It was an abbreviated Week 15 in Major League Soccer with only 12 teams in action ahead of the Concacaf Gold Cup break.
As such, movement was minimal. The Philadelphia Union further secured their spot at No. 2 with a stunning come-from-behind win over the New York Red Bulls, who dropped four spots to No. 7.
Following a 5-2 win over FC Cincinnati, New York City FC climbed two spots to No. 5. That’s also the drop for the Seattle Sounders FC after a 2-1 loss at Montreal.
The Major League Soccer Power Rankings are created by averaging the rankings submitted by a committee of Pro Soccer USA’s editors and writers.
(1) Los Angeles Football Club (11-1-4, 37 points): If there’s a team that perhaps doesn’t want the Gold Cup break it’s LAFC, which are unbeaten in their last eight and have a six-point lead in the Supporters’ Shield race. (2) Philadelphia Union (9-4-4, 31 points): Trailing 2-0 at halftime, Ilsinho came off the bench to rescue the Union, scoring twice and setting up another goal in a thrilling 3-2 victory over the New York Red Bulls. (5) Atlanta United (8-5-2, 26 points): After a sluggish start, Josef Martinez and the defending MLS Cup champions appear to be hitting their stride midseason. The attack isn’t scoring at the same rate as last year, but the defense is much improved. (6) D.C. United (7-4-6, 27 points): D.C. United head into the break winless in their last five, four of those matches though were draws — including the last three. (7) New York City FC (5-1-8, 23 points): With Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola in the house, New York City FC romped FC Cincinnati, 5-2, at Yankee Stadium. Cityzens coach Dome Torrent joked about his team scoring all seven goals — two were NYCFC own goals. (4) Seattle Sounders FC (7-4-5, 26 points): The Sounders slump is happening later than in recent years. Seattle fell to the Montreal Impact, 2-1, to drop their third in a row. The difference, though, is that the Sounders are third in the West and not multiple points below the playoff line. (3) New York Red Bulls (7-6-3, 24 points): Kaku and Brian White staked the Red Bulls to a commanding and deserved 2-0 halftime lead and it appeared New York would go into the Gold Cup break with five wins in six unbeaten. instead, they conceded three times after halftime to fall to the Union. (8) LA Galaxy (9-6-1, 28 points): The Galaxy head into the Gold Cup break with wins in two of their last three and are a distance second to crosstown rival LAFC in the West. (9) FC Dallas (6-6-4, 22 points): Francis Atuahene won’t soon forget his 23rd birthday. Just 42 seconds into his MLS debut, he scored his first league goal to secure a 2-2 draw against the San Jose Earthquakes. (10) Houston Dynamo (7-3-3, 24 points): The Dynamo are going to be busy after the Gold Cup break. No team in the league has played fewer matches than Houston, who are fourth in the West after just 13 games. (11) Toronto FC (5-6-4, 19 points): Nick DeLeon leveled two minutes from halftime and Jordan Hamilton equalized in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time to secure a 2-2 draw against Sporting Kansas City at BMO Field. (12) Real Salt Lake (6-8-1, 19 points): Streaky RSL head into their break off back-to-back losses after winning three in a row, after consecutive losses, following two wins in a row. You get the idea. (13) Montreal Impact (8-7-3, 27 points): After conceding a Victor Rodriguez penalty kick, Saphir Taider scored twice to lift Montreal to a 2-1 win over the Seattle Sounders. With wins in two of their last three, the Impact head into the break second in the East. (15) Orlando City SC (5-7-3, 18 points): The Lions have wins in two of their last three games and are just one point below the playoff line in the East going into the break. (16) New England Revolution (4-8-4, 16 points): It seemed like there was a lot of ground to make up, but the reality is that the Revs are just three points below the playoff line after securing points in four straight games. (17) San Jose Earthquakes (5-6-4, 19 points): The Quakes rallied from a brutal own goal by Daniel Vega to take a second-half lead on goal by Chris Wondolowski, his eighth in two games, and Magus Eriksson in an eight-minute span. But they settled for a 2-2 draw with FC Dallas. (18) Colorado Rapids (4-9-3, 15 points): It’s now four wins in five unbeaten for the Rapids after a 1-0 win over Minnesota United with Kei Kamara latching onto a Jack Price corner to head in the lone goal. (14) Minnesota United FC (6-7-3, 21 points): The Loons have lost three consecutive games going into a break that’s going to feel like two months long for Adrian Heath, who’s club is sixth in the West, one point behind FC Dallas and two above the playoff line. (19) Sporting Kansas City (3-5-7, 16 points): Felipe Gutierrez scored a pair of goals — both from the penalty spot — to give the visitors leads, but both times Sporing conceded the equalizer in a 2-2 draw against host Toronto FC. (20) Portland Timbers (4-7-2, 14 points): The Timbers are officially in last place in the West following the Rapids win over Minnesota. But they’ve played just 13 games and only one at home. It’s not time to panic. (21) Columbus Crew SC (5-9-2, 17 points): It will be nearly two months since their last win when the Crew return to action against Sporting KC on June 23. It will also officially start a new era in goal with Zack Steffen heading overseas. (22) Vancouver Whitecaps FC (4-6-6, 18 points): The Whitecaps head into the break on a four-match unbeaten streak, but three of those matches were draws. Marc dos Santos’ squad are one point below the playoff line in the West. (23) Chicago Fire (4-6-6, 18 points): The Fire are also one point below the playoff line, but they go into the break winless in their last four games. (24) FC Cincinnati (3-11-1, 11 points): All those good feels in the first few weeks of the regular season are gone now. FC Cincinnati are bottom of the league and their 5-2 drubbing by NYCFC was their fourth loss in a row and ninth in their last 10 games.Pro Soccer USA writer Dylan Butler contributed to this report.
The post MLS Power Rankings Week 15: NYCFC enter top 5 before Gold Cup break appeared first on Pro Soccer USA.
Original author: Dylan Butler, Pro Soccer USA
