Carlos Vela, Stipe Biuk and Jose Cifuentes all scored inside the last 20 minutes as a late blast by Los Angeles FC secured a huge win in their table-top battle against newcomers St Louis.
Heading into the game in LA, St Louis led the West by three points, with LAFC down in third, but Wednesday’s results saw LAFC leapfrog Seattle Sounders into second and close the gap at the top to just two points.
Until late on in the game, it seemed as though both sides were happy to settle for a draw, but the ever-reliable Vela opened the scoring to put LA in front.
The lead was doubled by Biuk 10 minutes later, before Cifuentes made sure deep into injury time.
St Louis went into the game with three straight wins, but have now been handed a significant blow to their lead at the top of the division in their debut season.
Jake Nerwinski (left) and Mateusz Bogusz battle for the ball during the big game of the night
Nashville SC 0-2 Philadelphia Union
Daniel Gazdag scored on a penalty kick in each half and the Philadelphia Union beat Nashville SC 2-0 on Wednesday night in a match that saw three players exit in the second half due to red cards
Gazdag gave the Union (11-7-4) a 1-0 lead in the 40th minute after a foul by Nashville’s Daniel Lovitz. He added an insurance goal in the 84th minute after a second yellow card on Lovitz – forcing Nashville (11-7-5) to play a man down. Gazdag has nine goals and nine assists this season.
Nashville’s Shaq Moore and Philadelphia’s Julián Carranza both received red cards in the fifth minute of stoppage time for violent conduct.
Joe Bendik did not have to make a save to earn the clean sheet for the Union. Joe Willis stopped three shots for Nashville.
The Union snap a two-match losing streak with their first shutout since a 3-0 victory over CF Montreal to begin June.
The Union pulled to within a point of third-place Nashville in the Eastern Conference with the win.
Daniel Gazdag celebrates after scoring the second of his two penalties against Nashville
Sporting KC 2-2 Real Salt Lake
Danny Musovski and Anderson Julio scored second-half goals as Real Salt Lake came from two scores down to earn a 2-2 draw with Sporting Kansas City on Wednesday night, upping its unbeaten streak on the road to 11 in all competitions.
Real Salt Lake (9-7-7) is just the third team in league history with a double-digit unbeaten run on the road and the first since the Portland Timbers had an 11-match run spanning the 2012-13 seasons.
Dániel Sallói staked Sporting KC (6-10-8) to a 1-0 lead in the 30th minute, using an assist from Johnny Russell to score his fifth goal of the season. Russell took a pass from Erik Thommy six minutes later and found the net for a third time this season as Sporting KC took a 2-0 lead into halftime.
Musovski got Real Salt Lake on the scoreboard in the first minute of the second half when he used a pass from Cristian Arango to score his fifth goal of the season. Julio scored the equalizer unassisted in the 72nd minute with his fourth netter this season.
Kendall McIntosh finished with seven saves for Sporting KC. Gavin Beavers saved two shots for Real Salt Lake.
Real Salt Lake improves to 4-1-1 in its last six matches with Sporting KC, including the playoffs.
Sporting Kansas City and Real Salt Lake shared the spoils in an entertaining 2-2 draw in Kansas
Houston Dynamo 0-3 Minnesota United
Teemu Pukki scored his first Major League Soccer goal and teammate Bongokuhle Hlongwane also tallied in the first half as the Minnesota United unleashed some goal-scoring power in defeating the host Houston Dynamo 3-0 on Wednesday night.
The early goals came in support of goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair, who secured the shutout with six saves. Ismael Tajouri-Shradi added the third goal with less than three minutes to play in regulation, also with his first goal of the year.
Minnesota (7-8-6, 27 points) bounced back from a three-goal defeat to Austin FC on Saturday. The United have racked up eight goals across their last three games.
Houston (8-10-4, 28 points) had its winless streak stretch to four games. Goalkeeper Steve Clark made one save.
