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The top two teams remain the same as Atlanta United and the New York Red Bulls appear to be in a two-horse race for the Supporters’ Shield race. But there’s some musical chairs among teams in the top 10 of the Pro Soccer USA Week Power Rankings after Week 29 of the Major League Soccer season.
The hottest team in the league, Seattle Sounders FC, move into the top three for the first time this season, while D.C. United has cracked the top 10. Of course, there’s also teams whose stock dropped, like the Philadelphia Union, who fall four spots and Orlando City SC, who are in the basement following a decisive loss at Chicago Sunday.
The Major League Soccer Power Rankings are created by averaging the rankings submitted by a committee of Pro SoccerUSA’s editor and writers.
(1) Atlanta United (17-5-6, 57 points): The Five Stripes moved back atop the Supporters’ Shield standings with a convincing 3-0 win over the Colorado Rapids Saturday. Miguel Almiron scored a brace and Hector Villalba added a goal in a game that was over before halftime. (2) New York Red Bulls (17-7-5, 56 points): Bradley Wright-Phillips struck for three equalizers as the Red Bulls rallied for a 3-3 draw with longtime rival D.C. United at Audi Field Sunday. Should fans be concerned the league’s second most stout defense has conceded six goals in consecutive games? (5) Seattle Sounders FC (13-9-5, 44 points): They’ve won their last nine games and haven’t lost in 12 games and they’ve just captured the Cascadia Cup by beating the rival Vancouver Whitecaps at BC Place. Yes, the sun is shining in Seattle. (4) Sporting Kansas City (15-7-6, 51 points): The lead was three goals before the halftime whistle as Sporting cruised to a 5-1 win at San Jose Saturday night. Gerso Fernandes led the way with a brace and Felipe Gutierrez, Ike Opara and Krisztian Nemeth each scored a goal. (3) FC Dallas (14-6-8, 50 points): It might be a little unfair FC Dallas drops a pair of spots following a 0-0 draw against Columbus Crew SC at Toyota Stadium Saturday night. Oscar Pareja’s side has lost just once in their last five. (7) Columbus Crew SC (12-8-8, 44 points): It’s not as dramatic as the Sounders push, but it looks like the Crew is once again reeving up for the playoffs with a big second half of the season. Columbus has won five of their last seven, losing just once in that span. (6) Los Angeles Football Club (13-7-8, 47 points): LAFC stretched an unbeaten streak to five matches, but were stung again by conceding late in a 1-1 home draw with the New England Revolution Saturday night. (9) Real Salt Lake (13-10-6, 45 points): After becoming the first team in league history to score six-plus goals in back-to-back games, RSL’s high octane attack cooled off a bit in a 1-1 draw against Minnesota United. A difficult stretch begins at Atlanta Saturday. (11) New York City FC (14-8-7, 49 points): A bye week might have come at the perfect time for slumping NYCFC, which had just one point to show from dominated their last two games. They head to Stade Saputo for a big Eastern Conference showdown Saturday. (12) D.C. United (9-11-8, 35 points): The Black-and-Red need every point they can get so its a second straight weekend of a tie feeling like a loss. On the positive side, United have played Atlanta United, NYCFC and the Red Bulls in three of their last four games and didn’t lose once. (13) Montreal Impact (12-14-3, 39 points): The Impact still sit on the playoff line, but they created a bit of a cushion there following a huge 4-1 win over the host Philadelphia Union. Alejandro Silva netted a brace to lead the way for Montreal, who have lost just one of their last six. (8) Philadelphia Union (12-12-4, 40 points): The Union squandered a chance to create some separation in the East while putting pressure on the Crew. Now they head to red-hot Seattle hoping to avoid consecutive losses for the first time in two months. (10) Portland Timbers (12-8-8, 44 points): Just when it appeared the Timbers reversed course and started looking more like the side that were unbeaten in 15 straight, they produce a clunker in a 4-1 loss at Houston. Now they return home to face Columbus in an intriguing midweek clash. (15) Toronto FC (8-14-6, 30 points): For the first time in a league game, Victor Vazquez, Jozy Altidore and Sebastian Giovinco each scored in the same game. But it was Jonathan Osorio who scored the winner in a wild 5-3 victory over the LA Galaxy. (14) Vancouver Whitecaps FC (11-10-7, 40 points): It was a game that lived up to its billing as the Caps and Sounders went toe-to-toe in a thrilling Cascadia.clash. However, a six-match unbeaten run was snapped and Vancouver remains four points below the playoff line in the West. (17) Houston Dynamo (8-13-7, 31 points): Will the real Houston Dynamo please stand up? Alberth Elis was unstoppable down the flank and Mauro Manotas struck for a brace in a 4-1 win over Portland. The Dynamo can start stockpiling points with matches against Orlando and San Jose upcoming. (18) New England Revolution (8-10-10, 34 points): The Revs surely could have used all three points and are still five points below the playoff line in the East, but they followed a win at NYCFC with a 1-1 draw at LAFC. Brandon Bye scored the late equalizer. (16) LA Galaxy (10-11-8, 38 points): Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored a sensational goal — the 500th of his career — and the Galaxy climbed back to level after a three-goal deficit. That’s the positive. The negatives — a 5-3 loss at Toronto and the porous defense — are alarming. (19) Minnesota United FC (9-16-3, 30 points): The Loons are still struggling to put together a complete game, which was the case in a 1-1 draw at RSL. After a poor first half, they surged after halftime and were a bit unlucky not to come away with all three points. (23) Chicago Fire (7-15-6, 27 points): It’s remarkable what a trip to Munich will do to a team. The Fire won for the first time since June 30, defeating Orlando City SC, 4-0, Sunday with Nemanja Nikolic scoring twice. (21) Colorado Rapids (6-16-6, 24 points): The Rapids became the second team to be eliminated from MLS Cup playoff contention, falling to mighty Atlanta United, 3-0, at home Saturday. (22) San Jose Earthquakes (4-16-8, 20 points): The worst home loss in four years triggered another coaching change as Mikael Stahre was fired following a 5-1 defeat to Sporting Kansas City with Steve Ralston taking over on an interim basis. (20) Orlando City SC (7-18-3, 24 points): The Lions looked like lambs Sunday, losing to the Chicago Fire, 4-0. It was their seventh loss in their last nine games.Pro Soccer USA writes Dylan Butler, Julian Cardillo and Emily Olsen contributed to this report
The post MLS Power Rankings Week 29: Seattle Sounders enter top 3, Chicago Fire climb out of basement appeared first on Pro Soccer USA.
Original author: Dylan Butler, Pro Soccer USA
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