Football
Associated Press 8y

Toronto FC beats Fire to leap over NYCFC into first place in the East

Jozy Altidore had a goal and an assist and Toronto FC beat the Chicago Fire 2-1 on Saturday night to move into first place in the Eastern Conference.

Altidore opened the scoring in the 33rd minute, finishing Justin Morrow's cross from the middle of the area.

The U.S. striker then assisted on Jonathan Osorio's goal in the 52nd minute, blocking Sean Johnson's errant throw-out so Osorio could send back an easy chip shot past the out-of-position goalkeeper.

Altidore has six goals in his past eight games -- nine in 10 counting his two national team appearances. His scoring burst comes at a crucial time for Toronto FC with last year's MLS MVP, Sebastian Giovinco, out for four weeks with a muscle strain.

Michael de Leeuw closed the deficit to one for Chicago with a high-leaping header from in front of the net in the 64th minute, but the Fire could not find an equalizer.

Diego Fagundez had a goal and an assist to help the New England Revolution win 3-1 at home over New York City FC, which slipped into second place.

The Revolution have won two straight to close within a point of Orlando City for the sixth playoff spot in the East.

With NYCFC goalkeeper Josh Saunders dropping to his knees, Juan Agudelo looked as if he would shoot to the near post but fired his right-footed shot to the top far post in the 21st minute.

Lee Nguyen then took a cross from Kelyn Rowe from just outside the six-yard box and tapped a right-footed shot to the near post to put the Revs up 2-0 just before the break.

NYCFC's Frank Lampard scored his 12th goal of the year in the 49th minute from close range before Fagundez slipped past three defenders and scored in the 58th minute.

Dominique Badji scored, Tim Howard had a season-high seven saves and Colorado beat FC Dallas 1-0 to snap a four-game winless streak.

Badji took a throw-in from Sebastien Le Toux on the left flank, beat a defender and blasted a right footer past goalkeeper Chris Seitz into the lower-left corner in the 52nd minute.

Howard had his fifth shutout, making two saves in the closing minutes, in 10 starts this season.

FC Dallas -- which outshot the Rapids 17-6, including 7-1 on target -- had its 19-game home unbeaten streak, dating to last season, snapped.

Colorado trails MLS-leading FC Dallas by five points with seven matches to play.

Fanendo Adi scored the only goal and Portland celebrated its 100th consecutive regular-season sellout with a 1-0 victory over Real Salt Lake.

The capacity crowd of 21,144 continued the streak that started when Portland joined MLS in 2011. Including MLS playoff games, the Timbers have sold out 105 consecutive matches.

In the 12th minute, Darlington Nagbe took a shot from just outside the RSL penalty area that was blocked by a defender. The ball bounced right to Adi in the penalty area, where the forward touched the ball wide, paused, and then unleashed a right-footed shot past goalkeeper Nick Rimando for his 14th goal.

Portland goalkeeper Jake Gleeson made five saves for his fifth shutout of the season. RSL's best chance came in the 65th minute, when Javier Morales barely missed a 20-yard free kick just over the crossbar. Rimando had two saves.

Nicolas Lodeiro scored in the 80th minute and Seattle rallied to draw 1-1 with San Jose.

The Sounders bounced back after having their five-game undefeated streak snapped at Portland on Aug. 28, while the Earthquakes are winless in four straight.

Lodeiro, who transferred from Argentina's Boca Juniors and signed with Seattle in July, scored off a free kick for his third goal of the season.

In the first half, San Jose's Jordan Stewart crossed to Chris Wondolowski, who scored an easy tap-in in front of the goal in the 20th minute.

Matteo Mancosu equalized with a header in the 88th minute and the Philadelphia Union held on for a 1-1 draw with the Montreal Impact on Saturday night.

Hernan Bernardello crossed in a diagonal chip pass and Donny Toia flicked it along through the middle of the Union defense to set up Mancosu's goal.

Union goalkeeper Andre Blake injured his hip on the play from a diving attempt to make a save but stayed on for the remainder of the contest.

Tranquillo Barnetta opened the scoring in the 45th minute on a straightaway left-footed shot from 25 yards. It was Barnetta's fifth goal of the season.

Andrew Jacobson scored the go-ahead goal in the 74th minute, Erik Hurtado added another in the 82nd and the Vancouver Whitecaps beat Columbus Crew SC 3-1.

Jacobson dribbled in from near midfield and slotted home a right-footed shot from the right side of the arc -- Vancouver's first shot on goal. Hurtado made it 3-1 on a putback off David Edgar's initial attempt.

Columbus opened the scoring in the minutes later on Ola Kamara's leaping kick to finish Mohammed Saeid's corner, but the Whitecaps were back level two minutes later after an own goal from Crew SC's Gaston Sauro.

Columbus' Tony Tchani was sent off in the 86th minute for kicking Hurtado's legs out from under him in a game that delayed over an hour by inclement weather.

^ Back to Top ^