and historic -- 1-0 win of their own at FC Dallas to open the week, the Revolution and Fire kept pace by defeating FCD and Houston Dynamo respectively, both also by 1-0 scorelines.
Toronto FC celebrated the grand opening of BMO Field on Saturday, but the expansion club is still looking for a first victory -- and first goal -- after the Kansas City Wizards won both ends of their home-and-home series during the week, winning 3-0 in Kansas City on Wednesday, then 1-0 in the first-ever MLS game in Canada.
The Columbus Crew remained unbeaten on the season -- but won for the first time -- as they defeated D.C. United 1-0, while the Los Angeles Galaxy also won for the first time this season in the first Super Clasico of 2007, defeating in-stadium rivals Chivas USA 3-1. The Colorado Rapids completed the week's play with a first victory in the Rocky Mountain Cup this season, going to Real Salt Lake and coming away with a 2-0 victory.
At Pizza Hut Park on Sunday, FC Dallas were trying to complete their three-game homestand and round out a busy schedule with a third win on the year, while the Revolution were looking to win on their travels for the first time in three tries in playing their first game for more than a week.
The game's lone goal came after just 13 minutes. Jeff Larentowicz headed a half-clearance to Steve Ralston, who curled in a ball to Taylor Twellman near the penalty spot. Twellman then hit a side-foot volley inside Shaka Hislop's left-hand post.
The goal moved Twellman atop the MLS goalscoring list with four on the season, and it was his 79th career goal, tying him with Preki for the seventh-most goals in MLS history. For Ralston, it was the 110th assist of his MLS career; he's now just four behind all-time leader Carlos Valderrama.
It was also the Revolution's first victory at Pizza Hut Park in their last four trips -- two losses in MLS Cup Finals surrounding a 4-0 loss to FC Dallas in their only visit to Frisco last year.
At Robertson Stadium, Houston Dynamo were returning home after losing their first game of the season in New York, while the Fire were riding a three-game unbeaten streak to begin the campaign, including a pair of wins at their Toyota Park home.
Dynamo twice came close on either side of halftime. In the first half, Brian Ching rattled a header off the crossbar, then early in the second half, Brad Davis saw a long-range drive also come back off the face of the woodwork.
Then in the 60th minute, the Fire hit for the only goal they would need. Chris Rolfe took a long ball from Gonzalo Segares on the right side of the area, skipped into the box, sent defender Wade Barrett to the ground with a fake then lashed a left-footed drive back past Pat Onstad inside the right-hand post for his second goal in as many games.
Dynamo wore maroon jerseys instead of their traditional orange for the game, in honor of Virginia Tech University. Through an online fundraiser and auction of the jerseys, the club raised more than $16,000 for the university's Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund.
At Pizza Hut Park on Thursday, it was a matchup of two of the top three teams in the league record-wise through the first weeks of the season, and also a meeting of the league's top attack early on - FC Dallas, with a league-leading seven goals, facing a Red Bulls team that had yet to allow a goal.
And just as they had done 11 days previous at Giants Stadium, the Red Bulls came away with the victory, this time from the game's only goal. Jozy Altidore poked the ball to Dave van den Bergh on the left flank, and he curled in a pinpoint cross to Hunter Freeman at the back post. Freeman took a touch before hammering a rising blast inside the far post to keep the Red Bulls unbeaten on the campaign.
The shutout extended the Red Bulls shutout streak to 360 minutes to begin the season, setting a new MLS record, passing the Dallas Burn of 1999, who didn't allow a goal for the first 343 minutes of that season.
At BMO Field, a sellout crowd greeted Toronto FC for their first-ever home game on a cold, damp afternoon, though the expansion team still had yet to hit for a goal in losing each of their opening three games -- including a 3-0 decision to the Kansas City Wizards four days previous at Arrowhead Stadium.
TFC started strong, and nearly scored twice in the first half. An innocuous looking corner kick was nearly spilled into his own goal by Wizards goalkeeper Kevin Hartman, and then Danny Dichio had a terrific chance when all alone in the area, but his shot was cleared off the line by K.C. right back Jack Jewsbury.
But after the break it was a different story, and the Wizards deservedly took the lead in the 81st minute. A long ball from Michael Harrington found Eddie Johnson in the right side of the area, and he cut back to his left foot before lashing a low drive that took a deflection off a defender and slipped inside the near post for the game's lone goal.
