FRISCO - Wednesday night was a night of draws around the Western Conference, and that's pretty good news for FC Dallas.
While FCD played to a 1-1 draw in CCL play, four West foes were in action in league play. The LA Galaxy drew 2-2 with the Chicago Fire, the San Jose Earthquakes drew 0-0 with New England and Seattle and Houston played to a 1-1 draw along the Gulf.
| # | Team | Points | Record | Games Rem. | Goal Diff. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FC Dallas | 45 | 13-7-6 | 8 | 5 |
| 2 | Colorado Rapids | 43 | 11-3-10 | 10 | 7 |
| 3 | Real Salt Lake | 40 | 11-8-7 | 8 | 1 |
| 4 | LA Galaxy | 39 | 9-4-12 | 9 | 14 |
| 5 | Sporting KC | 38 | 11-11-5 | 7 | 2 |
| 6 | Portland Timbers | 32 | 8-10-8 | 8 | -2 |
| 7 | San Jose Earthquakes | 32 | 7-7-11 | 9 | -1 |
| 8 | Seattle Sounders FC | 31 | 9-12-4 | 9 | -2 |
| 9 | Vancouver Whitecaps | 30 | 8-12-6 | 8 | -9 |
| 10 | Houston Dynamo | 25 | 5-10-10 | 9 | -3 |
Not a lot of points were handed out, but some pretty big changes in the conference standings took place. LA jumped back into the 4th spot with Sporting KC not in action, and while it pulls them within 6 points of FCD in the table, it could help put them in the rearview in the long run with a pair of head-to-head meetings on the horizon in October. If Dallas can take care of business in the home leg, the Galaxy would need to make up 9 points in their remaining 8 games - including another meeting with the current leaders. Anything can happen, but a non-3 point performance last night from LA is a win.
Further down the standings, San Jose and Seattle both earned a point and there are now three teams separated by a single point for that last playoff spot, which Portland currently holds. Vancouver, who was not in action last night, now has even more urgency to collect points across their final 8 games. Houston also picked up a point and continues to hang around just enough to see a sliver of daylight in their playoff hopes with head-to-head matchups against each of the top 8 teams, with the exception of San Jose, in their final 9 games. With a stoppage time equalizer from Nicolas Lodeiro, however, last night almost feels like a loss for Houston.
With a full slate of games on the schedule this weekend - including matchups between Seattle and Portland, Colorado and RSL and, of course, Dallas and Houston - it'll be another telling weekend in the playoff race.
