MLS Recap: LAFC, Sporting KC Use Hat Tricks to Secure Lopsided Wins, Revs Win First Game
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Krisztian Nemeth became the first Hungarian with a hat trick in MLS history, Johnny Russell added two goals and Sporting Kansas City cruised past the Montreal Impact 7-1 on Saturday.
Sporting KC (2-1-1), which has won two of its last three, won a game in the series for the first time since July 18, 2015. Montreal (2-2-0) was trying for its third road win of the season, which would have matched its 2018 total.
Russell, Nemeth and Felipe Gutierrez each scored in the first half. Russell curled a loose ball into the far corner from the top of the 18-yard box in the 10th minute, Nemeth had a sliding finish of a breakaway opportunity in the 43rd and Gutierrez redirected a cross for his first goal of the season in stoppage time.
Russell added another goal in the 50th by cutting back his defender and rolling it inside the far post. Nemeth made it 5-0 in the 68th and 7-0 in the 84th, separated by 16-year-old Gianluca Busio's first goal at home.
LAFC 5, San Jose Earthquakes 0
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Carlos Vela capped his first career MLS hat trick with a curling shot from distance and Los Angeles FC beat the San Jose Earthquakes 5-0 on Saturday.
Vela has six goals and three assists in five games this season.
LAFC (4-0-1) opened the scoring in the eighth minute by capitalizing on a goalkeeper mistake as Daniel Vega whiffed on a clearance attempt and Vela walked it into the back of the net in the eighth minute. Vela added a goal in first-half stoppage time by redirecting home a cross in front of the goal, and he had the goal of the match in the 66th.
Former San Jose defender Steven Beitashour got past the defense for a through ball in the 26th and poked it inside the far post for a 2-0 lead. Diego Rossi scored a relatively easy goal to cap the scoring in the 68th, and Tyler Miller kept his first clean sheet of the season against San Jose (0-4-0).
New England Revolution 2, Minnesota United 1
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Jalil Anibaba and Brandon Bye each scored to help the New England Revolution win their first game of the year, 2-1 over Minnesota United on Saturday.
New England (1-3-1) had just two combined goals in the previous three games—all losses.
Anibaba gave New England a 1-0 lead in the 10th minute on a diving header at the back post that went off the hand of goalkeeper Vito Mannone. Bye made it 2-1 in the 62nd minute with a sliding finish of Teal Bunbury's shot across goal to the far post.
The Minnesota (2-2-0) goal came after a video review of a potential handball in the box, ending in Darwin Quintero's penalty kick that got Cody Cropper diving the wrong way in the 26th minute.
Chicago Fire 1, New York Red Bulls 0
BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. — David Ousted had his first shutout since the 2017 season and the Chicago Fire won their first game of the season with a 1-0 victory over the New York Red Bulls on Saturday.
Ousted spent his first five seasons in the MLS with the Vancouver Whitecaps, collecting 42 shutouts, before starting 17 games for D.C. United last season.
Chicago (1-2-1) took a 1-0 lead in the 48th minute on an own goal. New York goalkeeper Luis Robles came out of his area to get to a pass over the defense and the loose ball fell to Nemanja Nikolic, whose shot hit the post and deflected off Tim Parker's chest past the goal line.
Nikolic had a breakaway attempt in the 38th, but poked it just wide.
New York (1-2-1) lost its second straight after falling 1-0 at home to Orlando City.
Philadelphia Union 2, FC Cincinnati 0
CINCINNATI — Marco Fabian and David Accam scored goals in the second half and the Philadelphia Union beat FC Cincinnati 2-0 on Saturday night.
Accam found Fabian open near the top of the 18-yard box and Fabian finished with his left foot to open the scoring in the 47th minute.
In the 58th minute, Accam corralled an attempted clearance and slipped past two defenders before scoring on a toe punch. It was Accam's third goal in the last two games.
The Union (2-2-1) had their second clean sheet in a row and earned their first road win of the season.
FC Cincinnati (2-2-1) was shut out for the first time in its MLS history.
Columbus Crew 2, Atlanta United 0
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Gyasi Zardes scored in his return from international duty to help the Columbus Crew beat Atlanta United 2-0 in a match slowed down by soggy field conditions on Saturday night.
Zardes stopped from a full run and stepped back to create space in the penalty area to finish Robinho's cross, making it 2-0 with a low shot in the 39th minute. Zardes had a goal in an international friendly against Ecuador on March 21 and added and an assist against Chile on Tuesday.
Pedro Santos opened the scoring for the Crew (3-1-1) in the second minute, pouncing on a deflection for his first goal in over a year.
Brad Guzan saved a penalty for Atlanta United (0-2-2) in the 58th minute.
Houston Dynamo 4, Colorado Rapids 1
COMMERCE CITY, Colo. — Memo Rodriguez scored, Colorado put two in its own goal, and the Houston Dynamo won their third straight, beating the Rapids 4-1 on Saturday night.
Rodriguez opened the scoring for the Dynamo (3-0-1) in the fourth minute, finishing Alberth Elis’ diagonal pass. It was Rodriguez’s fourth goal of the season.
Axel Sjoberg deflected a rebound into his own in net to give Houston a 2-0 lead in the 15th minute. Keegan Rosenberry punched a cross into his own net to make it 3-0 in the 34th.
Elis got inside a defender on a run into the middle of the area and flicked Mauro Manotas’ pass home to give the Dynamo a 4-0 lead in the 67th.
Kei Kamara scored for the Rapids (0-3-2) on a penalty kick in the 81st minute. It was Kamara’s 114th MLS goal, joining him with Ante Razov for fifth place on the all-time goal scorers list.
The Rapids’ Tommy Smith was sent off for violent conduct in the 89th minute.
FC Dallas 4, Real Salt Lake 2
SANDY, Utah — Paxton Pomykal scored two goals and FC Dallas beat 10-man Real Salt Lake 4-2 on Saturday night.
Pomykal gave FC Dallas (3-1-1) the lead for good on his first MLS goal, a low hard shot into the left corner that made it 2-1 in the 32nd minute. The 19-year-old Homegrown player made it 3-1 in the 64th minute, benefiting from a deflection off Real Salt Lake’s Nedum Onuoha.
Damir Kreilach was shown a straight red card in the 17th minute for a head butt of Carlos Gruezo.
Jefferson Savarino pulled Real Salt Lake (1-3-1) even at 1-all with a one-hopper from behind the penalty arc in the 31st minute.
Marcelo Silva headed Albert Rusnak’s corner home in the 66th minute to cut the deficit to 3-2 for RSL in the 66th minute.
Jesus Ferreira flicked in Michael Barrios’ cross to cap the scoring in the 69th minute for FC Dallas.
Real Salt Lake lost its third game in a row.
Seattle Sounders 0, Vancouver Whitecaps 0
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — A video replay decision in extra time cost the Vancouver Whitecaps a for penalty kick in a 0-0 tie with the Seattle Sounders on Saturday night.
The wild sequence began when Vancouver’s Joaquin Ardaiz took a shot that was stopped by goalkeeper Stefan Frei. The ball rolled to the Whitecaps’ Hwang In-Beom, whose shot was blocked again by a diving Frei. After the play, In-Beom had his legs taken out from underneath him on a sliding tackle by Seattle’s Kim Kee-hee.
At first, referee Robert Sibiga ruled a yellow card against Kee-hee, which would have set up a penalty kick. The call was reversed after a video replay review, though.
The Sounders remained unbeaten at 3-0 and the Whitecaps winless at 0-3-1.
