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Saturday MLS Scoreboard: Sounders beat Sporting KC, Crew downs NYCFC, and more

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The Seattle Sounders are turning it on at the right time and their hot run continued with another victory on Saturday. Brian Schmetzer’s side downed Sporting KC 3-1 at CenturyLink Field to extend their current winning run to right matches.

NYCFC suffered a tough 2-1 defeat on the road at fellow Eastern Conference side Columbus, while Orlando City grabbed a point at home against the Philadelphia Union.

Elsewhere, FC Dallas defeated their Texas rivals at home, while LAFC put a big dagger in Toronto FC’s hopes of making the playoffs.

Here’s a closer look at all of Saturday’s MLS action:

Sounders 3, Sporting KC 1 (Final)

The Seattle Sounders hot run of form continued with a 3-1 home success over in-form Sporting KC.

Sporting KC get off to a fantastic start as Diego Rubio finds goal in just the 2nd minute. The Chilean forward found a loose ball at the top of the box and fired it on frame past Frei for the opening goal.

Seattle answer back in the 11th minute thanks to striker Raul Ruidiaz. Left back Brad Smith had plenty of space as he drove up the left side of the field and fired in a perfect cross to Ruidiaz who was unmarked in the box. All it took was a tap in from the striker to tie things up 1-1.

The Sounders find themselves up a goal in the 53rd minute after a bit of luck. Harry Shipp had the ball along the end line and tried to send in a cross, but the ball deflected off Graham Zusi and inside the far post past Tim Melia for a goal.

Just three minutes later Sporting KC defender Ike Opara got called for a handball in the box, and Nicolas Lodeiro calmly puts the ball into the net from the spot to give Seattle the 3-1 lead.

After a delayed VAR review, Chad Marshall is sent off with a red card in the 82nd minute after a hard challenge on Johnny Russell. Seattle will finish the game a man down.

Man of the Match: Harry Shipp continued to impress in his sophomore campaign with the Sounders. The brainy midfielder was key to breaking down Sporting KC’s pressure all match.

Moment of the Match: Ike Opara’s handball was the nail in the coffin. Sporting KC threw the kitchen sink at the Sounders down the stretch, and a one goal lead would have never have felt safe for the hosts.

Match to Forget: Graham Zusi’s own goal put the visitors down early in the second half. The defender also gambled and missed badly on a pass that freed Brad Smith to assist on the Sounders’ opening goal.

Impact 2, Red Bulls 0 – Final

The Montreal Impact grabbed a huge home result on Saturday, downing visiting New York 2-0 at Stade Saputo.

Impact defender Rod Fanni headed home a Saphir Taider corner kick in the 30th minute to give the home team the edge at Stade Saputo over the Eastern Conference leaders.

In the 38th minute, Bacary Sagna opened his account for the Impact. Jukka Raitala headed a ball off a free kick toward the far post and Sagna rushed over to head the ball past Luis Robles.

Ignacio Piatti thought he notched the Impact’s third goal of the night in the 77th minute, but after video review, the midfielder was ruled offside.

Piatti finally got his goal in the 93rd minute, as he beat Robles with a shot toward the far post from open space.

Man of the Match: Rod Fanni once again proved he was the Impact’s best signing of the season. The former French international opened his scoring account and helped the Impact earn a clean sheet.

Moment of the Match: Fanni towered over Aaron Long in the 30th minute to open the scoring in a vital win for the Impact.

Match to Forget: Against a team that is historically ineffective on set-piece situations, Long allowed the Impact to score from a corner kick.

Revolution 1, Timbers 1 – Final

The points were shared at Gillette Stadium with New England and Portland tying 1-1.

Scott Caldwell’s first goal of the season handed the Revolution the lead in the 58th minute.

The midfielder sprinted into the box and finished from close range after Timbers goalkeeper Jeff Attinella spilled a rebound.

Lawrence Olum benefited from a bit of luck in the 70th minute, as he stuck out his boot on the right side of the penalty area and placed the ball just over the line for the equalizer following a corner kick.

In the final 20 minutes, neither side could break the deadlock, with Lucas Melano’s late whiff in front of the net being the best opportunity.

Man of the Match: Alvas Powell produced a strong defensive performance, as he made six clearances and five tackles against a Revs side that only put four shots on target.

Moment of the Match: Olum’s outstretched foot helped the Timbers equalizer with a bit of luck in the 70th minute.

Match to Forget: Matt Turner wasn’t positioned well on Olum’s equalizer, which came off a set piece.

Orlando City 2, Union 2 – Final

Dom Dwyer put the hosts ahead in the ninth minute, as he nodded home Yoshi Yotun’s free kick from the right wing.

