Power Rankings Week 12: Atlanta tumble opens top spot for Sporting Kansas City
- by Ridge Mahoney @ridgemax, May 22, 2018
A 1-1 tie in Minnesota was enough to lift SKC past previous leader Atlanta United as well as Los Angeles FC after both of those teams incurred losses. The Red Bulls surged into second and Atlanta dropped to third, one slot head of surging Portland, winner of five straight after downing Los Angeles FC, 2-1, at Providence Park.
Columbus won its third straight, 1-0 at New England, to sneak into the Top 10. Crew SC is one of seven teams with at least six wins, five of them are in the Eastern Conference. Defending champion Toronto FC and the L.A. Galaxy were victorious, though both teams are still mired in the bottom tier.
Week 12 Results:
May 16
Vancouver 2, San Jose 2. Highlights
May 18
Toronto FC 2, Orlando City 1. Highlights
May 19
New York City FC 4, Colorado 0. Highlights
Philadelphia 4, Real Salt Lake 1. Highlights
New England 0, Columbus 1. Highlights
FC Dallas 2, Vancouver 2. Highlights
Portland 2, Los Angeles FC 1. Highlights
San Jose 1, D.C. United 3. Highlights
May 20
Minnesota United 1, Sporting KC 1. Highlights
Chicago 2, Houston 3. Highlights
Atlanta 1, New York Red Bulls 3. Highlights
May 21
Montreal 0, LA Galaxy 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. SPORTING KC (7-2-3), 3. After an early Khiry Shelton goal -- his first for the team -- was matched, the insertion of veteran Seth Sinovicquelled the Loons’ attack. Since losing its season opener to NYCFC SKC has picked up more than two points per game.
2. NY RED BULLS (7-3-0), 5. The Red Bulls responded quickly after a second Atlanta goal was disallowed, and prevailed
in a frantic battle thanks to a pair of goals by Bradley Wright-Phillips and the heroics of keeper Ryan Meara, who started in place of injured stalwart Luis Robles.
3.
ATLANTA UNITED (8-3-1), 1. Not all of the major calls went against the home team -- VAR overturned a red card to Jeff Larentowicz -- but a disallowed a goal and crucial PK in favor of the visitor infuriated the fans
as well as head coach Gerard “Tata” Martino. AUSC got off to a typical flying start when Ezequiel Barco scored in the 26th minute.
4. PORTLAND (5-3-2),
10. A spectacular first MLS goal by Samuel Armenteros brought down another packed house at Providence Park. GioBall seems to be catching on.
5. NEW YORK CITY FC (7-2-3), 6.
A home game against the Rapids is a prime opportunity to get back on track and NYCFC did just that with a pair of David Villa goals. He’s not going to the World Cup, which is
good news overshadowed by reports that head coach Patrick Vieira may be headed to another team.
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6. LOS ANGELES FC (6-3-2), 2.
In a hostile setting LAFC had enough quality to equalize on an elegant shot by Carlos Vela, but lacked the resilience and energy to quell Portland down the stretch.
7. ORLANDO
CITY (6-4-1), 4. The Lions lost a second straight game for the second time this season (in between they won six in a row). Cristian Higuita’s goal erased a 1-0 deficit but poor
marking at the back post and cost them the winner.
8. HOUSTON (4-3-3), 9. In the first half, Alberth Elis was a nuisance. In the second half he was stoppable while earning and
converting a penalty kick to tie the game, then nailing the winner.
9. COLUMBUS (7-3-3), 11. A third straight victory -– courtesy of a late Lalas Abubakar
header from a Federico Higuain corner kick – extended Crew SC’s unbeaten streak to six games. Question: Which teams have conceded fewer goals per game (10 goals/13 games = 0.76 per
game)? Answer: Nobody.
10. FC DALLAS (4-1-5), 8. A heavy slate of home games -- seven of 10 -- accounts for a good record, but FCD could not hold on to a 2-0 lead provided by goal from
Reggie Cannon and Max Urruti.
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11. NEW ENGLAND (5-4-2), 7. The Revs managed six shots on goal despite heavy rain but
were unable to score and conceded late on a set play.
12. VANCOUVER (4-5-4), 12. The ‘Caps are stuck in a rut of three straight 2-2 ties. Sub Anthony Blondell sparked a
rally from 2-0 down to get a point at FCD with a Kei Kamara penalty kick in the 10th minute of second-half stoppage time. Yordy Reyna’s goal earned the home point against San
Jose.
13. PHILADELPHIA (4-5-2), 16. Four different players scored as an attack driven by Fafa Picault, Borek Dockal and Marcus Epps overwhelmed the opposition.
There’s hope.
14. LA GALAXY (4-6-1), 18. It’s already been shown in MLS that crazy stuff happens with Zlatan Ibrahimovic on the field. His red card for a slapping an
opponent somehow inspired the 10-man Galaxy to throttle Montreal and win the game with a goal by Ola Kamara, his fourth in the last four games.
15. TORONTO FC (3-6-1), 19. It was
Ontario Day at BMO Field, at least unofficially. Homegrown products Jay Chapman and Ryan Telfer scored the goals as TFC snapped a two-game losing streak. Telfer smashed home the winner
in just his fourth MLS appearance.
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16. REAL SALT LAKE (4-6-1), 14. Another heavy loss increases to seven the number of games in
which RSL has conceded at least two goals. Damir Kreilach scored in the 65th minute to highlight the team’s first ever loss to Philly.
17. SEATTLE (2-5-2), 17. Off last week.
Sounders play the first of consecutive games against RSL Saturday.
18. COLORADO (2-6-2), 13. Scoreline says it all. Five losses in a row.
19. CHICAGO (3-6-2), 15. A
banged-up squad – Dax McCarty was added to the injured list this week – came back from conceding an early goal to score twice within two minutes (Nemanja Nikolic,
Diego Campos) but couldn’t cope in the second half.
20. D.C. UNITED (2-5-2), 23. Three goals in 22 minutes – by Zoltan Stieber, Darren Mattocks, and
Yamil Asad – powered D.C. to its first 3-0 lead in quite a while. It weathered a few stormy moments in the second half to ride out the victory.
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21. MINNESOTA UNITED (4-7-1), 21. After setting up a goal that was disallowed, Darwin Quintero got one that counted in the
20th minute but the Loons were stymied by a good team the rest of the way.
22. SAN JOSE (2-6-3), 20. Most of the good work by which the Quakes earned their fourth point in back-to-back
road games evaporated at home against D.C. Danny Hoesen breathed some life into a possible comeback by scoring from a tight angle just before halftime but that is where the rally ended. Hoesen
also netted in Vancouver as did right back Nick Lima with an attempted cross.
23. MONTREAL (3-9-0), 22. The Impact has been at the bottom of the rankings before, but by
failing to score and conceding a goal to a 10-man Galaxy to lose its seventh game in the last eight it emphatically confirmed its status.
