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It’s taken almost the entire season, but there’s a new team atop the Pro Soccer USA Power Rankings as the New York Red Bulls jumped ahead of Atlanta United following a comprehensive 2-0 home win Sunday afternoon.
The LA Galaxy are the biggest gainers this week, moving up four spots after defeating the Vancouver Whitecaps, 3-0, at home Saturday night, while the New England Revolution fell four spots following a 4-1 drubbing at Toronto FC.
The Major League Soccer Power Rankings are created by averaging the rankings submitted by a committee of Pro Soccer USA’s editor and writers.
(2) New York Red Bulls (19-7-5, 62 points): What a performance and what a statement by the Red Bulls, who took the game to Atlanta United and were deserved 2-0 victors even without Bradley Wright-Phillips and Tyler Adams. (1) Atlanta United (19-6-6, 63 points): The Five Stripes never matched the Red Bulls intensity, struggled to figure out their press and couldn’t recover from a poor first half. Still, they are in the Supporters’ Shield drivers seat. (3) FC Dallas (15-6-9, 54 points): It might not have been the result they wanted, but FC Dallas still became the fourth team to clinch a berth into the MLS Cup playoffs following a 0-0 draw at Portland. (5) Sporting Kansas City (15-8-7, 52 points): SKC squandered a chance to pull level on points with first-place FC Dallas, but rallied for a 1-1 draw against Real Salt Lake at home Sunday with Ike Opara scoring the equalizer. (4) Los Angeles Football Club (14-8-8, 50 points): If LAFC fail to earn one of the top two spots in the Western Conference, Saturday’s 3-1 loss at Chicago could be the biggest reason why. (7) Seattle Sounders FC (14-11-5, 47 points): Raul Ruidiaz struck for a brace and Nico Lodeiro and Victor Rodriguez each scored a goal in a 4-0 romp over the Colorado Rapids. (10) D.C. United (10-11-8, 38 points): Wayne Rooney and Paul Arriola both struck for a second-half brace in a stunning 5-0 romp of the Montreal Impact to move D.C. United to within striking distance of the playoff line. (8) Philadelphia Union (14-12-5, 47 points): The Union rebounded from a loss to the Houston Dynamo in the U.S. Open Cup final to draw Columbus at MAPFRE Stadium. Columbus Crew SC (13-9-9, 48 points): The Crew had a chance to put pressure on NYCFC and create separation from the Union and settled for a 0-0 draw at home. (9) Real Salt Lake (13-11-7, 46 points): Corey Baird opened the scoring, but Ike Opara equalized in a 1-1 draw with Sporting Kansas City at Children’s Mercy Park Sunday. It’s a point Mike Petke called “100 percent massive for us.” (15) LA Galaxy (12-11-8, 44 points): The Galaxy’s playoff push continued Saturday night with a 3-0 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps. Zlatan Ibrahimovic struck for a brace in LA’s second straight win. (13) Portland Timbers (13-9-9, 48 points): The Timbers moved a step closer to clinching a playoff berth with a 0-0 draw against West-leading FC Dallas at home Saturday night. A massive game at Real Salt Lake is next up. (11) Montreal Impact (12-15-4, 40 points): The Impact picked maybe the worst time to suffer their most lopsided defeat of the season, falling to D.C. United, 5-0, Saturday night. (12) New York City FC (15-9-8, 53 points): After securing a playoff berth on Wednesday with a 2-0 win over the Chicago Fire, NYCFC fell to Minnesota United, 2-1, on the road Saturday night. (18) Toronto FC (9-15-6, 33 points): The Reds scored four unanswered goals after conceding in the opening 10 minutes to defeat the New England Revolution, 4-1, at home Saturday night. (18) Minnesota United FC (11-16-3, 36 points): The Loons made it three games without a loss and consecutive wins as Angelo Rodriguez struck for a brace in a 2-1 home win over NYCFC. (16) Vancouver Whitecaps FC (11-12-7, 36 points): It’s three straight losses, and first since Carl Robinson was let go, when the Whitecaps dropped a 3-0 decision to the LA Galaxy in Carson Saturday. (14) Houston Dynamo (9-13-8, 35 points): The Dynamo followed up their first-ever U.S. Open Cup title with a 3-2 win over the San Jose Earthquakes. (20) Chicago Fire (8-16-7, 31 points): After officially being eliminated from the playoffs at Yankee Stadium Wednesday, the Fire played spoilers with a 3-1 win over LAFC at home Saturday. (17) New England Revolution (8-11-11, 35 points): Cristian Penilla opened the scoring, but the Revs conceded four unanswered goals in a 4-1 loss to Toronto FC, further damaging their playoff hopes. (21) Colorado Rapids (6-18-6, 24 points): The Rapids suffered their sixth straight loss, dropping a 4-0 decision at Seattle. (23) Orlando City SC (7-18-4, 25 points): Following a 0-0 draw against the Houston Dynamo, the Lions had a bye in Week 31 and head to FC Dallas Saturday. (22) San Jose Earthquakes (4-19-8, 20 points): The Quakes led 2-0 at the half, but conceded three ties after halftime to suffer a 3-2 loss to the Dynamo, their fifth consecutive defeat.Pro Soccer USA’s writers Dylan Butler, Julian Cardillo and Emily Olsen contributed to this report
The post MLS Power Rankings Week 31: New York Red Bulls move to the top appeared first on Pro Soccer USA.
Original author: Dylan Butler, Pro Soccer USA