In the first meeting in the home-and-home series between the clubs at Arrowhead Stadium, the Kansas City Wizards got the home portion of their 2007 campaign off on the right foot.
On a rainy night in Kansas City, the Wizards got off to a dream start. Davy Arnaud slipped the ball to an overlapping Sasha Victorine on the right flank, and he lofted a cross into the six-yard box where Eddie Johnson knifed between defenders to head home for his second goal on the season.
The Wizards doubled the lead 10 minutes after the restart. A flurry in the TFC penalty area saw goalkeeper Greg Sutton make a couple of saves, but from the rebound on the third, Kerry Zavagnin brought the ball down, spun and fired it inside the right-hand post. It was his first goal since the 2003 season.
Yura Movsisyan then finished off the match in the 70th minute with his first professional goal. A long ball found him in the left side of the area, and after taking on his defender he lashed an angled shot that deflected off Sutton and into the back of the net.
At Crew Stadium, the Columbus Crew were still looking for their first win on the season after three draws. D.C. United were also looking for a first win of their own after beginning the year with two defeats.
The game's sole strike came in the 28th minute after an interception in midfield led to a quick counter. Joseph Ngwenya took a pass on the left as Ezra Hendrickson steamed forward to get on the end of the return ball. Ngwenya laid the ball back and the St. Vincent & Grenadines international beat Troy Perkins with his shot, only to see it cleared off the line by defender Devon McTavish. The rebound eventually came back out to Hendrickson, and he made no mistake with his second chance.
The match was suspended for 28 minutes at the 84-minute mark when thunderstorms rolled through the area, but in the 10 minutes after the delay (including four minutes of stoppage time), neither team really threatened.
D.C., wearing maroon in honor of Virginia Tech University, lost for the third consecutive match to begin the season. It was the first time in league history the winners of the Supporters' Shield the previous season had lost their first three games to open the next.
At The Home Depot Center, Chivas USA had won twice in two matches at home to begin the season, while the Galaxy were coming off a 16-day layoff in league competition still looking for a first win on the campaign.
But as the home team, the Galaxy got off to a magical start, scoring twice in the opening 17 minutes. The first goal was a gift, coming after eight minutes. Kyle Martino swung in a cross from the right, and goalkeeper Brad Guzan and defender Claudio Suarez collided while trying to clear. The ball fell to Landon Donovan and he easily knocked it into an empty net.
Then Donovan and Kevin Harmse played a neat one-two on the left, Donovan sending the young Canadian international alone into the area. As Guzan came off his line, Harmse poked the ball inside the near post for his career MLS goal.
Chivas pulled a goal back in the second half as Suarez atoned for his earlier miscue. Ante Razov saw a header come off the post, and after it wasn't cleared, Laurent Merlin drove a thigh-shot into the crowded goalmouth that Suarez turned to deflect home with his body.
Yet the Galaxy had the last salvo. Donovan went racing forward for nearly half the field on a counter. At the top of the area he slid the ball across to Cobi Jones, who slotted the ball under Guzan for the 78th-minute finisher.
At Rice-Eccles Stadium, both teams were coming into the game off road defeats, the Rapids falling 3-1 to FC Dallas for their first loss of the season, while RSL were coming off an eminently forgettable 4-0 reverse at Chivas USA.
After last season, the Rocky Mountain Cup has truly turned into a bitterly contested affair between the regional rivals, and there was no shortage of energy from the start of the contest.
But the goals didn't come until late. In the 71st minute, a long ball down the right flank bounced past RSL defender Danny Torres, and Rapids striker Roberto Brown was able to corral it in the Real penalty area. As he cut inside to the heart of the box, Torres fell down and Brown was left with the goal at his mercy, blasting a shot high past goalkeeper Chris Seitz.
Then four minutes later, defender Jack Stewart sent a back pass to Seitz -- who was the second-youngest goalkeeper to start a game in MLS history -- and when he handled the ball, referee Abbey Okulaja called for an indirect free kick in the penalty area.
Colorado's Herculez Gomez sent the ball under the wall and into the back of the net on the first attempt, but Okulaja had not whistled for play to restart. So on the second chance, Gomez's shot banged into the wall -- but the rebound went back to Kyle Beckerman, and he lashed a low shot through the goalmouth scrum into the goal.
This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
