and a second sellout crowd immediately showed their excitement by littering the field with soccer ball-shaped seat cushions. There were more celebrations ahead as TFC scored twice in the second half to record a 3-1 victory against the Chicago Fire for the club's first win after four consecutive losses.
The Revolution answered a late equalizer by the Los Angeles Galaxy with a lightning-quick strike, claiming a 3-2 victory in Carson, Calif., on Saturday night. They are joined as conference leaders by the Colorado Rapids, who sent the New York Red Bulls to their first league defeat of the season on Sunday afternoon when they scored the game's lone goal.
FC Dallas put an end to the Kansas City Wizards' three-game winning streak on Saturday, also winning on the road in a 2-1 decision. In Columbus, the Crew and Chivas USA traded early goals as they played to a 1-1 draw.
At BMO Field, Toronto FC came in still looking for their first goal and first point, conceding 10 goals in losing their opening four games, while the Fire came in after their first loss on the campaign following three victories and a draw to open the season.
But the crowd at Exhibition Place didn't have to wait long this time. Marvell Wynne hooked in a cross from the right, and after it bounced off a few bodies, Edson Buddle gathered it at the corner of the goal area. He pulled back a low centering pass and Dichio knifed in to stab it home, and set off the raucous celebration which delayed play for a few minutes. The first goal in TFC history, it ended their scoreless run at 383 minutes, the 10th-longest in league history.
The Fire pulled level 12 minutes later. A corner was headed clear, and Chris Rolfe -- much like as he did the weekend previous in New England -- settled it outside the area and hammered home a long-range drive. It was his fourth goal on the season, and his fourth in the last four games. Rolfe has been involved in the scoring on every Fire goal this season.
The game then turned just before the break, when Dichio and Fire midfielder Diego Gutierrez were both sent off after they were involved in a larger fracas in the Chicago goalmouth.
TFC were able to adjust more quickly and retook the lead just six minutes after the break. A neat passing sequence saw Andy Welsh find Edson Buddle with a nifty touch, and he poked it wide to Kevin Goldthwaite all alone in the area. Goldthwaite ripped a left-footed drive past Matt Pickens for his first professional goal.
The home side finished off the match 15 minutes from the end. A long ball down the right found Andrea Lombardo behind the Chicago defense, and his cross into the area found a wide-open Maurice Edu. The No. 1 pick from January's SuperDraft also made no mistake for his first professional goal and sealed TFC's first win.
At The Home Depot Center, the Revolution headed to southern California riding a five-game unbeaten streak, but had beaten the Galaxy on their home ground just twice in MLS history. The home side was playing just the fourth league game of the season, after a second layoff of nearly two weeks.
But the Galaxy got the start they were looking for. Peter Vagenas slotted an inch-perfect through ball between the Revolution defense, and Kyle Martino raced onto it in the area before curling a wonderful shot around Matt Reis and inside the far post to give L.A. a 14th-minute lead.
Yet the Revolution struck twice within the first seven minutes of the second half to take the lead. First, just two minutes after the break, a free kick was flighted into the area from the left and Steve Ralston flicked it on to the back post. With his back to goal, rookie Adam Cristman swung around and sliced a side volley home inside the far side-netting for his first MLS goal.
For Ralston, on a night he was making his 318th league appearance, taking over the all-time lead from Chris Henderson, it was his league-leading sixth assist, giving him 113 for his career. That is just one behind Carlos Valderrama for the all-time MLS lead.
Then in the 52nd minute, Taylor Twellman nosed the visitors in front. Jay Heaps lofted in a high ball from deep on the right, and Twellman beat his defender to powerfully head toward goal, only to see it crash off the face of the bar. But he was quickest to the rebound, easily heading into the empty net over the fallen Joe Cannon.
The Galaxy seemed to have fought back with an equalizer in the 84th minute as Tyrone Marshall got to a corner at the near post and headed it home, just after Michael Parkhurst had cleared a shot off the line.
But from the ensuing kickoff, the Revolution hit for the game-winner. Sharlie Joseph found Pat Noonan, and his low pass into the goalmouth was knocked home by Twellman, sliding in front of his marker and Cannon. It was the league-leading sixth goal on the season for Twellman and extended the Revolution's unbeaten run to their last six league games against the Galaxy.
