Zlatan-less Galaxy blanked by MLS West leader Dallas

LOS ANGELES: Reto Ziegler’s penalty kick in the 53rd minute and Bryan Acosta’s blast in the 61st gave FC Dallas a 2-0 Major League Soccer victory Saturday over the Los Angeles Galaxy.

The visiting Galaxy were without Swedish star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who didn’t train with Los Angeles during the week after suffering an Achilles tendon injury.

Ibrahimovic, who scored 22 goals in 27 games for the Galaxy last season, scored an 80th minute header in a 2-1 season-opening victory last Saturday against the Chicago Fire.

The victory pushed Dallas atop the MLS Western Conference with four points and a plus-two goal difference to match Columbus for the league’s top mark overall.

Columbus won 2-0 at New England on a Gyasi Zardes brace, the US striker scoring in the 26th minute and six minutes into second half stoppage time.

The Fire needed a C.J. Sapong goal in the fifth minute of second half stoppage time to escape with a 1-1 draw against Orlando on Saturday after the Lions grabbed the lead on Dom Dwyer’s 47th-minute goal.

Czech midfielder Albert Rusnak scored on a penalty kick in the 21st minute to give Real Salt Lake a 1-0 victory at Vancouver.

Colombia’s Mauro Manotas scored in the 86th minute, stretching his run of goals to five consecutive MLS matches, to give Houston a 2-1 home victory over Montreal.

The visiting Impact scored first on Saphir Tadir’s 34th-minute strike but Memo Rodriguez equalized only two minutes later for the Dynamo.