MLS round-up: Vancouver stepped up while both LA clubs disappointed | OneFootball

LA Galaxy dropped two points at home and cross-town rivals LAFC dropped all three while the Whitecaps finally ended Portland’s MLS unbeaten run at 15 games.

The shortest player in MLS scored a game-winning header for Vancouver and Philadelphia centre-back Jack Elliott scored a brace at New England.

Bradley Wright-Phillips continues to write his name in the MLS history books while Sebastian Lletget put on a clinic in embarrassing defenders for viral content.

Portland Timbers 1-2 Vancouver Whitecaps FC

Portland carried a 15-game unbeaten streak into Saturday night’s contest against their Cascadia Cup rivals from north of the border.

Veteran MLS forward Kei Kamara scored in the 14th minute on a gift from Portland goalkeeper Jeff Attinella. Kendall Waston launched a free kick forward and Attinella decided to come off his line but was not anywhere close to claiming the ball. Kamara’s header from outside the penalty area sailed into an unguarded net to give Vancouver the lead.

Portland had a lifeline to get back into the match near the end of the first half. Referee Jair Marrufo pointed to the spot after Waston fouled Diego Valeri in the area but the Argentine attacking midfielder missed the target on the ensuing penalty kick in the 41st minute.

Brek Shea hit fantastic service into the middle of the area from the right wing just two minutes later. Without leaving the ground, Cristian Techera (the shortest player in MLS) knocked his header low past Attinella to double Vancouver’s lead in the 43rd minute.

Sebastián Blanco drew a penalty from full-back Sean Franklin in the second half and Valeri again stepped up to the spot. Unlike his first attempt, Valeri converted in the 71st minute to pull one back.

Despite the incipient comeback and a whopping eight minutes of added time, the Timbers were unable to earn a point on Saturday. While Portland’s impressive unbeaten run was likely to end, allowing Vancouver to score such easy goals to end the streak will smart manager Giovanni Savarese.

Los Angeles Galaxy 2-2 Minnesota United FC

The Galaxy drew first blood in a back-and-forth match at the StubHub Center.

In the seventh minute, Romain Alessandrini exchanged passes with Zlatan Ibrahimović before unleashing a left-footed worm-burner from 30 yards that beat Minnesota goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth. Los Angeles carried that lead into the half-time intermission and had quality chances to increase their lead that went begging.

The Loons drew level in the 64th minute when New Zealand international Michael Boxall met service from Darwin Quintero at the near post to head the ball across the goal-mouth and over goalkeeper David Bingham.

Former West Ham United youth player Sebastian Lletget received a pass from Jonathan dos Santos on the right wing and turned on the style points for his emphatic finish for the Galaxy. Lletget made left-back Eric Miller chase shadows, brushed off a challenge by Rasmus Schüller, and put Francisco Calvo on skates before sliding his shot past Shuttleworth in the 73rd minute.

Ecuadorian forward Romario Ibarra equalized for the visitors in the 84th minute on a great low cross from Abu Danladi on the break.

Los Angeles FC 0-2 Sporting Kansas City

The visitors from the mid-west went ahead inside of 20 minutes and added an insurance goal in the second half. Despite their attacking talent, Los Angeles were unable to score at home for just the second time in their history.

Guinea-Bissau winger Gerso Fernandes scored the game’s first goal in the 17th minute. Chilean forward Diego Rubio fed a ball into space for Gerso, who took a touch before firing a left-footed shot to the far post.

The home side took an impressive 19 total shots in the game but only five of them forced Tim Melia into a save. Sporting KC did well to clog shooting lanes and maintained defensive organization on the road, blocking nine of LAFC’s shots.

SKC’s Felipe Gutiérrez drew a foul from Canada international centre-back Dejan Jaković in the penalty area in the 63rd minute. After referee Ismail Elfath consulted the video review, Ilie Sánchez finally converted his spot-kick three minutes later.

With the win, Sporting move into second place in the Western Conference. The result marked LAFC’s first loss at home in all competitions in their first season.

Real Salt Lake 1-1 Montreal Impact

Real Salt Lake entered Saturday needing wins at home to keep a realistic drive to the post-season alive. After a well-contested match with chances and saves at both ends, Montreal split the points with the home side.

The Impact created two chances early in the game by breaking against Salt Lake’s defense on odd-man rushes. Montreal’s Ignacio Piatti led the charge for the visitors, setting the tempo for the quick counter-attacks they sought to employ.

Montreal’s solid start to the match was undone when Ken Krolicki fouled Joao Plata in the area. The diminutive Ecuadorian converted from the spot to give the home side the lead in the 26th minute with his seventh goal of the season.

