MLS Week 10 Power Rankings: Did D.C. United Do Enough to Stay No. 1?
Week 10 of the 2015 MLS season is in the books, and once again, there were several dramatic outcomes.
D.C. United and the New England Revolution earned draws, the Seattle Sounders lost to the Columbus Crew and the Vancouver Whitecaps crushed the Philadelphia Union.
These results have altered the power rankings for this week, so will there be a new No. 1?
Here are the power rankings for Week 10.
20) Philadelphia Union
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Previous week: No. 19
The Philadelphia Union capitulated in the second half against the Vancouver Whitecaps in a 3-0 defeat at BC Place on Saturday.
Richie Marquez was sent off and the defense was torn apart by Vancouver's fast-paced attack. Fernando Aristeguieta was ineffective because he had to drop deep to collect the ball, so Philadelphia's offense was once again unproductive.
The Union have won just once all season and are riding a five-match winless streak. Injuries have affected the team at times, but dire performances make Philly the worst team in MLS at present.
19) Montreal Impact
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Previous week: No. 20
The Montreal Impact played their first game in nearly a month on Saturday against the Portland Timbers. However, they lost 2-1 at Stade Saputo and are still winless this season.
Neither the Impact nor the Timbers were particularly effective, but a wonderful strike from Diego Valeri put the game out of reach for the hosts.
On the other hand, Montreal didn't play poorly, but it wasn't able to finish its chances. At least the Impact went down with a fight, unlike the Philadelphia Union, which is why the former moves up a spot this week.
18) New York City FC
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Previous week: No. 18
New York City FC played against 10 men for almost an hour but still lost 2-1 to the New York Red Bulls—and should have lost by a larger margin.
NYCFC didn't play with any urgency until the final 15 minutes of the game. The defense was also exposed several times by the opposing midfield and Bradley Wright-Phillips. If someone tuned in after Matt Miazga was sent off, that person would assume the Red Bulls had the man advantage.
NYCFC's defense is not up to the caliber of other Eastern Conference teams, and David Villa's lack of fitness has left the team in disarray. The only reason the club hasn't dropped below No. 18 is because of its higher standing than the Montreal Impact and Philadelphia Union in the East.
17) Chicago Fire
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Previous week: No. 14
The Chicago Fire nearly earned a draw against Real Salt Lake after a late flurry of opportunities but couldn't find an equalizer in their 2-1 defeat.
It seems harsh to drop the Fire to No. 17, considering how they dominated in shots and possession, but the defense gave RSL's key players too much space, which cost the team. The finishing was also terrible yet again.
Those same issues were still haunting the Fire in Week 10 and are the reasons why they're 17th in these power rankings.
16) Orlando City SC
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Previous week: No. 17
Orlando City was on the way to its fourth home loss on Friday but managed to score twice in the final 15 minutes to salvage a 2-2 draw against the New England Revolution.
It was an incredible comeback from Orlando, especially given the team has been poor at home this season. It was just the second point the Lions have earned at the Citrus Bowl.
Two individual mistakes led to New England's goals, but credit Orlando for showing tenacity and recovering a point. This result and effort not only moves them up in the power rankings but could also result in the team gaining confidence going into its next games.
15) Colorado Rapids
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Previous week: No. 15
For the fourth match in a row, the Colorado Rapids earned a 1-1 draw. This time, it came against the San Jose Earthquakes, who have been in decent form recently.
The Rapids have also scored in six straight games, something they haven't accomplished since last summer. Now that Colorado has signed another striker in Luis Solignac and will welcome Kevin Doyle at the end of this month, head coach Pablo Mastroeni should have plenty of options up front.
Colorado has won just one game, which came on April 10, but the team's performances have been encouraging. The recent game versus the Earthquakes was impressive. The Rapids generated 18 shots, and once their two new additions arrive, more of those will be converted.
14) Portland Timbers
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Previous week: No. 16
It wasn't pretty, but the Portland Timbers earned a vital road win over the Montreal Impact, against whom Diego Valeri made his first start since returning from injury. He also scored the goal that stood as the winner.
Valeri was contained for most of the game, but when he was given too much space, he made the Impact pay. The Timbers will be happy to have him back simply for his timely goals.
Most of the Timbers players weren't sharp, but sometimes winning ugly is necessary, especially on the road. It was a big result for Portland, and the return of the clutch Argentinean should give Portland some confidence going forward.