The Union equalized 23 minutes later, as Borek Dockal picked out Cory Burke’s head with a cross from the right wing. Burke’s header flew past Joe Bendik from the middle of the penalty area.

Fafa Picault handed the Union the lead in the 88th minute, when he hit a deflected shot from right outside the penalty area over the head of Bendik.

Scott Sutter handed the Lions a late equalizer in second-half stoppage time, as he connected with Josue Colman’s cross from the right side of the field.

The draw moved the Union up to 40 points in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, while the Lions remained in last on 24 points.

Man of the Match: Yoshi Yotun produced an assist and seven key passes, as the Lions hunter for goals against the playoff contenders.

Moment of the Match: Sutter’s equalizer provided a nice boost to Orlando’s morale during the club’s awful stretch.

Match to Forget: Ray Gaddis pulled down the ball on the right side of the box and gifted the Lions with the chance to build up and score in stoppage time.

Crew 2, NYCFC 1 – Final

The Columbus Crew grabbed a huge three points at home on Saturday, downing NYCFC 2-1 behind a game-winning goal from a familiar face.

Ismael Tajouri-Shradi opened the scoring in the 53rd minute, when he picked up a loose ball on the right side of the box and slotted past Zack Steffen.

Harrison Afful pulled the Crew back in the 61st minute, as he blasted a shot into the net from 30 yards out after his initial shot was blocked.

Justin Meram gave the Crew the lead for good in the 63rd minute, when he chested home a corner kick to beat Sean Johnson. Steffen made three saves on the night to help Gregg Berhalter’s side to their first win since Aug. 11th.

Man of the Match: Meram played the hero on Saturday like he did many times for the Crew before, scoring the eventual winner at home.

Moment of the Match: The Crew scored two minutes apart to take the lead for good against visiting NYCFC.

Match to Forget: Needing to be big for NYCFC to be successful, David Villa’s slow run continued as he only had one shot on goal.

FC Dallas 4, Dynamo 2 – Final

It took FC Dallas three tries to get their first Texas Derby win of the season, but eventually they got it. A second-half brace from Santiago Mosquera proved to be the difference as Dallas downed the Houston Dynamo 4-2 at Toyota Stadium.

Michael Barrios opened the scoring for FC Dallas in the 10th minute, as he slotted in a shot from the right side of the penalty area.

Barrios’ sixth goal of the season was made possible by a prolonged buildup down the right wing by FC Dallas in which Maxi Urruti made the final ball into Barrios.

Mosquera bagged a brace in a three minute span at the start of the second half, as he put FC Dallas up by three goals with tallies in the 48th and 51st minutes.

The Dynamo continued a frenetic first 10 minutes of the final stanza, when Mauro Manotas blasted home their first goal of the night from long distance.

Reto Ziegler scored the fourth FC Dallas strike from the spot in the 58th minute, while Alberth Elis converted 14 minutes from the spot on the other side of the field.

Dallas would not let their opponents come any closer as they held on for all three points at home.

Man of the Match: Mosquera’s brace proved to be the difference as Dallas inched one step closer to the 50-point mark this season.

Moment of the Match: The Colombian’s brace really iced the result for Dallas as it was truly the only goals they needed in the second-half to win.

Match to Forget: Romell Quioto’s cold run continued as the Honduran failed to record a point in his sixth straight appearance.

LAFC 4, Toronto FC 2 – Final

LAFC put another dagger in Toronto FC’s hopes of making the playoffs with a 4-2 road win at BMO Field.

The visitors opened the scoring in the 22nd minute, when Diego Rossi took a long-range shot that deflected off Drew Moor before catching Carlos Vela’s arm and going in.

Rossi put LAFC ahead by two goals in the 47th minute, when he unleashed a left-footed blast after collecting a long pass from Vela. Gregory van der Wiel failed in his attempt to intercept Vela’s pass, letting it fall to Rossi, who made TFC pay.

Lee Nguyen extended the visitors’ lead two minutes later as he finished Vela’s assist for a 3-0 LAFC lead.

Jozy Altidore pulled one back in the 74th minute as he beat Tyler Miller from Sebastian Giovinco’s through ball assist. The U.S. Men’s National Team striker would cut the deficit to one in the 93rd minute from a right-footed finish before Vela slotted in his second of the evening to ice the road win for LAFC.

Man of the Match: Vela played a huge part for LAFC, collecting two goals as they extended their unbeaten run to four matches.

Moment of the Match: Vela’s stoppage time goal truly iced the win for LAFC not long after Altidore trimmed the deficit for Toronto.

