MLS Power Rankings: Sporting KC stumble opens door for Portland
- by Ridge Mahoney @ridgemax, Jul 3, 2018
Portland thus takes over first place and sliding into second and third, respectively, are Atlanta and the New York Red Bulls. SKC falls to fourth, just ahead of FC Dallas, and New England, Los Angeles FC and Columbus move up at the expense of New York City FC, which lost at Chicago, 3-2.
The Fire is one of several teams mounting a mild mid-season surge from well back in the pack. It is 12th, three slots ahead of Montreal, which won its third in a row. Right behind the Impact are the Rapids, who by winning in Vancouver, 1-0, have amassed seven points in their last three games.
MLS: Week 19 Results
June 29
Minnesota United 0, FC Dallas 1. Highlights
June 30
Montreal 2, Sporting Kansas City 0. Highlights
Chicago 3, New York City FC 2. Highlights
New England 3, D.C. United 2. Highlights
Atlanta United 4, Orlando City 0. Highlights
Toronto FC 0, New York Red Bulls 1. Highlights
Los Angeles FC 4, Philadelphia 1. Highlights
Columbus 2, Real Salt Lake 1. Highlights
Seattle 2, Portland 3. Highlights
San Jose 3, L.A. Galaxy 3. Highlights
July 1
Vancouver 0, Colorado 1. Highlights
Only MLS results are factored into the Power Rankings, which include a team’s record in parentheses and rank last week:
1. PORTLAND (7-3-5), 2. Just about everybody is beating the Sounders these days, yet it’s a milestone for head coach Giovani Savarese to win both of his first two Cascadia Cup matches. Diego Valeri set up all three goals and pick of the assists goes to the through ball that Samuel Armenteros tucked away. Unbeaten in 10 straight games (including seven wins) the Timbers won without Liam Ridgewell, Fanendo Adi and Sebastian Blanco.
2. ATLANTA UNITED (11-3-4), 2. Another
four-goal barrage turned the Southern Clasico into a cakewalk but the biggest number was the crowd: 71,932. Miguel Almiron scored two goals and dinged another shot off the crossbar that
Ezequiel Barco tidied up to tally.
3. NY RED BULLS (10-4-2), 3. A strong showing by keeper Luis Robles and a lucky goal by defender Kemar Lawrence earned the
Red Bulls a third straight win.
4. SPORTING KC (9-3-5), 1. Another costly error by defender Ike Opara aided the opposition. His foul provided Montreal with a penalty kick it
converted for the clinching goal. SKC’s unbeaten run ended at seven.
5. FC DALLAS (9-2-5), 5. Five Homegrown starters – which ties a club record – helped earn
three road points, as did a Roland Lamah goal in the 59th minute. Less than two minutes into his substitute appearance, Santiago Mosquera served up a corner kick from which Lamah
scored.
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6. NEW ENGLAND (7-4-6), 7. The Revs were bad enough that head coach Brad Friedel tore into them during a
halftime interview, yet good enough to extend an unbeaten streak to six games. After squandering a pair of one-goal leads they scored again with a Cristian Penilla penalty kick and this time
held on.
7. LOS ANGELES FC (9-4-3), 8. The Human Cyclone, Adama Diomande, rang up the first hat trick in LAFC team history in a third straight victory for the expansion team.
8. COLUMBUS (8-5-6), 9. Winless in its last five, Crew SC jumped on RSL quickly and rode off two early goals to victory. Gyasi Zardes converted a penalty in the fourth
minute for his 11th goal and midway through the first half. Eduardo Sosa netted in his first start for the team.
9. NEW YORK CITY FC (9-4-4), 5. NYCFC
scored twice just before halftime to wipe out a 1-0 deficit then conceded two goals shortly after halftime. Jo Inge Berget’s third goal in the last two games provided the temporary
advantage.
10. HOUSTON (6-6-3), 10. After a week off, the Dynamo plays home games Tuesday against LAFC and Saturday against Minnesota United.
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11. L.A. GALAXY (6-7-3), 12. A typically rollicking Cali Clasico at Stanford Stadium preceded the official fireworks display
and after racking up three goals in the first 25 minutes the Galaxy barely held on for a point. Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice to up his tally to nine goals in 12 games.
12. CHICAGO
(6-7-5), 12. Two goals five minutes apart by Aleksandar Katai regained the lead and ultimately sealed a vital win. Fire has claimed nine points in the last five games.
13.
VANCOUVER (6-7-5), 11. The Canada Day mood went sour with a bizarre own goal credited to Marcel de Jong that wound up in the net after a fine save by Brian Rowe.
14. REAL SALT LAKE (7-8-2), 13. A goal by Albert Rusnak wasn’t enough to erase a 2-0 deficit. Kyle Beckerman set a league record by playing his 300th game for the
same team.
15. MONTREAL (7-11-0), 15. Four wins in the last five games, three of them by shutout, has revived hope at Stade Saputo. Ignacio Piatti’s ninth goal of the season
was sufficient.
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16. COLORADO (4-9-3), 16. A 10-save game by Tim Howard and a goal forced into the net during a
wild scramble brought the Rapids road glory. Its their first away win of the season following five losses and one tie.
17. PHILADELPHIA (6-8-3), 15. A goal by Fafa Picault only
briefly troubled LAFC, which handed Philly its third loss in the last four games.
18. TORONTO FC (4-9-3), 17. A rare gaffe by keeper Alex Bono added another entry to this
perplexing season of mystery and misery.
19. D.C. UNITED (2-7-4), 18. Two goals by Yamil Asad forged a pair of ties but ultimately United didn’t have enough punch to get a
point.
20. MINNESOTA UNITED (5-10-1), 19. A home game against a good team ended in disappointment and ran the Loons’ loss skid to three games.
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21. SAN JOSE (2-9-6), 23. Rocked by an early Galaxy goal eruption, the Quakes fought back with goals by Vako and
Chris Wondolowski. They’ve tied three straight games and with a lot of ground to make up aren’t looking capable of getting back in the chase.
22. SEATTLE (3-9-3), 21. The
Sounders bounced back twice after falling behind with goals by Victor Rodriguez and Chad Marshall, but could not reply a third time. They’ve lost five of their last seven
and hit the road this week for games at Colorado and New England.
23. ORLANDO CITY (6-10-1) The losing streak is eight in a row heading into the reign of head coach James
O’Connor, who left Louisville City to rejoin the team he once coached in the USL.
