2011 MLS Power Rankings: Week 29

It is officially the month of October, and the MLS Cup Playoff picture is becoming clearer and clearer with each passing match. In this week's Major League Soccer Power Rankings on Bleacher Report, Los Angeles secure the top spot for another week as they close in on another successful Supporters Shield defense. Meanwhile, Vancouver opens up their new ground only to see their house get broken in, while a few other teams turn their attention to next season.All this and more as Bleacher Report brings you this week's MLS Power Rankings.Begin Slideshow

Colorado Rapids 1-0 FC Dallas: Watch the Goal and Highlights Here

    Gary Smith’s Colorado Rapids shut out Schellas Hyndman’s FC Dallas to the tune of 1-0 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado. Drew Moor was the hero for the Rapids in the 25th minute, scoring on a header from a Sanna Nyassi delivery. For Smith, it was the result of a week of smart decision making, which also resulted in a badly-needed CONCACAF Champions League victory over Isidro Metapan. “It feels like we’ve been waiting forever for a week like this. Some big decisions to make, I felt they were the right ones, and I’ve been vindicated in that with the two results that we had,” Smith told reporters after the match. “Sometimes when things are not quite going your way, you’ve got to try to do something a little bit different. “I took a little bit of a chance, of course, but I think it paid off, and paid off handsomely. We’ve ended up in a real good spot in the Champions League and today’s result covers a lot of ground." With the results, Colorado improve to 11-9-12 and sit in the middle of the MLS Western Conference with 45 points. As for struggling FC ...

San Jose Earthquakes 1-1 Sporting KC: Watch All Goals and Highlights Here

    Frank Yallop’s San Jose Earthquakes and Peter Vermes’s Sporting Kansas City duked it out as both teams continued the chase for the 2011 MLS Cup Playoffs at Buck Shaw Stadium. Both sides played it out to a 1-1 draw as both teams left it late. Chris Wondolowski scored his 12th goal of the season thanks to a sequence that involved Steven Beitashour and Simon Dawkins in the 85th minute. However, just as the confetti was falling down, C.J. Sapong found Teal Bunbury for his eighth goal of the season. “Our first thought wasn’t ‘Oh, let’s put our heads down. The game is over,’” Bunbury told Andrew Wiebe of MLSSoccer.com. “We picked ourselves up, and we went right at them immediately. We kicked it off, C.J. did his magic and I knew that I had to take off, make a good run in behind and finish it.” "We would like to have won,” Vermes added, “but sometimes you have to battle and scrape and scrap the way we did in the first half. The bottom line is that the game is 90 minutes plus injury time. The guys did a really good job of staying in the game and ...

Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Red Bull New York: A Tale Of Two Cities

Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy, as it turns out, did not clinch the Major Soccer Supporters Shield on Saturday, but they do have a chance to do so on Tuesday against the New York Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey. The match was postponed due to a certain hurricane named Irene. Well, there is certain to be another hurricane coming towards Harrison in the form of MLS's best team at the moment. For the Galaxy, they are playing with guns blazing, flying on the wings of a five-match win streak in all competitions. Landon Donovan leads the team in goals with 12, while midfielder David Beckham paces the G's in assists with 14. “We’ve won in all kinds of ways this year and it’s really important,” Donovan told MLSSoccer.com's Luis Bueno on Saturday after their 2-1 win over Real Salt Lake. “Come the last [CONCACAF Champions League] game against Motagua or the playoffs, if you go down a goal, you need to know how to win games. "It would have been wholly unjust if we didn’t get something out of that game. Credit to our guys for persevering and getting a great result.” “We’ve been 1-0 ...

MLS: Nat Borchers, Real Salt Lake Gift-Wrap 2-1 Victory for Los Angeles Galaxy

Well gee whiz, Jason Kreis. Christmas isn't until December, but you decided to turn into Santa Claus for a day. All that was missing was a red suit, a red hat and a fake beard. And with the head elf being Nat Borchers.I think the 27,000 or so fans who were at the Home Depot Center know why Kyle Beckerman, as much of a talentless hack he is, is Real Salt Lake's de facto team captain. In the 72nd minute, Borchers gave Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy a 2-1 victory. Thankfully, RSL were spared the humiliation of watching the Galaxy lift the Supporters' Shield. (Thanks for nothing, New England...) Fabian Espindola opened the scoring in the 45th minute to give the visitors the lead into the break, but Chad Barrett beat Jamison Olave in the 59th minute for an equalizer, and 13 minutes later, Fan Appreciation Night turned into Christmas Eve. While LA's defense did the work for the most part, offensively it was a different story. I can confirm one thing tonight: David Beckham still has back issues. Yeah, as if that's even news to begin with; it doesn't a rocket scientist monkey to know that back spasms have ...

Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Real Salt Lake Live Blog: Play-by-Play Analysis, Reaction

Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy are on the doorstep of a successful Major League Soccer Supporters' Shield defense when they take on Jason Kreis's Real Salt Lake at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. on Saturday, Oct. 1.The Galaxy are coming off a big 2-1 win over Monarcas Morelia in CONCACAF Champions League play, and are currently 17-3-10 (61 points).As for RSL, who are suddenly struggling on a two-game losing streak, they are 15-9-6 (51 points) and will look to continue their dominance of Los Angeles.Real Salt Lake's last meeting with the Galaxy at Rio Tinto Stadium came in the form of a 4-1 victory. The defeat will be on the minds of LA, who will need to play with desperation to secure payback and, perhaps, the shield.Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. PT/10:30 p.m. ET and will be televised locally by Comcast SportsNet and Fox Sports Prime Ticket. The live blog will begin at approximately 5:45 p.m. PT/8:45 p.m. ET.Keep it here on Bleacher Report for continuing coverage of the 2011 Major League Soccer season and all things World Football.Read more MLS news on BleacherReport.com

Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Real Salt Lake: The Revenge Tour Continues

Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy continue a week of redemption when they take on Jason Kreis's Real Salt Lake on Saturday at the Home Depot Center. The Galaxy are aware that a victory or draw combined with the New England Revolution getting a draw or win against the Seattle Sounders will complete a successful MLS defense of the Supporters Shield. The Los Angeles are coming off a 2-1 statement victory over Monarcas Morelia in the CONCACAF Champions League. Galaxy coach Bruce Arena said, “The players have to react to the situations. 1-1 wasn’t going to do us any good. [If] we lost 4-1, we lost 4-1,” he continued to tell MLSSoccer.com's Luis Bueno. “We had to win the game. We had to be very aggressive going forward.” Speaking of 4-1, they are due for another statement victory against a Real Salt Lake outfit that delivered one of the most lopsided victories over the Galaxy in league play: 4-1. “Given what happened in Morelia, we thought it was a little bit unjustified,” said team captain Landon Donovan. “The world has a crazy thing of working out when you do things the right way, so I’m proud of our guys for continuing ...

CCL: Juninho Saves Los Angeles Galaxy in 2-1 Victory over Monarcas Morelia

Tomas Boy and Monarcas Morelia, you may have a clutch performer in Miguel Sabah. But this is the CONCACAF Champions League, and on any given night, two can play at that game. Say hello to Los Angeles's version of Sabah: Juninho. A scramble off a Landon Donovan corner found the young Brazilian, who sent an untouchable ball past Monarcas keeper Federico Vilar en route to a 2-1 statement victory that keeps Bruce Arena's Galaxy alive—at least until the final match day of the group stage. Mike Magee opened the scoring in the 20th minute, when Todd Dunivant's delivery found the foot of red-hot Mike Magee. Rafael Marquez Lugo equalized matters at the hour mark as a result of poor miscommunication between goalkeeper Josh Saunders and Bryan Jordan. In the end, this result is a tribute to Morelia's inability to finish. Save for one legit opportunity, Miguel Sabah's magic that helped the Monarchs at Estadio Morelos ran out at the Home Depot Center. Furthermore, a frustrating night offensively came as the result of a number of wasted shots by the likes of Yasser Corona, Angel Sepulveda, Damian Manso, Luis Miguel Noriega and Marquez Lugo. Morelia had so many chances to bury ...

Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Monarcas Morelia Live Blog: Play-by-Play Analysis

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy were in a very desperate mood as they stave off elimination from the CONCACAF Champions League on Wednesday night against Monarcas Morelia at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.Goals from Mike Magee and Juninho paced the Galaxy to a 2-1 win over Monarcas. The result improves the Galaxy to 3-2, putting LA even with Morelia and Alajuelense on points with nine.This match was first of three important encounters in eight days for the Galaxy, who also have MLS action against Real Salt Lake at home and the New York Red Bulls on the road.Keep it right here on Bleacher Report for continuing coverage of the CONCACAF Champions League and all things world football.Read more MLS news on BleacherReport.com

Los Angeles Galaxy Closing in on Successful Supporters Shield Defense

For Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy, it's very clear what the club needs to do as they go through Revenge Tour Week at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. “Our focus now is on Wednesday,” Donovan told ESPN.com's Scott French. “Put everything into Wednesday. It's a must-win game, and then a big one against Salt Lake. And we think if we can win that game Saturday, the Supporters' Shield is ours, so this is a big week for us.” Indeed, if the Los Angeles Galaxy win on Saturday against Real Salt Lake, and the Seattle Sounders get upset by the New England Revolution, the Galaxy will have completed a successful MLS Supporters Shield defense. This is the current playoff scenario. LA Galaxy will win the Supporters’ Shield for best regular-season record IF: ·         LA Galaxy defeat Real Salt Lake on Saturday AND o    Seattle fail to defeat New England OR ·         Real Salt Lake lose to Chicago (Wednesday) AND tie LA Galaxy AND o    Seattle fail to defeat New England   FC Dallas will qualify for the MLS Cup Playoffs IF: ·         FC Dallas defeat Colorado ...