all after losing three games on the trot -- while FC Dallas were winners of three of their last four.
Dynamo were forced into a lineup change before the game even began, as Canadian international Pat Onstad was injured in pre-match warmups. Zach Wells, who backstopped a pair of victories while Onstad was away on international duty for the CONCACAF Gold Cup, once again stood between the posts.
Wells had to only make saves of a routine variety over the match, though FC Dallas had the better of much of the play. The game's best chance fell to Houston's other Canadian international, Dwayne De Rosario, who was slipped in alone inside the FCD penalty area. But Hoops 'keeper Dario Sala came quickly off his line and blocked De Rosario's effort with his chest in the 85th minute to preserve the result.
At Crew Stadium, the Crew were coming off back-to-back wins for the first time on the season, while the Red Bulls were playing for the first time after a two-week layoff, a loss and a tie in their last two games.
The stage seemed set for a wild attacking spectacle, with the Crew having scored eight goals in their last three games (a draw followed by two wins), and the Red Bulls having allowed 11 goals in their last four games.
But the game's only goal came in the 69th minute. Andy Herron was given time to run at the Red Bulls from the right flank and he served in a good cross to the far post, where Kei Kamara rose up to clinically head down and home back inside the far post.
The shutout meant an end to Juan Pablo Angel's goal-scoring streak, meaning his bid for history would end at six consecutive games with a goal, one shy of the league record.
At Arrowhead Stadium, the Wizards and Toronto FC were meeting for the third time on the season, both trying to reverse recent trends. The Wizards had lost their last two matches and were shut out for the first time on the season in their previous game, while TFC were still looking for a first-ever road victory after starting their current six-game road swing with a loss in New England the week before.
For the first time in eight games, it was the Wizards who took the lead. From a quick counter, Carlos Marinelli latched onto a loose clearance and raced forward. He played the ball forward to Michael Harrington, and his shot from the right corner of the penalty area eluded the dive of TFC 'keeper Sam Reynolds inside the back stick.
But in the first minute after the halftime break, TFC pulled level. Ronnie O'Brien worked himself free on the right and hooked in a cross for Danny Dichio, who had escaped his marker to head home for his fifth goal on the campaign.
Toronto went down a man for the final quarter-hour when Andrew Boyens was sent off for a second bookable offense after a tackle on Sasha Victorine in midfield.
But the story of the night was goalkeeper Reynolds, the league pool goalkeeper assigned to Toronto for "extreme hardship" who was making his professional debut on the night. He made six saves on a total of 25 Wizards shots, four of those saves coming after TFC went a man down, including a wonderfully acrobatic dive on a Scott Sealy blast and a parry on a point-blank header from substitute Ryan Pore.
At Toyota Park, it was the first league game in charge for Fire interim head coach Denis Hamlett, with his team not having won since the end of April. The Rapids were riding a similar skid however, their Thursday loss at D.C. United the club's fifth in a row.
The match was a scrappy affair that had few notable incidents until the final minutes. In the 81st minute, in a confrontation following a tackle in midfield, Fire midfielder Bakary Soumare pushed Rapids winger Colin Clark in the face and was sent off by referee Ramon Hernandez. In the first meeting of the season between the teams, in April in Colorado, the Rapids played 84 minutes a man down with the Fire scoring a late goal to get a 1-1 draw.
This time it was nearly the Rapids that took advantage. Fire left back Gonzalo Segares had first tested Colorado 'keeper Bouna Coundoul with a long shot from distance that he could only push over the bar.
But with nearly the final kick of the game, a bouncing ball in the Fire penalty area was cleared off Rapids striker Roberto Brown's legs and back over Fire 'keeper Matt Pickens -- only to bounce off the face of the crossbar. Pickens then scrambled to smother the ball at Hernandez's feet and preserve the draw for both teams.
At RFK Stadium, the week began with D.C. United entering the game after having seen their seven-game unbeaten run come to an end the weekend before, while the Rapids last won on May 26.
Yet in a place where they hadn't won since 1999, the Rapids got off to a terrific start. A wonderful cross-field ball from Colin Clark found Terry Cooke on the right, and he whipped in a short cross that Jacob Peterson snapped home with a header in the 19th minute.
But United pulled level in the 34th minute on an odd play. On the ground, with the ball bobbling around him, Rapids defender Greg Vanney reached out and appeared to grab it. Referee Alex Prus allowed play to continue, and after Nicholas Addlery fired wide, he whistled for the penalty kick. Christian Gomez stepped up and converted from the spot for his fourth goal on the season.
United broke the game open after the break. In the 71st minute, Fred served in a corner from the left and Addlery stuck his head in front of defender Brandon Prideaux to nod home his first career MLS goal.
Then after a weather delay of nearly half an hour, the Black-and-Red killed off the game with two goals in six minutes. Fred claimed one for himself, playing a 1-2 off the left touchline with Addlery before sliding a rolling shot under Colorado 'keeper Bouna Coundoul from inside the area (82).
Luciano Emilio finished off the match in the 87th minute, running onto a perfectly weighted pass from Gomez and slotting it past Coundoul from the left of the area for his seventh goal on the campaign and fifth in the last four games.
