Western Conference leaders Houston leave it late for a draw with Real Salt Lake, and Eastern Conference leaders DC United leave Commerce City with a lot of questions. Meanwhile, our decision to freeze SuperLiga teams in our depth chart means not a lot of movement in the rankings.
Los Angeles 1 - San Jose 2
Pablo Campos stepped up big-time for the Earthquakes, scoring on the first goal and assisting on the second in a win that might keep them bottom of the Western Conference but puts them within a three points of better days. Campos converted a 6th minute penalty and setup Ryan Johnson to make it 2-0 in the 54th. Jovan Kirovski ruined Joe Cannon's shutout attempt in the 65th minute. "Looking at the last four games we've won two, lost one and tied one, but we should have really won in Dallas," San Jose coach Frank Yallop said. "I feel we're on the right path, we work very had in sticking our head in, making it difficult for our opponents when the ball is played into the box."
Seattle 1 - New York 1
New York left it late in the first half, when Juan Pablo Angel got his sixth goal of the season in the 40th. Seattle left it later, equalizing through Fredy Montero in the third minute of first-half stoppage time. "I think obviously we would like to win the game and I think we were capable of winning the game," Red Bulls keeper Danny Cepero said. "Aside from the breakdown, I think we played well enough not to just get the draw, but get the 'W' and getting those two points for us would have been huge. At the same time, you have to take the good with the bad. We fought hard until the end. I think we should have found a goal somewhere at the end but at the same time, you can't be depressed at a tie, especially when you are losing games day in and day out."
Salt Lake 1 - Houston 1
The Western Conference leaders couldn't hold up at home against one of the worst teams in the League. Fabian Espinolda gave RSL the lead in the 28th minute and it took Houston until the 89th to answer back through Brian Ching. Real Salt Lake finished with just one shot on goal from two attempts. "It was a frustrating night for a lot of reasons," Houston coach Dominic Kinnear said. "I think it would have been a different press conference if we walked off the field with nothing. The guys stuck to it. We got a great goal by Brian. We created a lot of chances, but it was one of those nights where our touches were a little bit off. Our runs and our passes weren't connecting."
Columbus 1 - Dallas 2
FC Dallas gets the home win for the first time in a long time, and they do it after having to come back against the Crew. Dallas' Pablo Ricchetti spotted Columbus a goal when he deflected Eric Brunner's header into the back of his own net in the 17th. Dallas got that goal back when Eric Aliva scored in the 80th. With Kenny Cooper at the penalty spot in the 87th minute, Dallas turned one point into three. "It feels really good to win," Cooper said. "We went on a nice four-game unbeaten run before Houston and had beaten Chicago when they were the only unbeaten team in the league. That was a big win for us and this is another big win. Hopefully this puts us back on track."
DC 0 - Colorado 3
Omar Cummins scored in the 11th and 45th minutes, and Colin Clark shut the door on DC in the 49th with the Rapids' third goal. Matt Pickens gets the shutout and needed five saves to keep the clean sheet. “We’ve had 3 games in 8 days, and they’re sitting on 10 days rest," DC United coach Tom Soehn said. "We knew it was going to be difficult, putting in as much as we did against Seattle, but we have some time to rest and I expect us to get back to where we need to be."
MLS Depth Chart
1. Houston (barely pulled off the draw) EVEN
2. Seattle (turned six points into two) EVEN
3. Chivas USA (SuperLiga) EVEN
4. Colorado (big win over DC) EVEN
5. DC United (turned six points into one) EVEN
6. Columbus (losers and lucky SuperLiga teams are frozen) EVEN
7. Chicago (SuperLiga) EVEN
8. Kansas City (SuperLiga) EVEN
9. Toronto (did not play) EVEN
10. New England (SuperLiga) EVEN
11. Salt Lake (draw against Conference leaders) +2
12. San Jose (win over the Galaxy) +1
13. Dallas (three points) +1
14. Los Angeles (missing Landon Donovan) -3
15. New York (draw instead of a loss) EVEN
