New England put four on the board to top FC Dallas, Toronto remained off the board in an RSL draw, 10-man Chicago rallied fast to tie New York and the Wizards did an added time spell to top Columbus.

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STILL SCORELESS, TORONTO DRAWS RSL
Punchless Toronto FC was held to a 0-0 draw by Real Salt Lake on Saturday afternoon at BMO Field, despite having a man-advantage for nearly an hour.

Trying everything in the book to find the back of the net, Toronto set franchise highs in shots (24) and shots on goal (12) and gained the upper hand when Fabian Espindola was shown a red card in the 35th minute for violent conduct. Mo Johnston's club was unable to beat RSL keeper Nick Rimando, however, extending their scoreless streak to 822 minutes.

Firing at will, Toronto racked up seven shots in the game's first 20 minutes to no avail as Rimando kept the game scoreless, denying TFC's best efforts.

In the 25th minute, Carl Robinson headed the ball forward to a streaking Marvell Wynne. Evading a Matias Mantilla tackle as he entered the box, Wynne blasted a low shot goalward, forcing Rimando to come up with another save as the defense cleared the ball out of danger.

Just before the half hour mark, Toronto would nearly end their scoring drought, led by an Andrea Lombardo run down the right side. Faking out his defender, Lombardo sent a cross through the box, narrowly missing an onrushing Collin Samuel in between two RSL defenders.

Continuing through the box, the ball ended up on the right foot of Todd Dunivant, who tried to trap it instead of firing a quick shot at the out-of-place Rimando. Failing to control well inside the six-yard box, Dunivant could only weakly poke at the ball with is left foot as Rimando came out to make a tough save with his left hand.

In the 34th minute, both teams' season-long frustrations fueled a scuffle after RSL's Fabian Espindola got into it with Wynne while battling for the ball. As Wynne advanced past the Argentinean, Espindola swung his leg wildly to trip up Wynne, resulting in a nose-to-nose confrontation between the two men.

With Wynne coming at him, Espindola pushed his elbow into the Toronto defender's throat as several other players jumped into the mix. After finally being pulled apart, Espindola was immediately shown a straight red by referee Tim Weyland, putting Toronto in the driver's seat for the rest of the match.

A pair of Toronto attempts on either side of the halftime whistle sailed over the crossbar, but TFC would continue to pressure the Real defense.

A 53rd minute header snapped down by Samuel nearly caught Rimando flat-footed, but the RSL keeper was just able to dive to his right to smother the attempt for his 10th save of the match.

Seconds later, the dormant Salt Lake offense would come alive as Chris Brown ran onto a long ball put over the top. With a defender closing in on him, Brown headed the ball forward and took aim at the upper corner, but his left-footed shot narrowly missed, flying inches over the crossbar.

Neither side was able to crack the opposing keeper over the final third of the game, with only Samuel's 72nd minute header threatening. Lacking the required pace, his third shot of the match was easily contained by Rimando and the two teams played out the remainder of time to share the points.

With the playoff picture getting dimmer by the week for RSL, the club heads back to Rice-Eccles Stadium to prepare for a Wednesday clash against the Los Angeles Galaxy, with both sides badly needing three points to claw their way back into the race.

Toronto FC, currently on a 10-game winless slide, is also losing touch with the rest of the pack, sitting nine points behind Chicago for the last playoff spot. On Saturday, Toronto will host Columbus, another club needing to make up points in the postseason race before the clock strikes midnight on their 2007 campaign.

Line-ups
RSL - Nick Rimando; Chris Lancos, Matias Mantilla, Eddie Pope, Chris Wingert, Carey Talley, Kyle Beckerman, Javier Morales (Ritchie Kotschau 47'), Fabian Espindola, Chris Brown (Robbie Findley 62'), Alecko Eskandarian (Andy Williams 71')

TFC - Kenny Stamatopoulos; Andrew Boyens, Todd Dunivant, Tyrone Marshall, Jim Brennan, Chris Pozniak (Miguel Canizalez 59'), Maurice Edu, Carl Robinson, Marvell Wynne (Adam Braz 46'), Andrea Lombardo (Jeff Cunningham 68'), Collin Samuel

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REVS DOUBLE UP DALLAS
Paced by two Pat Noonan goals, the New England Revolution overcame a pair from Carlos Ruiz to sink FC Dallas by a score of 4-2 at Gillette Stadium on Saturday.

Steve Ralston added a goal and two assists and Khano Smith got on the scoresheet for the first time this season for the Revs, who won for the third time in their last four league matches, closing the gap with first place DC United to four points in the East.

The Revolution would nearly jump into the lead in the 24th minute when Ralston's free kick found the head of James Riley, but the defender's effort was sent high and wide.

