FRISCO – FC Dallas got back in the win column on Saturday, beating Minnesota United FC at home, 2-0. The win keeps them at the top of the Western Conference table with 45 points.
Dallas will try to expand the gap between first and second with a game against the Houston Dynamo on Thursday.
The Dynamo have slipped all the way down to 10th in the conference after losing five straight games. Its most recent loss was a 2-1 home loss to Real Salt Lake, where Houston gave up goals in the 93rd and 100th minute.
Sporting KC remains in second in the conference after a dominating 3-0 win over Portland. After a rough stretch in July, SKC has now won three matches in a row, not allowing a goal in that span.
LAFC made the leap from fifth-place to third after a six-point week. LAFC beat RSL 2-0 at home on Wednesday thanks to two goals from Christian Ramirez. On Saturday, the team had another 2-0 home win result, this time beating Colorado. LAFC meets the LA Galaxy on Friday in the final match between the cross-town rivals in 2018.
RSL also moved up two spots in the standings, from sixth-place to fourth. After the midweek loss to LAFC, it defeated Houston on Saturday. RSL's 38 points is three-points clear of the final playoff spot in the West.
The Galaxy came away with one point in two games this week. It played Colorado to a draw on Wednesday, where defender Ashley Cole put away his first goal of the season. Then on Saturday, the Galaxy met red-hot Seattle Sounders FC and were handed an ugly loss. Seattle scored in the third minute to open up the scoring and never took their foot off the gas, beating the Galaxy 5-0.
Portland is currently holding on to the final spot in the playoffs, but it has hit a bad downturn as of late. After going unbeaten for 15 matches, they have lost three matches in a row and have been outscored 9-2 in those games. The Timbers have a very tough match this week, hosting Seattle on Sunday.
