Altidore Scores Brace in Toronto's Lopsided Win Over San Jose, Portland Takes First in the West
A roundup of Saturday night's MLS action.
Toronto 4, San Jose 0
TORONTO (AP) — Jozy Altidore scored twice in the second half goal and MLS-leading Toronto FC routed the San Jose Earthquakes 4-0 on Saturday.
Victor Vazquez and Canadian substitute Jonathan Osorio also scored to help Toronto (17-3-8) extend its home regular-season undefeated streak to 15 games (12-0-3) dating to October.
Alex Bono made three saves for the shutout.
Marco Urena led San Jose (10-12-6) with two shots on target.
Chicago 1, New York 1
BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. (AP) — Nemanja Nikolic tied it in the 66th minute and the Chicago Fire held on for a 1-1 draw with the New York Red Bulls on Saturday.
Michael de Leeuw squared Johan Kappelhof's deep ball with a flick pass across the top of the 6-yard box and Nikolic connected with a header down into the middle of the net for the Fire (13-9-6).
Bradley Wright-Phillips volleyed home Sacha Kljestan's headed pass in the eighth minute to open the scoring for the Red Bulls (12-10-5). Wright-Phillips has 15 goals this season to join Robbie Keane as the only MLS players with four 15-plus goal seasons.
Kljestan has 48 assists over the last three seasons—only Marco Etcheverry (49) and Pibe Valderrama (53) have more over a three-season span in MLS history.
Portland 1, NYCFC 0
NEW YORK (AP) — Diego Valeri scored in his seventh straight game to tie the MLS record and help the Portland Timbers beat New York City FC 1-0 on Saturday.
Valeri tied the goal mark set by Raul Diaz Arce in 1997 and matched by Wolde Harris in 2000 and Carlos Ruiz in 2006.
Valeri scored in the 44th minute. He has 17 goals this season.
The play started with Darren Mattocks' takeaway from midfielder Andrea Pirlo deep in the NYCFC backfield. Pirlo campaigned for a foul while Mattocks drove unchecked into the area. Valeri gathered Mattocks' cross and smashed it into the left corner.
Valeri had a mostly open net in the 84th, but Sean Johnson scrambled to cover and blocked it over the post.
The Timbers (12-9-8) took first place in the Western Conference, moving two points ahead of the Seattle Sounders. Portland's Mattocks and Vytautas Andriuskevicius left in the second half because of injuries.
NYC dropped to 15-8-5.
Orlando 2, D.C. 1
WASHINGTON (AP) — Cyle Larin and Giles Barnes scored first-half goals and Orlando City held on after having two men sent off late in the second half to beat D.C. United 2-1 on Saturday night.
Dom Dwyer set up the opening goal with a low hard cross in the 19th minute that Larin finished. Barnes made it 2-0 in the 28th minute, getting an open look after a defensive miscue left a loose ball at his feet.
Orlando City (9-12-7) went down to 10 men when Servando Carrasco was sent off for his second yellow card in the 79th minute. Kofi Opare pulled United (8-16-4) to 2-1 in the 89th minute.
Orlando's Seb Hines received a straight red in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time and play continued into the 11th minute of stoppage time before Orlando ended its eight-game winless streak.
New England 1, Montreal 0
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Lee Nguyen scored in the 68th minute and the New England Revolution beat the Montreal Impact 1-0 on Saturday night.
Nguyen took Teal Bunbury's pass about 30 yards out, slid past a pair of defenders and finished with a low hard shot for his ninth goal of the season.
The Revs (10-12-5) moved a point behind the Impact (10-11-6) and Atlanta United, who are tied for the sixth and final playoff spot. New England will play at Atlanta on Wednesday night.
Montreal and New England each have seven remaining games, while expansion Atlanta has 10 left to play.
Minnesota 1, Philadelphia 1
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Ethan Finlay tied it late in the first half and Minnesota United and the Philadelphia Union played to a 1-1 draw Saturday night.
Finlay, who was making his home debut for Minnesota (7-14-5), scored in the 40th minute, pouncing on a loose ball after Andre Blake saved a pair of United's attempts.
C.J. Sapong opened the scoring in the fifth minute for the Union (8-12-8), finishing a wide cross by Fabrice-Jean Picault that skirted behind the entire Minnesota back line.
Vancouver 3, Salt Lake 2
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Kendall Waston and Yordy Reyna scored in the second half and the Vancouver Whitecaps beat Real Salt Lake 3-2 on Saturday night.
Cristian Techera also scored to help Vancouver (12-9-5) move into third place in the Western Conference standings, three points back of the first-place Portland Timbers, with three games in hand.
Chris Wingert and Tony Beltran scored for Real Salt Lake (10-14-5).
Waston, who played 90 minutes in each of Costa Rica's recent World Cup qualifiers, snapped a 1-1 tie in the 52nd minute with his third goal of the season. Reyna made it 3-1 on a diving header in the 64th minute.