Five minutes later, New England would be handed another opportunity to cash in. Out wide to the left, Smith sent in a low cross that Noonan raced around the defense to reach. Poked home by Noonan for the first of his two goals on the evening, New England would hold the lead for just six minutes.

In the 35th minute, Dax McCarty floated his free kick over the clump of defenders in the middle of the box to find Ruiz lurking at the back post. Revolution keeper Matt Reis had come out to make a play on the ball, but couldn't reach it, leaving El Pescadito with an easy floating header into the open night to knot the game up.

Seconds later, FCD's tails were up again as they looked for a go-ahead goal. Drew Moor's flick from the right side was headed down and to the far post by Abe Thompson, but Reis got just enough of the ball to push the shot around the post and keep the game scoreless going into halftime.

Ralston created havoc in the 65th minute when he pounced on a loose ball in the attacking third of the field and ran into the box. Surrounded by three striped shirts, Ralston alertly laid the ball off for Noonan, who one-timed the ball past Sala to put New England on top once more.

A Dario Sala save on Taylor Twellman in the 67th minute kept the deficit at one goal as the Hoops keeper parried the blast from distance over the bar.

New England would double their advantage in the 78th minute after a wild scrum in front of the goal. With the ball on the left, Andy Dorman sent in a cross that Sala initially got his gloves to, but spilled, allowing Twellman to control it inside the six-yard box. With two defenders breathing down his neck, Twellman left it for Ralston, who had two shots blocked by traffic before finally tapping the ball into the net over the last defender.

Dallas would pull one back six minutes before time when second half substitute Dominic Oduro whipped a cross into the box. Beating his defender in the air, Ruiz again headed the ball home past Reis, bringing FCD back within a goal.

Any hopes of a comeback for Steve Morrow's club would quickly diminish as Smith iced the game in the 90th minute. His 25-yard blast from the left skipped in between the keeper and the near post, cementing a 4-2 victory for the Revolution.

FC Dallas will next take the field for Thursday's espn2 game of the week, hoping to get back on track by slowing down Cuauhtemoc Blanco and the Chicago Fire.

New England travels to the Meadowlands to face Eastern Conference rivals New York on Saturday, attempting to pull even closer to DC at the top of the league with another win.

Scoring
NE - Pat Noonan 6 (Khano Smith, Steve Ralston) 29'
FCD - Carlos Ruiz 5 (Dax McCarty) 35'
NE - Pat Noonan 7 (Steve Ralston, Jeff Larentowicz) 65'
NE - Steve Ralston 3 78'
FCD - Carlos Ruiz 6 (Dominic Oduro) 84'
NE - Khano Smith 1 90'

Line-ups
FCD - Dario Sala; Clarence Goodson, Drew Moor, Aaron Pitchkolan, David Wagenfuhr (Dominic Oduro 83'), Pablo Ricchetti, Anthony Wallace (Arturo Alvarez 69'), Denilson, Dax McCarty, Abe Thompson, Carlos Ruiz

NE - Matt Reis; James Riley, Avery John, Michael Parkhurst, Steve Ralston, Jeff Larentowicz, Andy Dorman, Shalrie Joseph, Khano Smith, Taylor Twellman, Pat Noonan (Adam Cristman 79')

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KC FORGE LATE WIN MAGIC
Fourth place Kansas City produced a late display of comeback genius to give the Arrowhead Stadium home crowd a dramatic, late 3-2 win over the Columbus Crew on Saturday.

Scott Sealy pulled the strings from early on, setting a play in motion in the 22nd minute that almost clicked with striker Eddie Johnson running on goal.

Five minutes later, the hosts would remain fortunate to even be level as Jason Garey's effort ricocheted off the post.

Nevertheless, Kansas would conjure an opening after Sealy was fouled by Ezra Hendrickson on the edge of the box. The danger man would use his craft to bend the resulting free kick into the top corner in the 31st minute.

Back from the halftime break, the Crew weathered a still rampant Kansas attacking storm to build back some purpose.

Former MetroStar-let Eddie Gaven pelted a header just over in the 57th minute before forward Alejandro Moreno reacted by finding the back of the net in the 65th minute.

Andy Herron forced the Crew into the lead just two minutes later after pouncing following the redirect of Gaven's well-delivered corner.

The match wore on with neither able to adjust the scoreline and the Crew all too content with the status quo. Four minutes of tacked on time, however, gave the Wizards some hope, and time that they wouldn't take for granted.

In the second minute of added time, Crewman Stefani Migloranzi was adjudged to have fouled an onrushing Kerry Zavagnin in the box, with Johnson coolly slotting home from the spot for his 15th of the season.