Match to Forget: The midfield pair of Marky Delgado and Jonathan Osorio were not on their game as they allowed the LAFC midfield to open up several chances in the win.

Real Salt Lake 6, Galaxy 2 – Final

Real Salt Lake erased an early deficit at Rio Tinto Stadium to steamroll the LA Galaxy 6-2 on Saturday evening.

Jonathan Dos Santos’ second goal of the season gave Sigi Schmid’s side a lead after one minute. The Mexican international got on the end of Ashley Cole’s pass and rifled a shot into the top-right corner.

Albert Rusnak pulled RSL level in the 14th-minute as he blasted home from long-range.

Brooks Lennon played distributor on RSL’s go-ahead goal in the third-minute of first-half stoppage time as his cross was headed in by Damir Kreilach.

A Jefferson Savarino goal extended RSL’s advantage three minutes into the second-half, before Kreilach netted his second of the night.

Romain Alessandrini’s deflected shot pulled one back for LA in the 62rd minute but that was the closest they would get.

Rusnak’s left-footed finish in the 68th minute added to the misery for LA before Kreilach capped off his hat trick in the 71st minute.

Man of the Match: Kreilach netted his first MLS hat trick in style as RSL steamrolled their way to another win.

Moment of the Match: Savarino’s goal truly extended RSL’s advantage for good despite their late strikes in the second-half.

Match to Forget: The entire Galaxy backline has struggled at times this season and that trend continued with a disappointing loss on the road.

Whitecaps 2, Earthquakes 1 – Final

Alphonso Davies may be on the move to German giants Bayern Munich in January, but that doesn’t mean he has cooled off for the Vancouver Whitecaps.

The Canadian international scored the winning goal for Carl Robinson’s squad as they defeated San Jose 2-1 at BC Place.

Davies gave his side a 1-0 halftime advantage thanks to a left-footed finish in the 22nd minute. Davies was played in by a Yordy Reyna through ball and did the rest to give the hosts a lead.

Nicolas Mezquida doubled Vancouver’s advantage in the 78th minute, scoring from long-range. Reyna was credited with his second assist of the evening.

Valeri Qazaishvili pulled a late goal back for San Jose in stoppage time but it would not be enough.

Man of the Match: Davies goal proved to be the difference, but Reyna was huge with assists on both of Vancouver’s goals.

Moment of the Match: Despite Davies’ opener, the goal by Mezquida sealed the home triumph for Vancouver.

Match to Forget: After a strong performance midweek, Chris Wondolowski lacked the final product for San Jose in their loss.

Comments

  1. BTW

    Sounders, 8 straight victories, best all time in the non shootout era, passing the Sporks, who they beat to win.

    Reply
  2. Something that has gone unmentioned is that Giovinco could have had the goal of the week and maybe the year except for a great save by the keeper, Tyler Miller. On the right hand side of the box Giovinco made a perfect overhead or bicycle kick that would have been just under the bar except Miller got his fingertips on it and tipped it over the bar. Great effort by both striker and keeper.

    Reply
  3. Sigi Schmid needs to go. I think a manager needs enough time to put his mark on a team and I thought that the Galaxy needed more and better defenders when the season started, so maybe that’s on the GM. Nevertheless, the Galaxy are much worse than they should be given their roster. Sigi has often played a 3 man back line even though that is their weakest spot. He doesn’t always play the best people or put them in the right spots and the defense last night was totally unorganized. RSL players were barely marked within the box and they were given easy opportunity after opportunity and capitalized. Horrid defending. They were painful to watch and I had to turn it off when it got to 4-1. I saw some post game interviews and the defenders seem at a loss as to what needs to be done, a bad sign to be sure.

    Reply
    • Agreed. Sigi as well as Klein and Vagenas need to go. The latter have proven they are incompetent to build a competitive team when you don’t Bruce Arena as your manager.

      Reply
    • I am not going to defend Sigi, but LAG was a mess before he got there too.
      They decided to sign guys like Cole and Gerrard instead of getting good players and building championship teams. They got away with it signing a not good Beckham, cause the league was weaker and they had Landon, plus Keene was a beast. Now they just keep on keeping on with the plan. IT AINT WORKING.

      When LA was winning, I kept saying, am I the only one that sees this team isn’t good, I can’t be alone now……but if they sign some big name aging Euro guy again next year, just watch, everyone will jump on the Galaxy are good wagon again.

      Reply
  4. “Lawrence Olum benefited from a bit of luck in the 70th minute, as he stuck out his boot on the right side of the *SIX YARD BOX and placed the ball just over the line for the equalizer following a corner kick.”

    Reply

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