MLS Recap: Crew Complete Remarkable Second-Half Comeback to Draw With Toronto FC
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Federico Higuain converted a penalty kick in the 90th minute to cap a thrilling comeback by Columbus to rally from a 3-0 deficit to earn a 3-3 draw with Toronto FC on Saturday night.
Higuain drove a corner kick to the center of the box and Gyasi Zardes leaped high to head it past Alexander Bono for the Crew's first goal in the 67th minute and Alex Crognale scored his first professional goal by driving home a carom after a Columbus free kick in the 81st.
Columbus now is unbeaten in its last eight games and its franchise-record streak of not allowing a goal reached more than 500 minutes before Victor Vazquez got the Reds the lead on a 17th minute penalty, then pushed a pass across the goal mouth to find an open Tosaint Ricketts for a goal in the 38th minute to make it 2-0 heading into intermission.
Sebastian Giovinco made it 3-0 in the 57th minute.
Dallas 2, LAFC 1
DALLAS (AP) — Roland Lamah provided an insurance goal in the 52nd minute and FC Dallas moved into first place atop the Western Conference with a 2-1 win over LAFC on Saturday.
Dallas (7-1-5) remained unbeaten in eight home games this season and extended its unbeaten streak at home to 14 contests. Meanwhile, Lamah, who has 17 career goals, now has scored 16 of them at Toyota Stadium.
Reto Ziegler put Dallas out front in the 27th minute with a header off a Dallas set piece just outside the box for his first MLS goal.
Adama Diomande prevented the shutout for LAFC (6-4-3) in the 61st minute. Diomande was a substitute for Lee Nguyen who got his first start for the club. Diomande scored less than 10 minutes after entering on a give-and-go with Benny Feilhaber.
Dallas took a one-man advantage after Jordan Harvey's second yellow card of the match with five minutes of stoppage time remaining.
Portland 1, Toronto 1
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) Although the Portland Timbers lost their winning streak, they were happy to come away with a draw against the LA Galaxy.
Diego Valeri scored on a penalty kick early in the second half to lift the Timbers into a 1-all tie on Saturday, which snapped Portland's franchise-record six-game win streak.
The stretch matched Orlando's streak for the longest in Major League Soccer this season. It also matched the second-longest winning streak in the league since 2000—when the league started recording draws. Sporting Kansas City won seven straight in 2012.
Portland, coming off a victory at Colorado last weekend, was winless in its first five games of the season, earning just two overall points. All of those games were played on the road because of construction at Providence Park. The Timbers (6-3-3) have not lost since April 8 at Orlando.
''Of course, we could have done better, but it's these types of games. Sometimes there are games like this, they are very difficult and choppy. They're just tough,'' Timbers coach Giovanni Savarese said. ''You have to put that extra effort in collectively to get a result.''
The Galaxy (5-7-2) were coming off a 3-2 loss in Dallas on Wednesday night. Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored both goals in the loss, the first in the 69th minute and the second in stoppage time.
Ibrahimovic started against Dallas and was a substitute against the Timbers. He did not warm up pregame, joining the bench shortly before game-time. He entered the game in the 72nd minute to the boos of the Portland crowd.
Afterward, coach Sigi Schmid said he made the decision to sit Ibrahimovic for the start because of the turf surface at Providence Park and his history with knee injuries.
Ibrahimovic came to the Galaxy in late March from Manchester United, where he played for two seasons. The 36-year-old made 53 appearances with the English club, scoring 29 goals.
In nine appearances for the Galaxy this season, Ibrahimovic has five goals and three assists.
''Obviously, we would have wanted to win the game, but once they equalized on the penalty it was important for us to walk away with at least a point from here, so I was pleased we were able to do that,'' Schmid said.
The Galaxy took the early lead with a left-footed goal from Chris Pontius in the 20th minute. Still trailing at the half, the Timbers tied it with Diego Valeri's penalty kick in the 57th minute. It was the reigning league MVP's team-leading sixth goal of the season.
The Timbers were hurt in the 63rd minute when Diego Chara was handed a yellow card, which means he'll be suspended for next weekend's game against Sporting Kansas City because of accumulation.
Chara was making his 215th appearance with the Timbers, a new club record across all eras.
''I think it's a great feeling to be part of the history,'' Chara said. ''Now I have to continue working on my role.''
Valeri was subbed out of the game late because a knot in his calf, Savarese said. Both teams said the heat was a factor with temperatures hovering around 80 degrees.
Portland's best chance to preserve the winning streak came in the 83rd minute with Bill Tuiloma's header, but Galaxy goalkeeper David Bingham deflected it outside of the post.
The Galaxy were short-handed with forward Ola Kamara (Norway), Giovanni and Jonathan dos Santos (Mexico) all on World Cup duty. The Timbers were missing David Guzman (Costa Rica) and Andy Polo (Peru).