Houston held an overwhelming territorial advantage, launching a total of 24 shots. The Dynamo put only six of those on net.
One of St. Clair’s best saves came in the sixth minute of the second half when his dive thwarted an attempt from Artur.
Hlongwane notched his team-leading sixth goal of the season in the 15th minute, Pukki scored five minutes later.
Teemu Pukki – formerly of Norwich – scored his first MLS goal after joining Minnesota United
New England Revolution 2-1 Atlanta United
Matt Polster and Giacomo Vrioni scored in the first nine minutes, Djordje Petrovic made a career-high 10 saves and the New England Revolution defeated Atlanta United 2-1 on Wednesday night.
Polster netted his second goal of the season to give the Revolution (11-4-7) the lead, scoring unassisted in the 4th minute. Vrioni stretched the advantage to 2-0 when he took a pass from Carles Gil and scored his fifth goal this season. Gil returned from a one-match suspension for accumulating five yellow cards. He missed the Revs’ 2-1 loss to the New York Red Bulls on Saturday.
Djordje Petrovic missed his shot at a clean sheet when Machop Chol scored unassisted in the third minute of second-half stoppage time for his second goal this season and the second of his career. Brad Guzan had four saves for Atlanta United (9-6-8).
New England improves to 4-0-2 in its last six matches against Atlanta United after going 0-5-2 in the previous seven.
New England Revolution midfielder Matt Polster wheels away in celebration after scoring
Chicago Fire 3-0 CF Montreal
Xherdan Shaqiri and Maren Haile-Selassie both had a goal and an assist in the first half to power the Chicago Fire to a 3-0 victory over CF Montreal on Wednesday night.
Chicago (7-7-8) struck quickly when Brian Gutiérrez used a pass from 19-year-old Georgios Koutsias in the 9th minute to score his first goal of the season.
Haile-Selassie and Shaqiri set each other’s goals up. Haile-Selassie’s fourth netter this season came two minutes after Gutiérrez scored. Shaqiri scored his third goal of the season in the 34th minute to give the Fire a 3-0 lead at halftime.
Chicago snapped a four-match losing streak to Montreal (8-12-2) with its first multi-goal margin of victory this season.
Xherdan Shaqiri had a goal and an assist in the first half to help Chicago Fire beat Montreal
San Jose Earthquakes 2-0 Seattle Sounders
Cristian Espinoza had a goal and an assist as the San Jose Earthquakes defeated the visiting Seattle Sounders 2-0 Wednesday night in an MLS match.
Miguel Trauco added a highlight-reel goal as the Earthquakes (8-7-8, 32 points) snapped a five-match winless streak (0-2-3). Backup goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski, playing for the suspended Daniel, made two saves in posting the shutout.
Seattle goalie Stefan Cleveland, getting his second straight start with league shutout leader Stefan Frei in the concussion protocol, was credited with one save. The Sounders (10-8-5, 35 points) had a two-match winning streak come to an end.
Trauco’s tally in the 65th minute gave the Earthquakes a two-goal advantage. Espinoza’s corner kick from the right wing found an open Trauco just past the semi-circle at the top of the penalty area. Trauco’s left-footed volley rocketed into the side netting inside the right post, leaving Cleveland no chance.
Fans celebrate after watching Cristian Espinoza score in the Earthquakes’ win over Seattle
Colorado Rapids 0-0 Portland Timbers
The Portland Timbers and Colorado Rapids finished off a scoreless draw Saturday night in a match that began on July 4 before being abandoned due to thunderstorms.
William Yarbrough had two saves to complete a clean sheet for the Rapids (3-10-9). David Bingham needed one save to notch the shutout for the Timbers (5-9-8).
The match was resumed in the 46th minute. Only players who were active on July 4 were eligible to play. That ruled out Colorado’s Andrew Gutman, who joined the Rapids after that date.
Portland returns home to host the Columbus Crew on Saturday. Colorado will host the Houston Dynamo on Saturday.
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