Adrian Heath admitted one moment of madness from young fullback Rafael Ramos proved immensely costly to Orlando City SC in their crushing 3-0 defeat at Columbus Crew SC.
WASHINGTON - Six games into a young MLS season, D.C. United sit alone atop the Eastern Conference. On Saturday, a stunning free kick from midfielder Chris Rolfe was enough to secure a hard-fought point in a 1-1 draw against a physical Houston Dynamo side — United’s 15th straight positive home result across all competitions.
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Before their match against Orlando City SC Saturday night, Columbus Crew SC had produced only five goals in their first five games of the season. Despite having dangerous attackers all over the field, goals had been hard to come by.
But the floodgates were opened Saturday thanks in part to an Orlando City red card, and the Columbus offense fired on all cylinders in a 3-0 win that could have produced an even more lopsided result.
For head coach Gregg Berhalter, the match went according to plan.
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The Montreal Impact can take hope ahead of Wednesday night's CONCACAF Champions League first leg in Mexico City against Club America (9 pm ET, FOX Sports 2).
WASHINGTON - D.C. United met the Houston Dynamo on Saturday night needing a at least a point to keep pace with the Eastern-Conference-leading New York Red Bulls. The Dynamo were looking for points of their own, eager to follow up last week’s positive result at Montreal and climb a bit higher in the West.
Minnesota United FC executives visited state officials in St. Paul this week to present their plan for a privately-funded, downtown, soccer-specific stadium for the club as it prepares to join MLS in 2017 or 2018.
Club owner Bill McGuire met with Minnesota governor Mark Dayton and state legislators on Tuesday to explain his group's vision for an 18,500-capacity outdoor soccer stadium in an area of Minneapolis known as West Loop, near the Minneapolis Farmers Market and the Minnesota Twins' Target Field home.
Another batch of sky-high television ratings have underlined the burgeoning popularity of the USA vs. Mexico border rivalry yet again, as Wednesday's 2-0 friendly win for the US national team drew a combined audience of 4.5 million viewers on Fox Sports 1, UniMás and Univision Deportes.
New York is a city of transplants, a melting pot of millions of people from every walk of life.
That includes Portland Timbers fans.
And when the Timbers take the field at Yankees Stadium on Sunday against MLS expansion club New York City FC (5 pm ET, Fox Sports 1), they’ll do it in front of their largest East Coast supporters group since they joined the league in 2011. Many of those supporters are part of what’s known as the East Coast Platoon, a growing number of Timbers Army regional subgroups that have been popping up across the country in recent years.
Star striker David Villa is dealing with a hamstring injury ahead of New York City FC's home match vs. the Portland Timbers on Sunday (5 pm ET, FOX Sports 1, FOX Deportes), according to a report by the New York Post's Brian Lewis on Saturday.
AMSTERDAM – Everton netminder Tim Howard continued his Premier League roll on Saturday afternoon, backstopping a 1-0 victory over Burnley at Goodison Park.
The Toffees star needed just one save, one cross capture to post his third shutout from a five-game unbeaten streak. The clean sheet was Howard's sixth of the EPL season and ninth on the overall campaign. The win lifted Everton 13 points clear of the trap door with five games remaining.
HARRISON, N.J. – There are plenty of positives to take away from the New York Red Bulls' third win of the season, extending their unbeaten streak to five to start 2015.
Yet the locker room still isn’t satisfied.
NEW YORK – Goalkeeper Josh Saunders said he wasn’t going to sleep well after New York City FC surrendered a late goal and settled for a 1-1 draw with the Philadelphia Union Thursday night at Yankee Stadium.
HARRISON, N.J. – Returning home for the first time in nearly a month, the New York Red Bulls kicked off their home stand with a convincing 2-0 win over the San Jose Earthquakes on Friday night at Red Bull Arena, courtesy of goals from Sacha Kljestan and Mike Grella.
VANCOUVER, B.C. – The Vancouver Whitecaps are leading the way in Major League Soccer at the start of the new season, and not just by topping both the Western Conference and Supporters' Shield standings.
Both as a team and individually, the Whitecaps sit atop a number of offensive stat categories after their first seven games. It's been an impressive start, but there are two categories that Vancouver aren't too happy to be leading and those are in fouls conceded (107) and yellow cards (22).
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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – New England Revolution central midfielder Scott Caldwell spent much of his free time over his first year and a half as a professional studying for the CPA exam, which he passed last season.
Of course, this time of year he has the occasional teammate seeking out a little advice on the tax front, but it’s his ability to help on the field that is really paying dividends for the club.
CARSON, Calif. – When the LA Galaxy weren’t winning the MLS Cup over the past four years, it was Sporting Kansas City.
And on Saturday, two of the league’s most successful clubs – LA, defending Cup champion and winner of three of the last four, and 2013 champion Kansas City – will face off as Western Conference opponents for the first time in more than a decade at StubHub Center (10:30 pm ET; MLS LIVE).
Updated as of April 1, 2015 - 5:00 PM ET
Italian Alberto Aquilani, the former Liverpool and current Fiorentina midfielder, has targeted MLS as a possible landing spot when his contract is up with the Serie A side this summer.
TalkSport.com reported that the out-of-favor 30-year-old former Italian international, who made a high-profile yet unsuccessful move to Anfield in 2010, will be on the move after three seasons with Fiorentina. His agent, Andrea D'Amico, says a jump Stateside is possible.
SAN JOSE, Calif. – San Jose Earthquakes coach Dominic Kinnear describes himself as anything but the type of person who compulsively checks Twitter or reads message boards. So the Internet’s lavish praise for the ball-handling skills of Quakes homegrown attacker Tommy Thompson is not really going to cut any ice with the man who won four MLS Cups as an assistant or head coach.
BEAVERTON, Ore. – When it comes to expansion teams, there’s always a certain element of surprise involved.
And the Portland Timbers were certainly surprised by Orlando City SC in their 2-0 loss Sunday at Providence Park – not in a good way, either.
The New York Red Bulls will pay homage to a very special young girl Friday night when they play host to the San Jose Earthquakes at Red Bull Arena.
TORONTO – Toronto FC head to Toyota Stadium to take on FC Dallas in game five of a seven-game road trip on Saturday (8:30 pm ET, TSN5 in Canada, MLS LIVE in US). Having lost their last three matches, TFC boss Greg Vanney is looking to reverse the team’s fortunes in the Texas heat, with one big key in mind.
OBETZ, Ohio – Justin Meram’s assist for the second Columbus Crew SC goal in the team’s 2-2 draw with Vancouver on April 8 ably sums up the former striker’s evolution into an international-quality midfielder.
FRISCO, TEXAS – The question has lingered for weeks: What's the deal with FC Dallas central midfielder Mauro Díaz?
It's been three weeks since Díaz played in a 2-0 win over the Philadelphia Union on March 21, and Dallas are winless (0-2-1) since. While the Young Designated Player has been at FC Dallas training sessions, he has been working separately from the rest of the team amid questions about his health.
HOUSTON – Owen Coyle was sitting at his first adidas MLS Player Combine, taking it all in. The first-year head coach was engaging in one of the league’s unique events, sitting among other MLS coaches and scouts in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida in mid-January, making mental notes.
Coyle was looking for players that fit his mold: attack-minded and willing to take chances to express themselves.
Rob Lovejoy took advantage.