Atlanta 3, Philadelphia 1
ATLANTA (AP) — Josef Martinez tied the all-time Major League Soccer record with his fifth career hat trick to lead Atlanta United past the short-handed Philadelphia Union 3-1 on Saturday night.
The leader for the MLS Golden Boot coming into the game, Martinez was pulled down in the box in the 18th minute and not only was awarded a penalty kick, but sparked an outburst by Philadelphia that resulted in two red cards and left the Union two players down for the remainder of the game.
Alejandro Bedoya and Haris Medunjanin vehemently disagreed with the call by referee Sorin Stoica. Bedoya, who picked up an earlier yellow card, drew an immediate red card and Medunjanin first was shown a yellow card before being sent off with a red.
Martinez converted a PK for a 1-0 lead and his 10th goal this season and added his 11th at the start of play in the second half.
Fabrice-Jean Picault got the Union back within one with his goal in the 52nd minute from close range, but Martinez added his third goal and second penalty kick of the game in the 83rd minute.
Philadelphia came in 3-0-1 in its last four, but fell to 1-5-1 on the road.
New England 2, New York 1
FOXBORO, Mass. (AP) — Teal Bunbury scored his eighth goal of the season at the 78th minute off Cristian Penilla's cross to send New England past New York for a 2-1 win on Saturday.
Penilla beat his defender to the left of the goal mouth and in tight quarters and found Bunbury from close range who punched it in. Diego Fagundez knotted the game at a goal apiece in the 46th minute of the first half from the right side of the box to bring New England (6-4-4) even.
Bradley Wright-Phillips gave New York (8-3-3) a quick 1-0 lead in the eighth minute on a header to score in his fourth straight game against New England. Wright-Phillips, with nine goals in 12 games played this season, fell two goals behind Atlanta's Josef Martinez in the Golden Boot race after the Venezuelan scored a hat trick in a 3-1 win over Philadelphia on Saturday.
NYCFC 3, Orlando 0
NEW YORK (AP) — Ismael Tajouri-Shradi scored two goals and New York City FC blanked Orlando City SC 3-0 on Saturday night.
The Libyan winger took a pass from Anton Tinnerholm in space, cut the ball to his left foot and tucked the ball inside the far post to make it 1-0 in the 35th minute.
Orlando City had its best chance to even the game minutes into the second half. Chris Mueller was pulled down inside the box by Alex Callens to earn a penalty kick, but Sacha Kljestan caromed his kick off the post.
Tajouri-Shradi added an insurance goal, his seventh of the season, in the 79th minute by threading a free kick through a crowd of defenders. Maxi Morales added his sixth goal of the season in the final minutes to complete the scoring.
New York City now has won all six games it's played at Yankee Stadium. Orlando City now has lost four straight games after a streak of six-straight wins.
Montreal 1, Houston 0
MONTREAL (AP) — Jeisson Vargas scored Montreal's first goal in five games, leading the Impact to a 1-0 win over the Houston Dynamo on Saturday night.
Vargas, with his fourth of the year, ended the Impact's 425-minute scoreless drought with a beautiful curled shot in the 44th minute to snap Montreal's (4-10-0) four-game skid.
It was only the second time this year that Houston, the league's second-best offence, had been shut out.
The Dynamo (5-5-3), coming off a 2-1 loss to Real Salt Lake on Wednesday, rested some tired legs to start the game.
Scoring threats Romell Quioto and Mauro Manotas began on the bench. Quioto came in in the 58th minute and Manotas in the 63rd, but neither could salvage a point for the visitors.
Vargas' goal was worthy of breaking the franchise's longest stretch without a goal in Major League Soccer.
Jumping on a weak clearance by DaMarcus Beasley, midfielder Samuel Piette found Vargas in tight coverage at the edge of the penalty box. With four orange jerseys converging on him quickly, Vargas took one touch before curling a right-footed strike in the top corner of the net.
It was Montreal's first goal since Ignacio Piatti's 68th-minute strike on May 5 against New England.
The Dynamo fell to 0-6-0 all-time in Montreal while getting outscored 16-2 in the losses.
Salt Lake 2, Seattle 0
SANDY, Utah (AP) — Corey Baird headed home the game-winning goal and Real Salt Lake continued its season-long mastery of Seattle with 2-0 victory on Saturday night.
Danilo Acosta's shot from just outside the goal box caromed high off Seattle keeper Stefan Frei and a wide-open Baird jumped and headed the rebound inside the far post in the 57th minute for a 1-0 lead.
The Sounders, desperate to jump-start an anemic offense, pushed everyone forward on a set piece in the 90th minute in hopes of finding an equalizer, but Luis Silva instead found the open Seattle net to set the final score.
Real Salt Lake now has four wins in their last five matches against Seattle and posted back-to-back shutout wins over the Sounders following a 1-0 victory a week ago in Seattle.
Seattle has been shut out in each of its seven losses and has managed a league-worst seven goals in its first 11 games.
