Crew down Minnesota United as Nashville SC hold off DC United
Chara gives Portland 1-0 victory over Seattle
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Sept 24, (AP): Lucas Zelarayán and Pedro Santos each had a goal and an assist and the MLS-leading Columbus Crew beat Minnesota United 2-0.
The Crew (9-1-3) are unbeaten in six games and have won four of their last five.
Santos bent an arcing ball to the center of the area, where Zelarayán opened the scoring with a diving header in the 31st minute. Santos faked right and went back to his left before blasting a left-footer the deflected off the hands of goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair and then the crossbar in the 70th.
Robin Lod scored in the 88th minute for Minnesota (5-5-3).
Nashville SC 1, D.C. United 0 In Nashville, Tenn, Daniel Rios scored his first MLS goal on a diving header and Nashville SC beat D.C. United 1-0 in the league’s first game with a female center referee in more than 20 years.
Tori Penso directed the match as center referee. The last woman to do it was Sandy Hunt on May 13, 2000.
Dave Romney headed a corner kick to Rios for the winner in the 70th minute.
Nashville (4-5-3) rebounded from a 2-0 loss Saturday to MLS-leading Columbus that snapped a four-match unbeaten streak. D.C. United (2-6-5) are winless in four games.
D.C. United played the second half
SOCCER
with 10 men after midfielder Russell Canouse picked up his second yellow card in the closing seconds of the first half.
Timbers 1, Sounders 0
In Portland, Oregon, Yimmi Chara scored in the opening minutes and Portland went on to beat Pacific Northwest rivals Seattle.
It was the first time two sets of brothers played against each other in MLS history: Yimmi and Diego Chara for Portland, and Alex and Cristian Roldan for Seattle.
The Sounders (6-3-3) peppered Portland goalkeeper Steve Clark with shots but couldn’t score, snapping a twogame winning streak.
The Timbers (6-4-3) were coming off a 6-1 victory over the Earthquakes in San Jose on Saturday. It was the team’s most goals ever in a regularseason game.
Toronto FC 1, NYCFC 0
In Harrison, NJ, Alejandro Pozuelo scored on a penalty kick in the 90th minute and Alex Bono made eight saves to tie the Toronto FC shutout record with 28 in the Reds’ victory over New York City.
Pozuelo scored his fifth of the season, beating goalkeeper Sean Johnson with a right-footed shot to the bottom right corner. Pozuelo has converted nine of 10 penalty attempts for TFC,
missing one of two spot kicks in a 1-1 tie with NYCFC at Yankee Stadium last September. Los Angeles FC 6, Whitecaps 0 In Los Angeles, Bradley WrightPhillips scored twice to move into fifth place on the MLS career list and Los Angeles beat Vancouver.
Wright-Phillips scored on a spinning right-footed half-volley from the center of the area in the fifth minute and put away a bicycle kick from the top of the 6-yard box in the 11th to give LAFC (5-5-3) a 3-0 lead. His second goal gave him 115 in his MLS career, moving him past Ante Razov into fifth.
Dejan Jakovic headed home a corner kick by Brian Rodríguez to open the scoring just 1:35 in, the fastest goal in franchise history. It was Jakovic’s second career MLS goal and first since May 26, 2012.
Rapids 5, Earthquakes 0
In Commerce City, Colo, Cole Bassett and Jonathan Lewis each scored for the second consecutive game and Colorado routed San Jose.
Bassett headed home an entry by Jack Price off a free kick to open the scoring in the 35th minute. The 19-year-old homegrown has three goals in the last four games.
Lewis ran onto a no-look pass from Kellyn Acosta and put it away in the 50th minute, and an own goal made it 3-0 in the 70th. Nicolás Mezquida and Andre Shinyashiki added late goals for the Rapids (5-4-4).
Atlanta United 1, FC Dallas 0
In Atlanta, Jeff Larentowicz scored on a penalty kick and Atlanta United beat FC Dallas to end a six-game winless streak.
Larentowicz converted from the spot in the 55th minute after FC Dallas’ Matt Hedges was called for a hand ball in the area. The 38-year-old Larentowicz has two goals and an assist in the last three games after managing only three goals and five assists in the previous four seasons combined.
Red Bulls 4, Inter Miami 1
In Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Brian White scored the first of New York’s three second-half goals and the Red Bulls beat Inter Miami.
After a turnover by Inter Miami, Omir Fernandez played a one-touch pass to White for a first-timer from the center of the area that made it 2-1 in the 49th minute. New York (5-6-2) have won two of their last three games after a four-game winless streak that included three losses.
Orlando City 2, Sporting KC 1
In Kansas City, Kansas, Tesho Akindele and Benji Michel scored in the first half and Orlando City beat Sporting Kansas City to run its unbeaten streak to seven games.
Akindele scored in the 36th minute. Two minutes later, Nani passed to Michel on the edge of the penalty area. Michel beat a defender and connected for Orlando City (7-2-4) from close range.
Revolution 3, Impact 1 In Foxborough, Mass, rookie Henry Kessler scored his first MLS goal to help New England beat Montreal for their first victory of the season at Gillette Stadium. Gustavo Bou and Diego Fagundez also scored for New England (4-3-6).
Lassi Lappalainen scored for Montreal (5-7-1).
Fire 4, Dynamo 0
In Chicago, Robert Beric scored for the third consecutive game and Chicago beat Houston to end a five-game winless streak.
Beric one-touched a redirection from 7 yards in the 15th minute. Fabian Herbers, Álvaro Medrán and C.J. Sapong also scored for Chicago (3-7-3).
Union 0, FC Cincinnati 0
In Cincinnati, Andre Blake had the only save of the match and Philadelphia stretched their unbeaten streak to four with a scoreless draw with FC Cincinnati.
Blake stopped Joseph-Claude Gyau’s left-footed shot in the 92nd minute.
RSL 2, LA Galaxy 0
In Sandy, Utah, Albert Rusnak and Damir Kreilach scored second-half goals and Real Salt Lake beat the LA Galaxy.
Real Salt Lake (4-4-5) ended a threegame home losing streak. The Galaxy (4-5-3) lost 2-0 to Colorado on Saturday – their first defeat since July 18 – and are winless in three.