nguyen gave the Revs’ playoff hopes a much-needed boost. Kamara has scored 97 goals in 278 regular-season MLS games and 102 including playoffs.
20. L.A. GALAXY (7-14-6), 22. Dominant performances by
Roman Alessandrini and
Jermaine Jones and a first goal of the season for
Gyasi Zardes marked a victory that
also ended an incredible 350-minute goalless streak at StubHub Center.
21. ORLANDO CITY (8-12-7), 20. Two of the goals were conceded after defender
Jose Aja departed with
his second caution.
The winless streak is eight games, during which the Lions have conceded 17 goals and scored six.
22. COLORADO (6-16-4), 21. The Rapids went
down in dismal fashion despite the debut of newcomer
Stefan Aigner off the bench in the second half.