MLS results: Patrick Mullins nets hat trick in D.C. United’s win over Fire
WASHINGTON (AP) — Patrick Mullins scored three goals, Patrick Nyarko had a goal and two assists and D.C. United beat the 10-man Chicago Fire 6–2 on Saturday.
Mullins finished Nyarko’s cross in the 40th minute to give United (7-8-11) the lead for good at 2–1. Mullins made it 3–1 in the first minute of first-half stoppage time and struck again in the 74th for a 5–2 lead. It was the first hat trick for D.C. United since Luis Silva did it in June 2014.
Luciano Acosta gave United the initial lead in the 25th minute with a close-range smash of Marcelo Sarvas’s cross. Michael de Leeuw evened the score for the Fire (5-12-8) on a putback six minutes later.
Khaly Thiam was sent off in the 34th minute when he threw the ball at Nyarko’s face while Nyarko was still on the ground after Thiam’s tackle.
Razvan Cocis capped Chicago's scoring in the second minute of first-half stoppage time, making it 3–2 before the break. Nick DeLeon netted D.C.’s final goal in the 89th minute.
TIMBERS 4, SOUNDERS 2
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Portland erased any lingering disappointment about last weekend's loss to Seattle by soundly beating the Sounders this weekend.
The Timbers scored four goals in the first half Sunday then held off their Cascadia rival 4-2, snapping the Sounders' five-game unbeaten streak.
"After the Seattle game we all hurt," said Steven Taylor, who had his first goal for Portland in the victory. "All week was tough."
Vytautas Andriuskevicius, Fanendo Adi, Lucas Melano and Taylor all scored for the defending MLS Cup champion Timbers (9-10-8). They remained in sixth place in the Western Conference.
Jordan Morris scored for the Sounders (9-13-4). They beat the Timbers 3-1 last Sunday in Seattle but then had a mid-week match at Houston that ended with a 1-all draw.
Seattle forward Clint Dempsey missed the game because of medical tests for an irregular heartbeat. Dempsey also was unavailable for the U.S. national team's upcoming World Cup qualifying matches.
"I will accept the blame for the first half. It's my job to make sure the team is prepared, and obviously that didn't happen," Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer said.
It was the third meeting this season between the Cascadia Cup rivals. Fans of the two teams, along with supporters of the Vancouver Whitecaps, created the Cascadia Cup in 2004 for the winner of the three-way contest based on points each season.
Portland won the first meeting with Seattle last month 3-1 and now lead the season series 2-1.
Andriuskevicius scored on a header off a corner kick for the Timbers in the 16th minute. Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei punched it up into the crossbar and it fell just inside the goal line.
Just some four minutes later Adi scored to make it 2-0. Frei saved a shot by Diego Valeri but the ball landed in front of Adi, who fed it into the goal behind the fallen keeper. It was Adi's 13th goal of the season.
Melano scored off Diego Chara's cross in the 29th minute, before Steven Taylor's header off a free kick in the 43rd to give the Timbers a 4-0 lead going into the break.
Seattle narrowed it when Andreas Ivanschitz's shot deflected off a Portland defender and past goalkeeper Jake Gleeson in the 47th minute. Morris scored some four minutes later with a header and the Sounders gained some momentum.
"I think it was the best performance of the year," Valeri said. "We knew that they'd played on Wednesday against Houston, they traveled, so we took advantage of that, and we did it well, with a good performance. We scored four goals, and it could have been more goals, too. "
The Timbers visit first-place Dallas next Sunday, still looking for their first road win. The Sounders visit San Jose on Sept. 10.
Seattle, in eighth place in the conference standings, could have been helped by Dempsey, who is tied for the team lead with eight goals.
"When you have one less attacker like that on the field, it always makes it a little bit tougher," Morris aid. "We were gelling, I thought, with Clint in the lineup, so it's tough. But, obviously, his health comes first and we hope Clint's good with that."
Seattle general manager Garth Lagerwey said Friday that Dempsey's irregular heartbeat is something the team has been monitoring during the season and the club is now waiting on the recommendations of doctors on how to proceed.
"Clint has given a great service to this club and we owe him an equal measure of respect and support as we go through this medical evaluation," Lagerwey said.
As a result, Dempsey was left off the U.S. national team roster for a pair of upcoming World Cup qualifying matches. The Americans visit St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Friday then hosts Trinidad and Tobago in Jacksonville, Florida, on Sept. 6.
But the Sounders have a representative on the team in 21-year-old Morris, who was named to the roster after missing out on the Copa America team.
