DALLAS, Sporting Alert – Scores and results from the U.S. Major League Soccer (MLS) games that took place in the set of fixtures on Friday and Saturday (July 18).
Toronto FC, FC Dallas, Real Salt Lake and the Los Angeles Galaxy were all among the winner.
Former Liverpool and England captain Steven Gerrard made a winning start to his MLS debut after he helped the LA Galaxy come from two-goals down to beat the San Jose Earthquakes 5-2.
Robbie Keane, who also played alongside Gerrard during a short stint with Liverpool, scored a hat-trick, including two goals from the penalty spot, to lead the way for the home side in Carson.
Quincy Amarikwa, who was making his second start for his new team since his transfer move last month, put San Jose Earthquakes 2-0 up with goals in the 22nd and 25th minutes, but the Galaxy hit back through Keane from 12-yards in the 30th minute and Gerrard in the 37th to even things up heading into the halftime break.
LA then took over in the second half to score three more goals, with Keane grabbing two, on his way to completing his hat-trick with a penalty in the 80th minute.
Sebastian Lletget rounded out the seven-goal thriller in the 90th as Los Angeles moved to second place in the Western Conference with 37 points.
Defeat left the Earthquakes seventh on 19-points.
Both clubs will be in action next week in the International Champions Cup.
Meanwhile, at the FC Dallas Stadium in Texas, the host tagged Eastern Conference leaders DC United 2-1 to go top of the West.
All three goals came in the second half with Kellyn Acosta opening the scoring for Dallas in the 72nd minute before as Matt Hedges’ own goal brought the scores even again
After a lot of end-to-end action, FC Dallas took the lead in the 72nd minute when Acosta turned home a cross from close range.
Minutes later though the visitors were on levelled terms after Hedges, looking to clear a cross, only managed to blast the ball into his own goal.
But just when things seemed destined for a drawn, Fabian Castillo delivered for the hosts when he fired home from just outside the 6-yard box in the second minute of the four minutes of stoppage time.
The win saw FC Dallas picking up its 10th victory of the season, while taking a one-points lead over the LA Galaxy in the Western Conference standings.
Also winning on Saturday were Toronto FC, which edged Philadelphia Union 2-1 and Real Salt Lake, which topped the Houston Dynamo 2-0 with goals from Javier Morales (36′) and Joao Plata (65′).
Elsewhere in the MLS, New England Revolution beat New York City 1-0 on a Lee Nguyen first half goal, Orlando City fell 2-0 to the New York Red Bulls, Kansas City Wizards secured a 2-1 win over Montreal Impact, while the Seattle Sounders, playing without star forward Clint Dempsey, who was busy scoring a hat-trick for the USA in Gold Cup action, fell 1-0 to Colorado Rapids.
Major League Soccer – MLS Scores and Results
LA Galaxy 5 – 2 SJ Earthquakes
Toronto FC 2 – 1 Philadelphia Union
New England 1 – 0 New York City
Orlando City 0 – 2 New York Red Bulls
Sporting KC 2 – 1 Montreal Impact
Dallas 2 – 1 DC United
Seattle Sounders 0 – 1 Colorado Rapids
Real Salt Lake 2 – 0 Houston Dynamo
Portland Timbers 1 – 1 Vancouver Whitecaps