With just seconds remaining, Sealy added a second to his daily account, rushing onto the end of Eloy Colombano's cross to slide the ball into the back of the net for an unbelievable 3-2 win.

Kansas will continued to look for a playoff spot against a red-hot Chivas, on Saturday, while the Crew look to collect themselves for a morale boosting clash with league whipping boys TFC.

Scoring
KC - Scott Sealy 3 31'
CLB - Alejandro Moreno 5 65'
CLB - Andy Herron 4 (Marcos Gonzalez, Eddie Gaven) 67'
KC - Eddie Johnson 15 (PK) 90+3'
KC - Scott Sealy 4 (Eloy Colombano, Eddie Johnson) 90+4'

Line-ups
CLB - Will Hesmer; Ezra Hendrickson, Marcos Gonzalez, Tim Ward, Eddie Gaven, Ned Grabavoy, Danny O'Rourke, Duncan Oughton, Jacob Thomas (Andy Herron 65’), Jason Garey (Stefani Miglioranzi 84’), Alejandro Moreno

KC - Kevin Hartman; Jack Jewsbury (Eloy Colombano 77’), Jimmy Conrad, Nick Garcia, Jose Burciaga Jr., Davy Arnaud, Carlos Marinelli, Kerry Zavagnin, Kurt Morsink (Sasha Victorine 66’), Scott Sealy, Eddie Johnson

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10-MAN RAPIDS CLAW BACK
The Colorado Rapids overcame an early red card and several weather delays to earn a 1-1 draw against Chivas USA on Sunday at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.

Facundo Erpen was sent off in the 12th minute for denying a goal scoring opportunity, but a late equalizer from Colin Clark gave Fernando Clavijo's side a share of the points and kept Chivas from clinching an early playoff birth.

Laurent Merlin earned the first good chance of the match for Chivas 12 minutes in, taking the ball off of a Colorado defender and racing in on goal with only Bouna Coundoul to beat.

Facundo Erpen, attempting to chase down the speedy Frenchman, gave Merlin a shove from behind inside the area, sending the attacker sprawling to the grass as referee Richard Heron signaled to the spot.

With Erpen being served a red card for his troubles, Sacha Kljestan made the penalty kick count, easily slotting the ball to the left of a diving Coundoul to give Chivas the early advantage.

Just past the half hour mark, a Paulo Nagamura foul on Jovan Kirovski at the top of the box set up a Colorado free kick in a threatening area. Kirovski would take it, expertly slicing the ball past a wall of Chivas players, but to the wrong side of Brad Guzan's near post and out of play.

While the game opened under partly cloudy skies, the weather had turned bleak by halftime and lightning strikes in the area forced a brief delay before play could resume.

In the opening moments of the second half, Francisco Mendoza cut in front of a Colorado defender in the right side of the box and tried to poke the ball past Coundoul on the run with his left foot. Coundoul was able to get a piece of the initial effort, though, popping the ball up into the air before running underneath it to make a basket catch.

A second weather delay halted play in the 72nd minute, with 45 minutes going by before the game was allowed to continue.

Given the extra time to recover, Colorado came out of the break with a better game plan, and it paid off in the 76th minute when Clark evened the score with a chip over Guzan, earning a share of the points for the Rapids.

Chivas could have clinched a playoff spot with a win, but will have to try again on Saturday when they host the Kansas City Wizards at the Home Depot Center. With the Houston Dynamo winning on Sunday, Chivas temporarily falls back into the second position in the West, trailing Houston by a single point while playing two fewer games.

The draw was a welcome result for the shorthanded Rapids, allowing them to pull back within one point of the Chicago Fire for the eighth and final playoff spot. Colorado now faces a mini-road trip with a pair of away games over the next two weeks, starting with Saturday's tilt against Real Salt Lake and followed by a tough match-up with the New England Revolution on September 29th.

Scoring
CHV – Sacha Kljestan 4 (PK) 13'
COL – Colin Clark 2 (Conor Casey, Terry Cooke) 76'

Line-ups
CHV - Brad Guzan; Lawson Vaughn (Anthony Hamilton 79'), Jason Hernandez, Shavar Thomas, Jonathan Bornstein, Jesse Marsch, Sacha Kljestan, Paulo Nagamura, Francisco Mendoza, Laurent Merlin (Maykel Galindo 68'), Ramón Núñez (Alex Zotinca 63')

COL - Bouna Coundoul; Tony Sanneh, Ugo Ihemelu, Mike Petke (Stephen Keel 23'), Facundo Erpen, Pablo Mastroeni, Terry Cooke, Jovan Kirovski (Jose Cancela 79'), Colin Clark, Mehdi Ballouchy (Jacob Peterson 54'), Conor Casey

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GALAXY OVERPOWERED BY CHAMPS
The Houston Dynamo became the second team in MLS to clinch a playoff spot with a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy at the Home Depot Center.