Portland midfielder Darlington Nagbe also made the team announced by Jurgen Klinsmann. Nagbe has eight previous appearances with the national team.
The United States is second to Trinidad and Tobago in Group C. The top two teams advance to the six-nation CONCACAF finals, from which three automatically make the field for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
If the U.S. wins on Friday and Trinidad beats Guatemala that day, the Americans will move on with one match left.
ORLANDO CITY 2, NYCFC 1
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Kaka scored a goal in each half and Orlando City beat New York City FC 2-1 on Sunday night in a matchup of 2015 expansion teams.
Kaka gave Orlando City (6-7-13) the lead for good in the 63rd minute when he converted on a penalty he drew after the City defenders brought him down in the area.
Orlando City moved a point behind D.C. United for the sixth and final playoff position in the Eastern Conference.
Kaka opened the scoring in the 32nd minute when he turned the corner on defender Jefferson Mena to get an open look at the goal. Goalkeeper Josh Saunders saved Kaka's initial attempt but failed to secure it and Kaka scored on the follow.
Steven Mendoza tied it for NYCFC (11-8-8) with a right-footed putback in the 55th minute.
RED BULLS 1, REVOLUTION 0
Bradley Wright-Phillips scored his 16th goal of the season in the 55th minute and the New York Red Bulls beat the New England Revolution 1-0.
Revs goalkeeper Brad Knighton saved Alex Muyl's shot and Wright-Phillips put back the deflection with a half-volley into the right corner. Wright-Phillips has 61 goals in 100 career MLS games.
The Red Bulls extended their undefeated streak to nine games and moved into a third-place tie in the East with the Philadelphia Union. The Revolution are winless in their last six.
FC DALLAS 3, DYNAMO 1
HOUSTON (AP) — Michael Barrios scored twice, including the go-ahead goal in the 60th minute, and FC Dallas beat Houston.
Barrios beat goalkeeper Joe Willis in a race to Maynor Figueroa’s long diagonal cross and chipped it past the charging Willis to make it 2–1. A minute earlier, Mauro Diaz tied it for FC Dallas (14-7-6) on a penalty kick after Raul Rodriguez’s hand ball in the area.
Barrios added a long-range strike in the 79th minute to cap the scoring.
Alex gave the Dynamo (5-11-10) the lead in 19th minute with a left-footed rocket from the top of the 18-yard box.
UNION 2, SPORTING KANSAS CITY 0
CHESTER, Pa. (AP) — Roland Alberg had a goal and an assist in Philadelphia’s victory over nine-man Sporting Kansas City.
Alberg opened the scoring in the 67th minute when he collected Fabinho’s pass and sent a right-footer from behind the 18-yard box into the upper right corner for his ninth goal of the season.
Alberg assisted Tranquillo Barnetta in the 92nd minute on a give-and-go that Barnetta finished.
Sporting's Jimmy Medranda was sent off in the 59th minute for his second yellow card and Roger Espinoza received a straight red for violent conduct in the 87th minute.
Philadelphia (11-9-7) has won three of its last four games to move within a point of second-place New York City in the East. Sporting KC dropped to 11-12-5 and remained in fifth place in the West.
CREW 2, EARTHQUAKES 0
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ethan Finlay and Justin Meram scored in Columbus’s victory over San Jose.
Finlay put Meram's wide cross into the right corner to open the scoring for the Crew (5-9-11) in the 32nd minute. Meram added a goal in the 84th minute on a penalty kick he drew against San Jose defender Marvell Wynne. Meram then beat Andrew Tarbell, the backup goalkeeper who entered as a substitute late in the first half when starter David Bingham left with a back injury.
San Jose dropped to 7-8-11.
IMPACT 1, TORONTO FC 0
TORONTO (AP) — Ignacio Piatti scored in the 73rd minute and Montreal beat Toronto FC to end the Reds’ unbeaten streak at seven games.
Piatti picked up Dominic Oduro’s feed and beat goalkeeper Alex Bono for his 14th goal of the season.
Montreal (9-7-10) won for the first time in MLS play at BMO Field, snapping an 0-3-3 stretch. Toronto (12-8-7) had won five straight at home.
WHITECAPS 0, GALAXY 0, TIE
CARSON, Calif. (AP) — Vancouver’s David Ousted and Los Angeles’s Brian Rowe had three saves each.
LA (9-4-13) held onto fourth place in the Western Conference, and Vancouver (8-12-7) moved into a tie with the Seattle Sounders for eighth place—one point out of a playoff position.
The Galaxy’s Jelle Van Damme and Steven Gerrard left the game in the first half with injuries.