13) Toronto FC
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Previous week: No. 12
Toronto FC finally played its home opener on Sunday, but its performance against a struggling Houston Dynamo side was lackluster. The visitors won 2-1 and were the superior team throughout the majority of the 90 minutes.
The Dynamo exposed gaping holes between the midfield and defense, with Toronto head coach Greg Vanney pushing both Benoit Cheyrou and Michael Bradley further forward is a kamikaze tactic.
Deploying a double pivot in midfield is Vanney's best option. One goes forward and the other stays back to defend. Cheyrou and Bradley are effective on both sides of the pitch, but if the two of them aren't tracking back, then TFC will concede.
Losing to the Dynamo, who had conceded eight goals in their previous two games, is poor enough, but falling flat against them in your home opener is inexcusable. That result ended Toronto's recent surge up the power rankings.
12) Houston Dynamo
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Previous week: No. 13
The Houston Dynamo made amends for their loss against the San Jose Earthquakes by defeating Toronto FC five days later.
The lone Earthquakes goal caught the Dynamo defense napping off a Matias Perez Garcia free kick. The pass found Adam Jahn, who converted from inside the box. Houston had a great opportunity to tie thanks to a penalty, but Giles Barnes' attempt was saved by David Bingham.
Barnes also missed another glorious chance earlier in that game, but the team as a whole was very wasteful.
That wasn't the case in Toronto, though. The English striker assisted Will Bruin's goal, which rounded off a counterattack, and despite having his penalty saved, Oscar Boniek Garcia was able to score off the rebound.
The Dynamo were caught ball watching on Jozy Atidore's goal, but otherwise, it was a solid performance and worthy of moving them up to No. 12.
11) LA Galaxy
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Previous week: No. 8
The LA Galaxy are dealing with some key absences at the moment. Robbie Keane has a groin injury and Jose Villarreal has a hamstring issue, and the Galaxy have been on a poor run of form lately.
A boring draw versus Real Salt Lake and a loss to FC Dallas have knocked LA out of the top 10 in this power rankings. However, once Sebastian Lletget is used to head coach Bruce Arena's system, coupled with the returns of Villarreal and Keane, the Galaxy will climb again.
Failing to win any of their last four games is not championship form, hence the Galaxy's drop.
10) Real Salt Lake
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Previous week: No. 11
Real Salt Lake earned its first win since April 5 by defeating the Chicago Fire 2-1 on Saturday. RSL was out-shot by the Fire but carved open the Chicago defense and put the game out of reach.
Even the late onslaught by the Fire wasn't too worrying for RSL. Defender Chris Schuler is still out, but despite that, Salt Lake is still tied with the San Jose Earthquakes, LA Galaxy and Sporting Kansas City, who all occupy a playoff spot.
After a brief slump, it appears as if RSL have recovered. A win has launched them back into the top 10.
9) Sporting Kansas City
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Previous week: No. 9
Sporting Kansas City extended its unbeaten streak to three games after tying D.C. United, one of the in-form teams in MLS this season, on the road.
If it wasn't for D.C. goalkeeper Bill Hamid, United could've lost the match. Dom Dwyer actually scored to break the deadlock after the hour mark, but it was ruled out for offside.
D.C. mounted a few opportunities, but the SKC defense scrambled to keep the ball out of the net. The team also did well to react immediately after conceding the opening goal.
That tenacity and solid performance on the road keeps SKC in the top 10 this week.
8) San Jose Earthquakes
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Previous week: No. 10
The San Jose Earthquakes are quietly raking up points. They defeated the Houston Dynamo and drew with the Colorado Rapids to extend their unbeaten streak to three games—the team has lost just once in their last five games.
San Jose went on the road to Houston midweek and walked out with a 1-0 win. The Earthquakes made it difficult for Houston to create a lot of scoring chances. The Quakes were a tad open at times in Colorado, but the team is in form and deserves to move up this week.
The lack of pace in defense is still a worry, but with Innocent Emeghara and a few others unavailable, head coach Dominic Kinnear deserves credit for taking San Jose into a playoff spot.
7) Seattle Sounders
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Previous week: No. 3
Seattle Sounders forward Clint Dempsey was in fine form against the Columbus Crew, scoring twice in a 3-2 loss, although his second goal was controversial.
