FRISCO - There’s nothing like a 6-2 win to make the work week a little brighter. That’s the feeling around Toyota Stadium this week after Roland Lamah delivered a hat trick and FC Dallas exploded for six goals in dominant victory over Real Salt Lake on Saturday night. For his efforts, Lamah earned MLS Player of the Week honors.
FC Dallas visits Portland on Saturday, June 10. These two teams played to a 2-2 draw at Toyota Stadium on April 29. The Timbers have just one win in their last six matches, with that lone victory coming last Friday in a 2-0 shutout of San Jose.
Time for the latest edition of our MLS Power Rankings Roundup. Once again, FC Dallas is all over the top five in various lists, coming in as high number one in one and as low as five in another.
ESPNFC
1. Toronto FC (no change)
2. FC Dallas (no change) - Dallas didn't just obliterate Salt Lake in a 6-2 win on Saturday, it set a record by becoming the first MLS team to score five times in the first half.
3. Sporting Kansas City (+1)
4. Chicago Fire (-1)
5. Columbus Crew (no change)
14. Portland Timbers (no change) - The Timbers broke a five-game winless run by taking care of business at home against San Jose, with Diego Valeri scoring twice.
MLS
1. FC Dallas (+3) Blowout wins vs. RSL must be taken with a grain of salt these days, but Roland Lamah and Jesus Ferreira won’t care. Ferreira’s first pro goal in his first pro game has the Homegrown-obsessed among us giddy, but it’s Lamah’s hat trick that could truly change Dallas’ season. A little confidence could go a long way for the man who was supposed to replace Fabian Castillo after a slow start.
2. Toronto FC (-1)
3. New York City FC (-1)
4. Chicago Fire (-1)
5. Sporting Kansas City (+1)
11. Portland Timbers (+3) - Diego Valeri wasn’t about to let the Timbers’ winless streak hit six games, so we went out and bagged a brace and three big points. Portland are a playoff team, no doubt. Are they an MLS Cup contender? They will be if they bag a starting-caliber central defender this summer and get Sebastian Blanco on the scoresheet with some regularity.
Soccer America
1. Toronto FC (no change)
2. Chicago Fire (no change)
3. New York City FC (no change)
4. Sporting Kansas City (no change)
5. FC Dallas (+1) - A Roland Lamah hat trick propelled FCD to a stabilizing victory that ended a four-game winless run. After setting a league record by scoring five in the first half against a shorthanded and tuckered-out foe, FCD added a bit of history when Jesus Ferreira, 16, debuted and scored.
14. Portland (no change) - The Timbers snapped a five-game winless streak against a team that beat it, 3-0, in April and went down to 10 men late in the first half. Diego Valeri’s goal in the 50th minute proved to be sufficient but not until the 94th minute did he bag the clincher. A game with FC Dallas Saturday -- during the FIFA break -- kicks off a crucial stretch of five intraconference matches in 22 days.
Fox Sports
1. Sporting Kansas City (+3)
2. Toronto FC (-1)
3. FC Dallas (-3) - They faced a struggled RSL and crushed them, as expected.
4. Chicago Fire (-1)
5. New York City FC (-1)
9. Portland Timbers (+1) - Their win over the San Jose Earthquakes wasn’t the most convincing one, but it did look like something the Timbers can build off to climb out of their rough patch.