The defending MLS champions used goals from three different players to send the Galaxy to their eighth defeat in the last 0 games, with Ryan Cochrane and Ricardo Clark scoring on either side of a Dwayne De Rosario penalty kick that opened the second half with a bang for the Dynamo.

Houston would quiet the home crowd in the 21st minute as Richard Mulrooney's corner kick was flicked toward the back post by De Rosario. Making a run through the area, Ryan Cochrane found himself in perfect position to deal with the cross, slamming the ball home after losing the mark of Gavin Glinton to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

Los Angeles would waste little time in answering Houston's challenge, however, scoring just five minutes later off a corner kick of their own. Landon Donovan picked up his eighth assist of the year when his out-swinger found Alan Gordon with all kinds of space in the middle of the box, allowing the forward to bury his effort with little trouble.

Things would turn around quickly after the break, as Houston was awarded a penalty kick less than a minute into the second half. With 20 seconds gone by, referee Brian Hall judged that rookie defender Mike Randolph had ridden Brian Mullan to the ground just inside the box, giving De Rosario the opportunity to step up and convert the spot kick for his fifth goal of the season, putting the Men in Orange back in front.

The Galaxy would nearly equalize in the 57th minute with Landon Donovan taking on three defenders before feeding Kyle Martino down the left side. The winger's cross into the middle was met by the head of Gavin Glinton and snapped downward, but right to the feet of Houston keeper Pat Onstad, making for a routine save.

Just before the hour mark, the Dynamo had an excellent opportunity to double their advantage. Brian Ching, who started the game on the bench because of a calf injury, hit a low line drive cross from the right side of the area that was redirected goalward by Nate Jaqua. The former Galaxy striker's effort got by Joe Cannon, but could not beat the post, catching the woodwork before bouncing back in play where Cannon promptly pounced on it.

In the 67th minute, Corey Ashe dribbled by a defender on the left side of the field and sent the ball into the middle, hitting a Galaxy player before finding the feet of a wide-open Ching mere feet from Cannon. With defenders closing in, the Hawaiian forward got a quick shot off, only to see Cannon dive to his left to grab the attempt and keep the Galaxy deficit at one.

The Dynamo would eventually discover the goal they had been working so hard to earn, thanks to a nice passing sequence in the 73rd minute between Ricardo Clark and Ching that sprung Clark in behind the Galaxy defense. With Ty Harden and Peter Vagenas converging on the ball at the same time, both players inexplicably quit on the play, leaving Cannon hung out to dry by Clark, who continued his run and easily slotted the ball into the back of the Los Angeles net.

Ching almost tacked on another goal in the 78th minute after another defensive breakdown by the Galaxy, but the US international's dribbler missed just to the wrong side of the far post.

Los Angeles looked gassed after the third Houston goal and could do little over the remaining 10 minutes to pull themselves back into the game.

Houston regained the Western Conference lead with Sunday's victory, moving one point clear of upstart Chivas USA, who still have two games in hand. The Dynamo face a two-week layoff before returning to action against intra-state rivals FC Dallas on September 30th.

Succumbing to yet another home loss in 2007, the Galaxy are all but eliminated from the playoff picture after Sunday's result, trailing the Chicago Fire by 13 points for the last playoff position. The team directly in front of LA in the standings, Real Salt Lake, will host Frank Yallop's side on Wednesday in a battle to stay out of the cellar.

Scoring
HOU - Ryan Cochrane 1 (D. De Rosario, Richard Mulrooney) 21'
LA - Alan Gordon 3 (Landon Donovan) 26'
HOU - Dwayne De Rosario 5 (PK) 47'
HOU - Ricardo Clark 2 (Brian Ching) 73'

Line-ups
HOU - Pat Onstad; Richard Mulrooney, Ryan Cochrane (Craig Waibel 90+), Eddie Robinson, Wade Barrett, Brian Mullan (Patrick Ianni 48'), Ricardo Clark, Dwayne De Rosario, Corey Ashe, Nate Jaqua, Joseph Ngwenya (Brian Ching 42')

LA - Joe Cannon; Chris Klein, Ty Harden, Troy Roberts, Mike Randolph, Cobi Jones, Landon Donovan, Peter Vagenas (Carlos Pavón 79'), Kyle Martino, Gavin Glinton (Kelly Gray 64'), Alan Gordon (Edson Buddle 69')