Kei Kamara scored in the 21st and 26th minutes, and the Columbus Crew held on to beat the Philadelphia Union 2-1 on Saturday night.
The Crew (12-9-8) took the lead when a Union defender deflected Harrison Afful's cross from the right flank to Kamara, who finished with a header from near the far post. They were in nearly the same places five minutes later when Kamara tapped in Afful's low, untouched cross with his right foot for his MLS-leading 20th goal of the season.
The Union (8-15-6), who entered the game a point out of an Eastern Conference playoff position, pressed their attack in the second half, creating many chances, including C.J. Sapong's 66th-minute goal.
But Crew goalkeeper Steve Clark had five saves after the break to preserve the win.
Meanwhile, Steve Birnbaum canceled out an early Bobby Burling goal in the 87th minute to salvage a 1-1 draw for DC United against Colorado Rapids.
Burling opened the scoring with a left-footed shot past Bill Hamid following a set piece.
However, Birnbaum earned United the point when his header from the right side of the six-yard box found its way into Clint Irwin's net just three minutes from time.
FC Dallas made it three straight wins after a 2-1 defeat of NYCFC thanks to two goals at the end of the first half.
Tesho Akindele scored in the 45th minute with a right-footed shot into Josh Saunders' top-left corner to give Dallas a 1-0 lead.
Four minutes later, in first-half stoppage time, Michel doubled the Dallas advantage with a long-range effort from a difficult angle.
Patrick Mullins converted a penalty for NYCFC in the 70th minute. But Dallas held on to keep their winning streak alive.
Javier Morales, Devon Sandoval and Juan Manuel Martinez scored to power Real Salt Lake past Houston Dynamo 3-1.
Brad Davis scored a 70th-minute penalty for last-place Real.
Evan Bush made four saves and posted his fifth shutout of the season to help the Montreal Impact play the LA Galaxy to a 0-0 tie.
The Impact (9-11-5) had a pair of early scoring opportunities and another late in the match, but Donovan Ricketts, who finished with five saves for the Galaxy, used acrobatic saves and great positioning to thwart the Montreal attacks.
Ignacio Piatti found Justin Mapp on a break, but his left-footer toward the far post was poked away by the right hand of a diving Ricketts in the first minute.
About 6 minutes later, Piatti split four defenders a fired a shot from the top of the box but, once again, Ricketts dove a slapped it away. Andres Romero slammed home the rebound from the left flank, but was called offside.
The Galaxy (13-8-8) are winless, and scoreless, in their last two matches after averaging 4.3 goals per game during a four-game winning streak that ended with a 1-0 loss as San Jose on Aug. 28. Galaxy sits a point behind first-place Vancouver in the Western Conference standings.
Seattle's Obafemi Martins scored on an over-the-shoulder volley in the 82nd minute to give the Sounders a 1-1 draw at San Jose.
The Sounders moved into fourth place in the Western Conference, and stayed three points above the Earthquakes in the race for playoff berths.
Fatai Alashe put the Earthquakes in the lead in the 70th minute, scoring only his second career goal.
The equalizer came when San Jose goalkeeper David Bingham made a diving save on Zach Scott's header, but it rebounded to Martins, who spectacularly converted the left-footed shot with his back to the net. Martins has five goals in his last five games and 12 this season.