A look at this weekend’s Major League Soccer action
LA Galaxy 3 Portland Timbers 0
Landon Donovan scored his first two goals of the season and added an assist to help the Los Angeles Galaxy beat the Portland Timbers 3-0.
Donovan had missed the last three games due to a of a knee injury and it did not take him long to show everyone that he was fully fit as the Galaxy scored twice in the first 8 minutes. Donovan fed Barrett in the fourth minute, then converted a penalty kick moments later. Donovan rounded off the scoring with a header from close range in the second half.
The Galaxy have are now unbeaten in their last five games as the improved their record to 4-1-3 this season. With the loss the Timbers (2-3-1) snapped a two-game winning streak and remain winless in four road games.
Chivas USA 2 San Jose Earthquakes 1
Chivas USA finally got their first win of the season as Mariano Trujillo slammed home a loose ball in the 85th minute.
The victory ended Chivas’ drought that stretched eight matches, including three last season. Chivas (1-2-3), the last MLS team to win this season, is unbeaten in its last four matches.
San Jose fell to 1-3-2 after the loss.
Columbus Crew 1 Toronto FC 1
TFC and Columbus ended up 1-1 in another MLS game that had some referring controversy.
Tony Tchani scored for Toronto in the 41st minute, but was given a second yellow card after the goal, apparently for jumping over the advertising boards to celebrate with the fans.
The Crew quickly took advantage of the extra man as Emilio Renteria tied the game up with a header in the 49th minute. But TFC defended strongly for the rest of the second half and Columbus could not find that elusive second goal.
With the draw Columbus is now 2-1-3, and Toronto is 1-2-4.
FC Dallas 2 Vancouver Whitecaps 1
A costly victory for FC Dallas as they lost forward David Ferreira, last season’s MLS most valuable player, to a broken ankle. Ferreira, carried off on a stretcher, was injured on a hard tackle by Jonny Leathers.
Alain Rochat had given the Whitecaps (1-3-3) the lead in the 25th minute, but George John tied it in the 53rd minute, and Eric Avila gave Dallas (2-3-1) the lead for good in the 83rd minute.
Houston Dynamo 1 Chicago Fire 1
Diego Chaves goal in the 18th minute looked to be enough to give the Fire all three points, but once again Houston scored late in the game to grab a share of the points. This time defender Bobby Boswell was the Dynamos hero as he headed Brad Davis’ corner-kick low to the left of goalkeeper Jon Conway in the 83rd minute..
Houston (2-1-3) is unbeaten in its last five games. Chicago is 1-3-2.