Finnish right-back Jukka Raitala equalized for Montreal in the 55th minute with a stunning strike from outside the box. Saphir Taïder took a corner kick short to Alejandro Silva who moved the ball square for Raitala, whose first-time shot with the left foot sailed into the back corner of the net.

RSL made two offensive-minded substitutions in the final ten minutes of regulation but the visitors created the last good chance. Piatti set up Silva inside the area but his shot was saved well by veteran goalkeeper Nick Rimando.

The draw will disappoint the home team but Montreal will take a point in Utah any day of the week.

Colorado Rapids 2-1 San Jose Earthquakes

Centre-back Tommy Smith scored in the 24th minute to put the home side on top. USA international midfielder Kellyn Acosta continued to prove his value after getting traded to Colorado with a superb cross to the far post from a short corner. Smith darted in between Danny Hoesen and Nick Lima and powered his header past a flailing Andrew Tarbell.

Referee Alan Kelly whistled 22-year old defender Kortne Ford for an obvious and unnecessary foul on Guram Kashia in the area just before the hour-mark. Magnus Eriksson scored from the penalty spot to knot the game at one each in the 58th minute.

Veteran left-back Shea Salinas saw red in the 88th minute after a scrum involving several players from both teams. San Jose made a substitution the next minute to bring on another defender but that didn’t help them see out their result.

Bismark Adjei-Boateng’s low shot through traffic beat Tarbell to the far post in the third minute of stoppage time to win the game.

Chicago Fire 0-1 New York Red Bulls

Who else but Bradley Wright-Phillips? New York’s goal-scoring maestro grabbed the game’s only goal early in the second half and the team held on to their lead amid late pressure from the hosts.

Wright-Phillips scored in the 55th minute on a pass from Daniel Royer. Former Red Bull midfielder Dax McCarty uncharacteristically turned over possession and none of Chicago’s back-line followed the run of New York’s #99.

After taking the lead, the visitors more or less sat in to absorb pressure and try to catch the Fire on a counter. The Red Bulls showed their defensive organization by restricting Chicago’s chances but did pick up four bookings after the goal.

New York’s English forward recently made history as the quickest player to score 100 goals in MLS and on Saturday night BWP became the first player in league history to score 15 goals in five straight seasons. In doing so he surpassed LA Galaxy’s Irish forward Robbie Keane who achieved that feat in four consecutive MLS campaigns.

Columbus Crew 0-0 Houston Dynamo

Columbus played the Dynamo to a scoreless draw at home for the first 90 minutes of the match. The Crew’s leading goal-scorer Gyasi Zardes stepped up in stoppage time to grab the game-winner.

USA international goalkeeper Zach Steffen made a great diving save with his right hand to keep the match scoreless in the 72nd minute when Andrew Wenger hit a shot with his left foot from inside the box.

Ghanaian right-back Harrison Afful played early service from the wing that missed Patrick Mullins on the way through. The ball bounced inside the Houston area and Zardes controlled it with his chest before firing past Joe Willis in stride.

Houston were upset that Crew forward Mullins was in an offside position and attempted to play the ball with his head but never made contact.

Zardes’s 14th goal of the MLS season in the first minute of stoppage time won the game for the home side.

New England Revolution 2-3 Philadelphia Union

Philadelphia centre-back Jack Elliott had a match to remember on Saturday night. The 22-year old Englishman scored twice on the road in the Union’s win at New England.

After a one-two on a short corner kick, between Haris Medunjanin and Bořek Dočkal, the Bosnian midfielder hit a low cross towards the near post. Elliott beat Wilfried Zahibo to the service and flicked the ball with his right heel to score past Matt Turner in the 14th minute.

Ten minutes later Elliott scored his second goal in more straightforward fashion. The defender stayed up after a broken corner kick and tapped in a rebound after his team-mate Fafa Picault’s shot came back off the post.

New England drew level in the second half through right-back Andrew Farrell and defensive midfielder Zahibo. Farrell hit a pile-driver of a shot with his left foot from outside of the area to pull the Revolution within one in the first minute of the second half. The hard shot deflected off of Philadelphia defender Auston Trusty to wrong-foot goalkeeper Andre Blake.

Zahibo delicately nodded a free kick from Diego Fagúndez inside the far post in the 64th minute to equalize. Unfortunately for the home side, Antonio Delamea handled the ball in the area and Picault converted the penalty to restore the Union’s lead.

With the win, Philadelphia surpassed the Revolution in the Eastern Conference standings.