MLS round-up: Nani grabs assist as Orlando City draw with Chicago Fire
Sunday 10 March 2019 08:03, UK
Nani earned an assist and had a hand in a red card - but his Orlando City team were held to a 1-1 draw by Chicago Fire on Saturday.
Dom Dwyer fired Orlando ahead from Nani's pass over the top two minutes after half-time, before the former Manchester United winger was fouled by Jorge Corrales as he bore down on goal, and the Chicago man was shown a straight red card.
But in the closing seconds, Przemyslaw Frankowski sent a cross into the middle where CJ Sapong headed inside the far post to earn the 10-man hosts a point.
Gyasi Zardes scored twice as Columbus Crew beat New England Revolution 2-0 for coach Caleb Porter's first victory at the club.
Zardes opened the scoring in the 26th minute with his first goal of the season for Columbus. Pedro Santos received a pass in midfield, dribbled down the left wing and found Zardes for a header from the edge of the six-yard box.
Goalkeeper Zack Steffen kept Columbus in front in the 59th by keeping out Diego Fagundez's penalty kick. Then Steffen's long goal kick in the closing minutes beat the home defence, and Hector Jimenez found an unmarked Zardes for an easy finish.
Porter has been without a club since mutually agreeing to part ways with Portland after the 2017 season. He guided the Timbers to a 2015 MLS Cup victory and a playoff berth in three of five seasons.
Reto Ziegler and Bryan Acosta scored second-half goals and FC Dallas beat LA Galaxy 2-0.
Ziegler opened the scoring in the 53rd minute, beating goalkeeper David Bingham with a penalty kick into the left corner. The Galaxy's Diego Polenta conceded the penalty for a high kick in the area.
FC Dallas doubled the lead in the 61st minute when Paxton Pomykal crossed from the byline to Acosta who smashed in a second on the volley.
The Galaxy travelled without two of their Designated Players, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Romain Alessandrini, who were both injured.
Elsewhere, Kelvin Leerdam and Raul Ruidiaz scored in the first eight minutes in Seattle Sounders' 2-0 victory over Colorado, meaning the Sounders have won their opening two regular-season games for the first time since 2012.
Minnesota United also rolled to a win, with Darwin Quintero the star of the night in a 3-0 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes. The Colombian opened the scoring from the penalty spot before setting up Miguel Ibarra for the Loons second of the night.
A Harold Cummings own goal and some poor finishing from San Jose made sure of the result for Minnesota, keeping the Loons perfect with two wins from their opening two fixtures of the season.
The Houston Dynamo stayed unbeaten on the young season, following up an opening-weekend draw with a 2-1 win over the Montreal Impact on Saturday.
Real Salt Lake also stayed unbeaten, winning for the first time in 2019 thanks to an Albert Rusnak penalty that helped the side to a 1-0 result against the Vancouver Whitecaps.
