MLS Power Rankings: Crew rise to the top once again
By Matt Coles
MLS Power Rankings: 15. Real Salt Lake (-5)
After earning a good point in the week against the reigning MLS Cup champions, Real Salt Lake faltered and suffered a heavy defeat on the road. They now have dropped several places on our Power Rankings because of that loss.
Goals from Justin Glad and Pablo Ruiz helped RSL to a 2-2 draw with Seattle Sounders in midweek, but they failed to break down Minnesota United on Sunday evening, eventually losing 4-0. They did have the ball in the back of the net, but Nedum Onuoha was ruled offside before he scored.
They remain inside the playoff places, just. Real Salt Lake sits 8th in the Western Conference, just a point ahead of FC Dallas. They face two Western adversaries this week, in Los Angeles FC and Colorado Rapids, knowing they will go ahead of the former with a victory on Wednesday night.
This Week’s Fixtures: vs. Los Angeles FC (Wednesday 9, 9:30 pm ET), vs. Colorado Rapids (Saturday 12, 9:30 pm ET)
MLS Power Rankings: 14. Houston Dynamo (+6)
After finally grabbing their first win in their seventh league game last week, the Houston Dynamo have shot up the Western Conference standings this week. This comes following a perfect six points from six after victories against Minnesota United and Sporting Kansas City.
The former Minnesota man, Darwin Quintero, put Houston in front against his old side on Wednesday evening before a double from Ariel Lassiter put the game to bed. Alberth Elis and Mauro Manotas then scored for the Dynamo at the weekend to give them a 2-1 victory over Sporting.
Thanks to three consecutive victories, the Dynamo now sit inside the top six in the Western Conference and are only four points off top spot. That No.1 spot could be theirs with a pair of wins this week. They face Colorado Rapids before a trip to Texan Derby rivals FC Dallas on Saturday.
This Week’s Fixtures: @ Colorado Rapids (Wednesday 9, 9 pm ET), @ FC Dallas (Saturday 12, 8:30 pm ET)
MLS Power Rankings: 13. New York City FC (+3)
The Sky Blues good form continues, and they are now unbeaten in four straight matches following an abysmal start to the campaign. They kept two clean sheets this week and secured a very nice statistic in the process.
A strike from Heber, plus an own goal, gave NYCFC a comfortable victory over the New England Revolution in the week, before a goalless draw against D.C. United took their unbeaten run to four matches. They became the second side to hold a team to zero shots in a league match in the process, as D.C. failed to have a single attempt at goal.
After earning four points this week, the Sky Blues are now up to 7th spot in the expanded Eastern Conference but remain a whopping ten points off the top of the table at this early stage. They will be expecting another victory on Saturday, as they host the struggling FC Cincinnati.
This Week’s Fixtures: vs. FC Cincinnati (Saturday 12, 7 pm ET)