MLS Recap: Wayne Rooney Scores Hat Trick as D.C., Seattle Win Big During Goal-Filled Saturday
WASHINGTON — Wayne Rooney scored a hat trick and added an assist on Saturday night to help D.C. United beat nine-man Real Salt Lake 5-0.
Rooney converted a penalty to open the scoring in the 34th minute. Marcelo Silva brought down Paul Arriola in the 18-yard box and the penalty was confirmed after video review.
Leonardo Jara dispossessed Aaron Herrera and found an open Rooney, who finished with a chip shot into the right corner in the 35th minute.
Rooney made it 3-0 in the 65th minute, Lucas Rodriguez scored in the 76th and Ulises Segura capped the scoring in the 80th.
Bill Hamid notched his third clean sheet as D.C. United (2-0-1) has not allowed a goal this season.
Jefferson Savarino was shown red in first-half stoppage time for a high kick that landed on Luciano Acosta's face. Silva received a second yellow card and was sent off in the 67th minute.
Real Salt Lake dropped to 1-1-1.
LA Galaxy 3, Minnesota United 2
CARSON, Calif. — Jonathan dos Santos and Chris Pontius scored first-half goals and the LA Galaxy held on to beat Minnesota United 3-2 on Saturday night.
Dos Santos scored on a penalty kick to open the scoring in the 36th minute. Osvaldo Alonso conceded the penalty, taking down Uriel Antuna in the 18-yard box.
Chris Pontius doubled the lead for the Galaxy (2-1-0) in the 41st minute, redirecting Rolf Feltscher's cross. The goal came at the end of a 25-pass buildup with Emmanuel Boateng finding Feltscher wide open on the right side and Feltscher drawing out goalkeeper Vito Mannone before making the cross into Pontius.
Minnesota United (2-1-0) pulled within one in the 75th minute when Jan Gregus fired home a right-footed shot from beyond the right side of the penalty area that beat goalkeeper David Bingham.
The Galaxy made it 3-1 in the 81st minute as Sebastian Lletget finished Antuna's cross.
Angelo Rodriguez capped the scoring with a putback in the 87th minute for Minnesota.
Seattle Sounders 4, Chicago Fire 2
BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. — Victor Rodriguez and Jordan Morris each had first-half goals and Seattle scored the opening three goals before holding off the Chicago Fire 4-2 on Saturday for the Sounders' third straight victory to open the season.
Seattle (3-0-0), which has outscored its opponents 10-3 this season, is off to its best start since 2009.
Rodriguez opened the scoring in the eighth minute by tapping home Morris's cross inside the 6-yard box. Morris scored seven minutes later on a breakaway by finishing Nicolas Lodeiro's pass behind the Chicago defense. Lodeiro added a goal in the 49th with a penalty kick off the underside of the crossbar.
Sounders keeper Stefan Frei had a big first half, getting a hand on Nemanja Nikolic's breakaway shot in the 25th and diving to his left to deny Przemyslaw Frankowski's curling attempt from distance in the 41st.
Chicago (0-2-1) scored in the 56th when Raheem Edwards headed home a pass from CJ Sapong, who was held scoreless for the first time this season. Fabian Herbers added a goal in the 84th, but Seattle's Raul Ruidiaz sealed it two minutes later by scoring in his eighth consecutive MLS match.
New York Red Bulls 4, San Jose Earthquakes 1
HARRISON, N.J. — Alex Muyl scored a pair of second-half goals on Saturday and the New York Red Bulls rallied after an early deficit for a 4-1 win over the San Jose Earthquakes.
Muyl tied it for the Red Bulls (1-0-1) on a close-range shot in the 51st minute and made it 2-1 with a volley off a defensive deflection in the 71st minute.
Bradley Wright-Phillips added a third goal for New York in the 85th minute and Daniel Royer capped the scoring in the 89th.
Cristian Espinoza opened the scoring in the fifth minute for San Jose (0-3-0) with his first MLS goal.
Matias Almeyda, who joined San Jose in the offseason after leading C.D. Guadalajara to a CONCACAF Champions League title in 2018, is still looking for his first point as coach of the Earthquakes.
Montreal Impact 3, Orlando City 1
ORLANDO, Fla. — Ignacio Piatti scored two goals on Saturday and the Montreal Impact beat Orlando City 3-1.
Orji Okwonkwo gave the Impact (2-1-0) the lead in the 14th minute with his first MLS goal. Piatti added another Impact goal a minute later, capitalizing on a defensive miscue as Orlando's Shane O'Neill misplayed a pass following the kickoff.
Piatti eluded Sacha Kljestan with a cutback and slotted home a right-footed shot to make it 3-0 in the 80th minute.
Dom Dwyer scored with a sliding finish into an open net to pull one back for Orlando City (0-1-2) in the 91st minute.
Montreal's Zakaria Diallo was shown a red card in the 96th minute after contact with Dwyer.
Houston Dynamo 3, Vancouver Whitecaps 2
HOUSTON — Memo Rodriguez scored twice, including the winner in the 73rd minute, and the Houston Dynamo remained unbeaten with a 3-2 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday.
Mauro Manotas sent a perfectly weighted ball forward that Alberth Elis ran behind and crossed to Rodriguez, who finished into the center of the goal to cap the scoring.
Rodriguez opened the scoring for the Dynamo (2-0-1) with a tap-in off Elis's cross in the 15th minute.
Fredy Montero tied it at 1 for the Whitecaps (0-3-0) with a penalty kick in the 35th minute. Adam Lundkvist conceded the penalty, taking down Montero in the area.
Elis put the Dynamo back on top at 2-1, converting a penalty in the 42nd minute after video review confirmed Derek Cornelius fouled Elis on a drive into the area.
Lass Bangoura pulled Vancouver even at 2-all in the 54th, intercepting a pass near midfield and taking it by himself into the 18-yard box for a right-footed finish.
Columbus Crew SC 1, FC Dallas 0
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Gaston Sauro scored in the 10th minute on a glancing header of Pedro Santos' corner kick and the Columbus Crew beat FC Dallas 1-0 on Saturday.
Columbus (2-0-1) topped FC Dallas (1-1-1) at home for just the second time since 2012.
Columbus goalkeeper Zack Steffen came out of his area in the 57th minute for a kick save of Michael Barrios' open shot at the corner of the 6-yard box. It was Steffen's second straight shutout, keeping the Crew's opponents scoreless for 264 minutes since the New York Red Bulls scored in the sixth minute of a 1-1 draw in the season opener on March 2.
Sauro scored for the second time this season after scoring six times in seven games last year. Crew veteran Justin Meram entered as a substitute in the 78th minute for his 200th regular-season appearance.
