MLS Power Rankings: Atlanta stays top, New York City FC tumbles
- by Ridge Mahoney @ridgemax, May 8, 2018
A 4-0 Red Bull romp in the Hudson River derby knocked New York City FC out of second and all the way to sixth, dropping it behind Los Angeles FC, Orlando City and Sporting Kansas City as well as its closest rival.
The Lions are mean and hungry: winners of six straight and looking nothing like the tabbies they’ve been at times during their MLS existence.
FC Dallas slipped a notch after losing its first game of the season to LAFC and the Galaxy skidded out of the top 10 by dropping its third straight. Portland grabbed 10th place by winning a third consecutive game and their first away from home this season.
MLS Week 10:
May 4
Toronto FC 3, Philadelphia 0. Highlights
May 5
Montreal 4, New England 2. Highlights
Chicago 1, Atlanta United 2. Highlights
Los Angeles FC 1, FC Dallas 1. Highlights
Sporting KC 1, Colorado 0. Highlights
Houston 3, LA Galaxy 2. Highlights
Minnesota United 1, Vancouver 0. Highlights
NY Red Bulls 4, NYCFC 0. Highlights
Seattle 0, Columbus 0. Highlights
San Jose 0, Portland 1. Highlights
May 6
Orlando City 3, Real Salt Lake 1. Highlights
Only MLS results are factored into the Power Rankings, which include a team’s record (W-L-T) and rank last week.
1. ATLANTA UNITED (7-1-1), 1. A first MLS goal for Ezekiel Barco, set up by a steal and feed by Miguel Almiron, broke a 0-0 tie and sent AUFC on the way to its seventh win in the last eight games. Depth and quality will both be tested this week by a home game against SKC and road date at smoking-hot Orlando City.
2. LOS ANGELES FC (5-2-1), 3. The comfortable confines of Banc of California Stadium have not produced comfortable games. An early goal by Steven Beitashour and the LAFC debut of Lee Nguyen (off the bench) did not subdue FCD. The run at home continues: potential ‘trap’ game midweek against Minnesota United and Sunday showdown with NYCFC.
3. ORLANDO CITY SC (6-2-1), 4. For the fourth time during their six-game roaring, er, winning streak, the Lions conceded the first goal and rallied to win. Goals four minutes apart by Dom Dwyer and Lamine Sane wiped out a 1-0 deficit and Yoshi Yotun marked another strong game by lashing home the clincher.
4. SPORTING KC (6-2-2), 5. SKC hit the woodwork three times and scored when Daniel Salloi knocked one of those rebounds into the net. Just by himself, Salloi took eight of SKC’s 23 goals and landed three of its eight on target. Its still early in the season but SKC looks like the class of the Western Conference.
5. NY RED BULLS (5-3-0), 7. No doubt Kaku (one goal, two assists) is adapting nicely to MLS but how about a goal and assist for Florian Valot? And the defense limiting NYCFC to eight shots, none by David Villa? Respect the red side of the Hudson River.
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6. NEW YORK CITY FC (6-2-2), 2. Down two goals four
minutes after kick-off in the big derby and able to muster just one shot on goal, NYCFC sullied its reputation as a team among the league’s elite.
7. NEW ENGLAND (4-3-2), 6.
His goals came late with the Revs down, 4-0, yet Wilfried Zahibo is a major reason for the Revs’ revival, at least so far.
8. FC DALLAS (3-1-4), 8. A monster game from
Max Urruti -- four shots, one goal, four recoveries, three tackles, three clearances -- powered FCD to a valuable point on the road and one more display of a broader identity, with just 35.7
percent of possession. Mauro Diaz did not play.
9. HOUSTON (3-3-2), 10. The Dynamo blew a pair of leads yet got the win with goals in the second minute of each half and a Memo
Rodriguez winner in stoppage time. Romell Quioto scored the second goal directly from a free kick after his set-piece service set up the first.
10. PORTLAND (3-3-2), 14. The
Timbers hung tough until the final minutes, when a Diego Valeri free kick arrowed its way into the top corner. Three wins in a row sets them up nicely for a visit by Northwest neighbor Seattle
this weekend.
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11. COLUMBUS (4-3-3), 13. Crew SC continues to prove the cause is not lost on the field and in the locker room. Its
players didn’t buckle during 20-plus tough minutes while down a man in a hostile setting.
12. LA GALAXY (3-5-1), 9. Failure to close out games is becoming a habit. Equalizers by
Ola Kamara and Giovani dos Santos -- provider to Kamara for the second goal -- were wasted when a series of defensive mishaps opened the door for Houston’s winner, about
five minutes after Kamara had re-tied the game.
13. COLORADO (2-4-2), 11. The Rapids really should have been done and dusted long before Dominique Badji fired a great chance wide
in the 80th minute. Four saves by Tim Howard and a few big defensive plays kept them in this game. The long-term questions persist.
14. VANCOUVER (4-5-1), 12. Forty minutes of man
advantage failed to produce a goal, even with half an hour to reply after falling behind. The ‘Caps did hit the woodwork twice and force seven saves.
15. TORONTO FC (2-4-1), 17.
TFC restored normal service, led by Sebastian Giovinco (goal and assist). Of the two-time, defending MLS Cup finalists, it is clearly in better form than Seattle heading into their
Wednesday rematch. But there’s also an assignment at New England Saturday. The slog continues.
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16. MINNESOTA UNITED (4-5-0), 20.
A goal by Miguel Ibarra 10 minutes after the Loons had gone down a man set up a tense half an hour of protecting the lead. Thanks to keeper Bobby Shuttleworth and two friendly
bounces off the frame they won their second in a row.
17. REAL SALT LAKE (3-5-1), 15. A smart start -- Corey Baird’s elegant finish provided a 1-0 lead in the 12th minute --
evaporated in a second-half collapse. The road record is no wins, four losses, one tie, three goals scored, 18 goals conceded.
18. CHICAGO (2-4-2), 16. Stung by two goals in four
minutes, the Fire responded with Kevin Ellis’ first goal in the red shirt but the rally got no further. It had chances earlier to take the lead and paid the price for squandering them.
19. PHILADELPHIA (2-4-2), 18. Clearly second best to the defending champion, Philly has to regroup quickly for a midweek match at Columbus.
20. SEATTLE (1-4-2), 19.
Speaking of regrouping, how about a cross-continent trip for the Sounders and a Wednesday match in Toronto after a limpid home display?
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21. MONTREAL (3-6-0), 23. Tremendous displays by Ignacio Piatti and Anthony Jackson-Hamel (combined three goals and three assists) followed stinging criticism from head coach
Remi Garde of the latter. The losing streak ended at four games, but next is a game on the road (Chicago), where the Impact is 1-5-0.
22. D.C. UNITED (1-4-2), 22. United took the
week off, plays at RSL Saturday.
23. SAN JOSE (1-5-2), 21. The Quakes continue to lose in various ways. They created a fair share of chances without reward -- Nick Lima banged a
ball off the crossbar -- and were punished by a classy goal in the final minutes. Since beating Minnesota United in the opener, they are winless in seven games.