At Giants Stadium on Sunday, both teams were coming off midweek encounters across the country. The Red Bulls lost at the first hurdle in their U.S. Open Cup run, falling to the Los Angeles Galaxy 3-1 in extra time in a second-round play-in game on Tuesday, while the Rapids had played to a 1-1 draw with Real Salt Lake at home on Thursday.
The game's only goal came after 24 minutes. Kyle Beckerman won the ball near the center circle and drove a long ball downfield for Herculez Gomez to chase down on the left side of the area. He settled the ball down and laid across a perfect pass to Nicolas Hernandez steaming up the center of the field, and the Argentinean stroked home a first-time shot inside the right-hand post.
The Red Bulls nearly claimed an equalizer in the 48th minute when Juan Pablo Angel, making his league debut, received a pass in the heart of the penalty area with Rapids 'keeper Bouna Coundoul desperately trying to get back across. But Angel's shot was still kept out, cleared by defender Dan Gargan.
At Arrowhead Stadium, the Wizards came in riding a three-game winning streak where they hadn't allowed a goal for 307 minutes, while FC Dallas were returning following a two-week layoff after having lost back-to-back 1-0 decisions at home.
But by halftime, the Hoops were two goals to the good. In the 19th minute, from a throw-in, Dax McCarty hooked a cross into the area where Kenny Cooper rose up and acrobatically sent a looping snap header toward goal. Wizards goalkeeper Kevin Hartman could only flap at it and it sailed over him into the far corner.
Then in stoppage time before the break, Ramon Nunez swung in a big cross from the right touchline. Juan Toja came racing in ahead of his defender, and after a touch while falling, sent a rolling shot past Hartman to double the FCD lead.
Dario Sala, making his first start after a six-match ban to open the season, had a remarkable night, making nine saves. He nearly held out for the clean sheet, but into second-half added time, Michael Harrington rose up to flick home a free kick for the second goal of his rookie season, but it wasn't enough for Kansas City.
At Crew Stadium, the Crew were coming off their only loss on the season, a last-minute 1-0 defeat in Kansas City, while Chivas USA were looking for a first point on their travels on the year, the second match in a two-game Eastern road swing, after falling 2-1 at D.C. United the previous Sunday.
The two goals came early. Just seconds into the game, Laurent Merlin -- making his first Chivas start -- was hauled down straight out from goal just beyond the restraining arc. Ante Razov stepped up and whipped a bending strike around the wall and past a stationary Andy Gruenebaum for his third goal and 101st in his league career.
But in the 18th minute, the Crew struck back. Guillermo Barros Schelotto -- making his first MLS start -- took a pass on the right side of the area and drew two defenders to him. He laid a pass back for Ned Grabavoy, who strolled in and struck a shot that bounced off the inside of both posts before crossing the line for his second goal on the season.
Chivas looked to have re-taken the lead in the 33rd minute when a Razov header from a corner kick again beat Gruenebaum, but as he had done on two previous occasions this season, Grabavoy was perfectly positioned to clear off the line and preserve the deadlock.
At Dick's Sporting Goods Park on Thursday, the Rapids and Real were meeting for the second time in 10 days, after the Rapids claimed a 2-0 victory in Salt Lake on April 30.
The game got off to a strange start, as four minutes in, Herculez Gomez got free down the right flank. He whipped in a low cross and Nick Rimando dove out to get a hand onto it, only to see it bounce off the thigh of a retreating Jack Stewart and into the RSL goal.
But the Rapids returned the favor 11 minutes later. Freddy Adu - very active and dangerous all night long on the left flank - drove in a rolling cross from the left side of the penalty area that Pablo Mastroeni stuck out his foot to stop, only to see it slip inside the near post as Rapids 'keeper Bouna Coundoul went the other way.
It was the ninth time in MLS history there had been two own goals in the same game, and the sixth that each team had scored from an own goal in a game. But it was the first time that all the scoring in a 1-1 game came from own goals.
