MLS Recap: Gyasi Zardes's Double Earns Caleb Porter First Columbus Win, FC Dallas Beats Galaxy
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Gyasi Zardes scored two goals and the Columbus Crew beat the New England Revolution 2-0 on Saturday for coach Caleb Porter's first victory with the club.
Zardes opened the scoring in the 26th minute with his first goal of the season for Columbus (1-0-1). Pedro Santos received a pass near midfield, dribbled it down the left side and found Zardes for a header at the edge of the 6-yard box.
Goalkeeper Zack Steffen kept Columbus in front in the 59th by denying Diego Fagundez's penalty kick. Then Steffen's long goal kick in the closing minutes of the game got past the defense and Hector Jimenez passed it to a wide-open Zardes in front of the goal for an easy finish.
Porter has been without a club since mutually agreeing to part ways with Portland after the 2017 season. He guided the Timbers to a 2015 MLS Cup victory and a playoff berth in three of five seasons.
The ninth overall pick in the 2019 SuperDraft, Tajon Buchanan, made his MLS debut for New England (0-1-1).
FC Dallas 2, LA Galaxy 0
FRISCO, Texas — Reto Ziegler and Bryan Acosta scored second-half goals and FC Dallas beat the LA Galaxy 2-0 on Saturday.
Ziegler opened the scoring in the 53rd minute, beating goalkeeper David Bingham with a penalty kick into the left corner. The Galaxy's Diego Polenta conceded the penalty for a high kick in the area.
FC Dallas (1-0-1) doubled the lead in the 61st minute when Paxton Pomykal dribbled near the goal line and sent it back to Acosta who smashed a home volley from inside the penalty arc.
The Galaxy (1-1-0) traveled without two of their Designated Players, Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Achilles) and Romain Alessandrini (right hamstring).
Houston Dynamo 2, Montreal Impact 1
HOUSTON — Mauro Manotas scored in the 86th minute and the Houston Dynamo beat the Montreal Impact 2-1 on Saturday.
Manotas finished Romell Quioto's cross with a right-footed stab to give Houston (1-0-1) the lead. It was Manotas' 50th career goal across all competitions.
The Impact (1-1-0) opened the scoring in the 34th minute when Saphir Taider picked Micheal Azira's looping pass out of the air with a right-footed volley into the right side of the goal. It was Taider's second goal of the season.
The Dynamo tied it two minutes later. Memo Rodriguez settled Tomas Martinez's pass at the top of the arc with one touch and unleashed a left-footed knuckler into the upper right corner.
Real Salt Lake 1, Vancouver Whitecaps 0
SANDY, Utah — Albert Rusnak scored on a penalty in the 21st minute and Real Salt Lake held on to beat the Vancouver Whitecaps 1-0 on Saturday.
Rusnak fired his second goal of the season into the upper right corner, converting the penalty after Jakob Nerwinski brought down Corey Baird in the 18-yard box.
Nick Rimando made five saves to preserve the clean sheet for Real Salt Lake (1-0-1).
The Whitecaps dropped to 0-2-0.
Minnesota United 3, San Jose Earthquakes 0
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Darwin Quintero had a goal and an assist on Saturday night and Minnesota United beat the San Jose Earthquakes 3-0 to open the season with back-to-back wins.
Quintero opened the scoring for Minnesota United (2-0-0) with a penalty in the 49th minute. Marco Lopez was called for a hand ball in the penalty area after video review.
Miguel Ibarra made it 2-0 in the 52nd minute. Quintero started the counterattack from behind midfield and fed it to Ibarra who set up his left-footed finish with a cutback.
San Jose's Harold Cummings scored an own goal in the 75th minute as Jan Gregus' corner deflected off his shoulder into the net.
It was Minnesota United's first ever win against the Quakes (0-2-0). San Jose won all four of the previous matches in the series.
Chicago Fire 1, Orlando City 1
BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. — C.J. Sapong scored on a header in the last minute of stoppage time and the 10-man Chicago Fire tied Orlando City 1-1 on Saturday.
In the closing seconds, Przemyslaw Frankowski sent a cross to the penalty spot and an open Sapong headed it inside the far post in the rain. Sapong, who made his club debut last week, also scored in the opener for Chicago's only two goals on the season.
Chicago (0-1-1) was shorthanded for much of the second half after defender Jorge Corrales was given a straight red card in the 64th by taking down Nani in a goal-scoring opportunity just outside the penalty area.
Dom Dwyer scored in the 47th minute for Orlando (0-0-2) by capitalizing on a defensive mistake. Nani sent a pass over the defense that goalkeeper David Ousted and defender Johan Kappelhof miscommunicated on and Dwyer hustled to get between them for a poke it into the back of the net. It was the first goal of the season for Dwyer, 75th of his career, and Orlando's 200th in club history
Orlando snapped a 14-game road losing streak, but hasn't beaten Chicago since September 19, 2015.
Seattle Sounders FC 2, Colorado Rapids 0
SEATTLE — Kelvin Leerdam and Raul Ruidiaz scored in the first eight minutes in the Seattle Sounders’ 2-0 victory over the Colorado Rapids on Saturday night.
The Sounders (2-0-0) have won their opening two regular-season games for the first time since 2012.
Leerdam put Seattle on the board in the fifth minute with his second goal of the year. Brad Smith, playing on the left side of the penalty area, sent the ball in toward the goalmouth. A point-blank shot by Nicolas Lodeiro was kicked away, but only as far out as the penalty spot. Leerdam was right there and drove it into the back center of the net.
In the eighth minute, Ruidiaz took a long through ball from Lodeiro at the top of the box. He sent it toward the left side to Victor Rodriguez, who passed it back toward the penalty spot. Ruidiaz shot it into the upper center beyond the reach of goalkeeper Tim Howard for his second.
Colorado dropped to 0-1-1.
