MLS Power Rankings: FC Dallas and Portland back on the podium
- by Paul Kennedy @pkedit, Jul 31, 2018
MLS, Week 22 Results:
Wednesday, July 25
D.C. United 0 NY Red Bulls 1.
Houston 1 Philadelphia 3.
San Jose 0 Seattle 1.
Thursday, July 26
Orlando City 0 NYCFC 2
LAFC 2 LA Galaxy 2.
Saturday, July 28
Montreal 1 Atlanta United 2.
NY Red Bulls 2 Columbus 3.
Toronto FC 3 Chicago 0.
D.C. United 2 Colorado 1.
Sporting KC 2 FC Dallas 3.
Portland 2 Houston 1.
Vancouver 4 Minn. United 2.
San Jose 0 Real Salt Lake 0.
Sunday, July 29
Seattle 3 NYCFC 1.
LA Galaxy 4 Orlando City 3.
Only MLS results are counted in the Power Rankings, which include a team’s record in parentheses (W-L-T) and rank last week.
1. ATLANTA UNITED (14-4-5), 1. Josef Martinez scored two more goals to give him 24 goals. He's scored in six straight games and 10 of his last 11 games to leave him just three shy of the MLS season-season record of 27 goals with 11 games to play.
2. FC DALLAS (12-3-6), 5. Michael Barrios scored his first MLS hat trick to give FC Dallas another road win -- its fifth of the season. It has opened up a six-point lead at the top of the Western Conference.
3. PORTLAND (9-3-7), 4. Fanendo Adi scored in his farewell to beat the Dynamo with the game-winning goal in the 80th minute. Quite a way to go out -- Adi was traded to FC Cincinnati on Monday -- for one of the few holdovers from the 2015 MLS Cup championship team.
4. NEW YORK CITY FC (13-5-4), 2. After the win in Orlando, new coach Dome Torrent ripped NYCFC's performance. "We have to improve, improve a lot." After the loss on Sunday at Seattle, he was more forgiving. “I’m very proud of my players."
5. NY RED BULLS (13-6-2), 3. Bradley Wright-Phillips became the fastest player to score 100 goals in MLS history with his goal at D.C. United. He was held out of the start of Saturday's game and by the time he entered to start the second half, the Red Bulls were already down 3-0.
----------------------------------------------
6. LA GALAXY (10-7-5), 6. After rallying to tie LAFC, the Galaxy came out flat at home against Orlando and fell behind three times. That's no problem when you have Zlatan Ibrahimovic, whose hat trick earned the Galaxy the win, which extended its unbeaten streak to nine games.
7. COLUMBUS (10-7-6), 10. The Crew broke out of its road slump in a big way with three goals in the first half and then held on to beat the Red Bulls.
8. LAFC (10-5-6), 7. LAFC blew a 2-0 halftime lead against the Galaxy -- again -- and lost young Canadian Mark-Anthony Kaye with a fractured ankle. Not a good week in La La Land.
9. SEATTLE (7-9-5), 14. Suddenly, the Sounders, unbeaten in six games after a pair of wins, are back in the hunt. They're still in 10th place but only five points out of sixth place with a game in hand.
10. REAL SALT LAKE (9-9-4), 12. Nick Rimando picked up his 143rd career shutout, extending his all-time MLS record. RSL still has a two-point cushion in sixth place in the Western Conference after the scoreless draw at San Jose.
----------------------------------------------
11. HOUSTON (7-8-6), 8. A pair of losses dropped the Dynamo into ninth place in the Western Conference with Seattle on its tail. The rescission of Tomas Martinez's red card was no solace. Houston was tied 1-1 with the Union when he went off -- it ended up losing, 3-1.
12. MONTREAL (9-13-1), 9. With head coach Remi Garde serving a one-game suspension, goalkeeping coach Joel Bats -- the former French great -- acted as Montreal coach against Atlanta. A late goal from Ignacio Piatti was all the Impact could produce in a match delayed 75 minutes at the half because of rain.
13. NEW ENGLAND (7-7-7), 13. After losing three in a row, the Revs got a chance to regroup.
14. SPORTING KC (9-6-6), 11. SKC is 0-4-1 in its last five games after starting out 9-2-5. The defense has fallen apart, conceding 18 goals in the last six games when you throw in the loss to Houston in the Open Cup.
15. VANCOUVER (8-9-5), 16. After finalizing his transfer to Bayern Munich -- which will take effect in January -- Alphonso Davies returned to B.C. Place and put on a show.
----------------------------------------------
16. PHILADELPHIA (8-10-3), 18. The win at Houston left the Union just below the red line, one point below the Revs in the Eastern Conference.
17. MINNESOTA UNITED (9-12-1), 15. With Darwin Quintero -- added to the MLS All-Star team on Monday -- the Loons can score against anyone. The problem, as they showed against the 'Caps, is their defending.
18. D.C. UNITED (4-9-5), 17. Wayne Rooney scored his first goal for United, but the win over Colorado will be remembered for the broken nose he suffered and five stitches he needed after a clash of heads with Colorado's giant, Axel Sjoberg.
19. TORONTO FC (6-11-4), 20. It felt like old times. Goals from Sebastian Giovinco, Jozy Altidore and Jonathan Osorio gave TFC a sweep of the series against Chicago.
20. COLORADO (4-12-5), 19. Kellyn Acosta scored in his Rapids' debut at D.C. United. Otherwise, Colorado's bad fortune continued. Acosta had a penalty kick saved by David Ousted in the first half, and the Rapids lost on an own goal in stoppage time.
----------------------------------------------
21. CHICAGO (6-11-5), 21. Veljko Paunovic admitted the defeat at Toronto was tough loss, leaving the Fire with "a big, big hill" to climb in the Eastern Conference. On the bright side, it's still alive in the Open Cup.
22. ORLANDO CITY (7-14-1), 22. After losing at home 2-0 to NYCFC, the Lions flew to Carson and gave the Galaxy all it could handle, leading three times before running out of gas.
23. SAN JOSE (2-12-7), 23. A pair of matches at Avaya netted one point. The Quakes can't ask for much more when they don't score.
MLS, Week 23 Schedule:
Saturday, August 4
Atlanta United vs. Toronto FC 4 pm (ESPN, ESPN Deportes)
Montreal vs. D.C. United 7:30 pm (ESPN+)
Orlando City vs. New England 7:30 pm (ESPN+)
Minn. United vs. Seattle 8 pm (ESPN+)
FC Dallas vs. San Jose 8 pm (ESPN+)
NYCFC vs. Vancouver 8 pm (ESPN+)
Houston vs. Sporting KC 9 pm (ESPN+)
Colorado vs. LA Galaxy 9 pm (ESPN+)
Real Salt Lake vs. Chicago 10 pm (ESPN+)
Portland vs. Philadelphia 11 pm (ESPN+)
Sunday, August 5
NY Red Bulls vs. LAFC 6 pm (FS1, Fox Deportes)
