FRISCO - After defeating Toronto FC 1-0 on Friday, FC Dallas (5-1-5, 20 points) has the fewest losses in the MLS. They are tied for second in the league in goals against after Jesse Gonzalez recorded a clean sheet in his first start of the season.
FC Dallas will play two games this week, first on Wednesday night in LA against the Galaxy, then they will host LAFC on Saturday. These are the first two teams that will they play for a second time this season. They defeated the Galaxy (5-6-1, 16 points) 3-2 on May 12 and played LAFC (6-3-3, 21 points) to a 1-1 draw on the road on May 5.
Here's where the three teams landed in the latest in the MLS power rankings.
ESPN
1. New York Red Bulls (no change)
2. Atlanta United (no change)
3. Sporting Kansas City (+1)
4. Columbus Crew SC (+1)
5. Portland Timbers (+1)
7. LAFC (no change) - Bob Bradley took issue with VAR on Dejan Jakovic's red card, but the Canadian put himself in a poor position going in late with two feet. Considering the fact LAFC played down a man for almost an entire half, a point isn't a terrible result.
8. FC Dallas (+2) - A massive win for the Texas squad on the road in Toronto pushed FC Dallas's unbeaten run to four and helped the club maintain third place in the Western Conference. A change at goalkeeper proved a good choice as Jesse Gonzalez starred in net.
15. LA Galaxy (+1) - The Galaxy actually has a winning streak after a 1-0 win on Friday night over the Earthquakes. Sigi Schmid's seat is cooling for the moment and LA is just one point out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference.
MLS
1. New York Red Bulls (no change)
2. Columbus Crew (+3)
3. Atlanta United (-1)
4. Sporting KC (-1)
5. Portland Timbers (+2)
7. LAFC (-1) - LAFC have fallen down to earth the past month, but are still in good form and playing well overall. But with up to six players (all starting-caliber) missing for the game at FC Dallas, their first real adversity is here.
8. FC Dallas (no change) - Jesse Gonzalez bursts back onto the scene, and FC Dallas continue to plug along at a good clip. If the reports about Oscar Pareja benching players for underperforming – even temporarily – are true, the move appears to be paying off.
12. LA Galaxy (+1) - The Galaxy are grinding out wins, which they pretty much have to do at this point. But they've got two tough games this week, against FC Dallas and the Timbers – it could be a big week for Sigi Schmid & Co., or it could send them back to the drawing board.
Soccer America
1. Sporting KC (no change)
2. New York Red Bulls (no change)
3. Portland Timbers (+1)
4. Atlanta United (-1)
5. Houston Dynamo (+3)
7. LAFC (no change) - LAFC survived most of the second half playing 10-against-11 trying to protect a Diego Rossi goal shortly before halftime but didn’t get to the finish line.
9. FC Dallas (+1) - The penalty-kick denial of Sebastian Giovinco made all the highlight clips, yet Jesse Gonzalez was solid throughout the 90 minutes on his birthday. Maxi Urruti scored his fourth goal in as many games and leads the team with six.
13. LA Galaxy (+1) - The scoring streak of Ola Kamara ended at four games but Roman Alessandrini turned a half-chance into a powerful low shot to earn the win. That was the Galaxy’s only shot on goal.