The downside is that the defense fell asleep on several occasions. Kei Kamara wasn't tracked in the buildup to both of his goals. Federico Higuain was also given too much space, so he took advantage and struck for the Crew.
Sounders general manager Garth Lagerwey picked out the defense as the team's biggest weakness, per Matt Pentz of the Seattle Times, but he didn't seem too concerned in the big picture.
Lagerwey should be more worried, however, because it cost the Sounders at least a point in Columbus. Since other teams around them in the power rankings earned a positive result, Seattle drops to No. 7 this week.
6) New England Revolution
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Previous week: No. 2
The New England Revolution should have clinched three points in Orlando but let them slip, with Orlando City salvaging a late draw against the 2014 MLS Cup finalists.
New England may have been lucky on the second goal after Orlando's Rafael Ramos opted to chest the ball backward. It ended up on the foot of Kelyn Rowe, who dribbled it into the open net.
However, Aurelien Collin's equalizer could have been prevented. Goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth could have come out and claimed the cross, and Jermaine Jones, who's poor in the air, was easily beaten by Collin.
Coughing up a 2-0 lead late in a match drops New England from No. 2 to No. 6.
5) Columbus Crew
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Previous week: No. 7
The Columbus Crew defeated the reigning Supporters' Shield winners, the Seattle Sounders, on Saturday, which was a huge result. The Crew will be a contender for the top seed in the Eastern Conference, so earning wins against top-tier sides such as the Sounders will help boost Columbus' chances.
Winning 3-2 doesn't sound too convincing, but when Clint Dempsey scored his second goal, he appeared to be in an offside position. The defense was relatively solid, especially given it was facing Dempsey and Obafemi Martins, the most dangerous attacking duo in the league.
The attack was strong once again thanks to the team nicking the opening goal. The Crew are now 4-0-1 when scoring first this season, a stat that Adam Jardy of the Columbus Dispatch initially highlighted on May 3.
That notable victory moves Columbus back into the top five this week.
4) FC Dallas
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Previous week: No. 5
FC Dallas extended its unbeaten streak to four games by defeating the LA Galaxy 2-1 at home. It wasn't a convincing win, but earning a victory over the defending champions is always noteworthy.
They had opportunities to score before Blas Perez tied the game in the second half, but either Jaime Penedo made a save or Dallas' forwards simply missed the target.
Nonetheless, the Hoops delivered at home and defeated an MLS powerhouse, which moves Dallas into the top three in the Western Conference standings. However, with the New York Red Bulls on the schedule next week, FCD has to convert their chances because they might not be as fortunate.
3) New York Red Bulls
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Previous week: No. 6
The New York Red Bulls faced New York City FC with 10 men for the majority of their match on Sunday, but not only did the Red Bulls win, they did so convincingly.
When Matt Miazga was sent off in the first half, the Red Bulls were up 1-0. They doubled their lead seven minutes into the second half. In fact, New York had a few chances to make it 3-0.
Bradley Wright-Phillips bagged both goals and was named MLS Player of the Week. He could have scored a hat trick, but regardless, he produced in a big match for the Red Bulls once again.
All in all, it was a brilliant performance and result for the Red Bulls, who deservedly move up to No. 3 in these rankings.
2) Vancouver Whitecaps
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Previous week: No. 4
The Vancouver Whitecaps attack was facing Brian Sylvestre, who was acquired on a short-term loan by the lowly Philadelphia Union to be the starting goalkeeper, in Week 10. As a result of to the injuries to Andre Blake and John McCarthy, Sylvestre, a former Whitecap, was basically a sitting duck.
The Whitecaps crushed the 10-man Union 3-0, but despite the result, it wasn't smooth sailing for Vancouver. They were held scoreless for the first 30 minutes, and if it wasn't for an outstanding save from David Ousted, it would've been a tougher outing.
For that reason, the Whitecaps narrowly miss out on the No. 1 spot this week.
1) D.C. United
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Previous week: No. 1
D.C. United remains in the No. 1 spot despite tying 1-1 with Sporting Kansas City. However, Fabian Espindola did not start and the team still earned a point.
More importantly, D.C. extended its unbeaten run to seven games and is still tied for first place in the Eastern Conference. SKC have also been difficult to beat, so United is still worthy of keeping the No. 1 spot in the rankings.
Peter Galindo covers MLS and U.S. soccer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @GalindoPW.
