Crew say goodbye to Donovan, more Saturday's MLS action

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Justin Meram and Ethan Finlay scored in the first half to lead the Columbus Crew to a 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Justin Meram and Ethan Finlay scored in the first half to lead the Columbus Crew to a 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday night.

Meram opened the scoring in the 23rd minute for the Crew (7-8-9), and Finlay made it 2-0 10 minutes later.

Gyasi Zardes closed the gap to 2-1 for the Galaxy (9-5-7) in the 49th minute. Zardes has nine goals in his last 10 games and a goal in each of his four matches.

But Ben Speas added a third goal for the Crew in the 75th minute, and Giancarlo Gonzalez capped the scoring in the 84th minute with his first goal in 16 MLS games this season.

Columbus honored Landon Donovan prior to the start in what will be his final game in Columbus after announcing his retirement from professional soccer following the season.

SANDY, Utah (AP) — Joao Plata scored his 11th goal of the season and Real Salt Lake beat the Seattle Sounders 2-1 on Saturday to take the top spot in the Western Conference.

Salt Lake (11-4-9) moved one point ahead of Seattle (13-7-2) with its third straight victory.

After a scoreless first half, Salt Lake scored twice in a four-minute span at the start of the second. Plata, the shortest player in MLS, headed in a goal for a second consecutive game in the 53rd minute. Luke Mulholland made it 2-0 with a goal that was originally called an own goal.

Chad Barrett scored for Seattle in the 72nd minute after a wild sequence. Clint Dempsey's close-range attempt was blocked and Andy Rose's rebound header went off the post. Barrett finally put it past goalkeeper Nick Rimando, spoiling his bid for a third straight shutout.

FC DALLAS 5, EARTHQUAKES 0

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Rookie Tesho Akindele scored three goals and Fabian Castillo added two in FC Dallas' victory over San Jose.

Castillo opened the scoring in the 30th minute. He outran the defense to win a loose ball, was nearly pulled down but composed himself and chipped home a finish. He won a one-on-one matchup in the 74th minute and calmly bent in a shot for his fifth goal in his last five games.

Akindele scored on a well-placed shot inside the far post in the 43rd minute, poked in Castillo's miss in the 58th and sent home another rebound in the 86th.

Chris Wondolowski had a chance to pull San Jose (6-9-6) within a goal just before halftime, but his penalty kick sailed over the crossbar.

Dallas (11-7-6) pushed its undefeated run to nine games.

SPORTING KANSAS CITY 4, TORONTO FC 1

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Dom Dwyer scored his 15th and 16th goals of the season, converting two penalty kicks in Sporting Kansas City's victory over Toronto.

Dwyer scored in the 18th and 33rd minutes. The first penalty kick was awarded after Benny Feilhaber was taken down inside the penalty area. Dwyer earned his second penalty kick when he was tripped up on his way to goal. He trails New York's Bradley Wright-Phillips by two goals for the MLS lead.

Toronto FC (9-8-5) pulled within a goal in the first minute of stoppage time before the break. After a Kansas City turnover, Dominic Oduro found Gilberto at the 6-yard line for a cleaver finish.

Sporting KC (12-6-6) took a 3-1 lead in the 64th minute. Soony Saad settled a deflected ball at the top of the 18-yard box and rocketed in a shot from distance. C.J. Sapong added another in the 77th minute.

CREW 4, GALAXY 1

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Justin Meram and Ethan Finlay scored in the first half to lead Columbus past Los Angeles.

Meram opened the scoring in the 23rd minute for the Crew (7-8-9), and Finlay made it 2-0 10 minutes later.

Gyasi Zardes closed the gap to 2-1 for the Galaxy (9-5-7) in the 49th minute. Zardes has nine goals in his last 10 games and a goal in each of his four matches.

But Ben Speas added a third goal for the Crew in the 75th minute, and Giancarlo Gonzalez capped the scoring in the 84th minute with his first goal in 16 MLS games this season.

Columbus honored Landon Donovan prior to the start in what will be his final game in Columbus after announcing his retirement from professional soccer following the season.

TIMBERS 1, REVOLUTION 1, TIE

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Liam Ridgewell scored his first career MLS goal for Portland in the Timbers' tie with New England.

Ridgewell stole the ball near midfield, dribbled past two defenders and slotted home a shot from inside the penalty area in the 65th minute. He joined Portland (7-7-10) on June 25, after he signed a designated player contract from the English Premier League's West Bromwich Albion.

Charlie Davies scored for a second consecutive game in the 27th minute — his first MLS goals since 2011. He got behind the defense and slid a tough-angled ball off the far post.

New England (8-12-3) goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth preserved the draw with his diving save on Maximiliano Urruti's close-range attempt in the 82nd minute.

IMPACT 1, FIRE 0

MONTREAL (AP) — Marco Di Vaio scored in the 84th minute and Montreal beat Chicago to end a seven-game losing streak.

The Impact (4-14-5) won for the first time since June 29 in Houston. They remained 10th and last in the MLS Eastern Conference behind the ninth-place Fire (4-6-13).

What had been mostly a defensive struggle broke open when substitute Maxim Tissot sent fullback Eric Miller in on the left side. Miller battled with Razva Cocis and the ball squirted out to Di Vaio, who calmly slotted in his fifth goal of the season from near the penalty spot.

CHIVAS USA 0, WHITECAPS 0, TIE

CARSON, Calif. (AP) — Dan Kennedy earned his fourth shutout of the season to lift Chivas USA to the draw with Vancouver.

Kennedy made a diving save on Omar Salgado's header in the 28th minute, stopping the best chance by either team. Saldago was open on a corner kick from Russell Teibert, but couldn't slide the ball past Kennedy.

David Ousted had his seventh shutout of the season for the Whitecaps (7-4-12) who dominated possession throughout. But Chivas USA (6-11-6) played its defense compactly and had a 4-3 edge in shots on goal.