or were eliminated -- with two weeks remaining in the regular season. The week's wildest game came at FC Dallas, where for the second game running, the Hoops got a late penalty kick to pull into a draw, this time 2-2 with Toronto FC.
Real Salt Lake opened Rio Tinto Stadium with a 1-1 draw with the New York Red Bulls, a result that put them in position to potentially claim the club's first-ever playoff berth. The Kansas City Wizards moved back into the top eight overall and a wild card spot, after their 1-0 win against New England. The Los Angeles Galaxy kept their slim playoff hopes alive with a 3-2 win against Colorado, and D.C. United kept theirs alive as well, coming away from the Houston Dynamo with a scoreless draw.
At Toyota Park, the Crew hadn't lost since Aug. 2, winners of three in a row, while the Fire had just one win in their last four games.
But playing in his first game against his former club, where he began his professional career from 1996-2003, Brian McBride staked the Fire to a 13th-minute lead. A corner kick flew over everyone in the area, and McBride was well-positioned to simply turn it home.
After the break, the Crew took the lead with two goals in a three-minute span. In the 59th minute, a cross came in from the left and was cleared out by Fire defender Wilman Conde -- but only as far as the arc at the top of the box. Eddie Gaven swooped in and hammered a first-time drive inside the right-hand post for his third goal on the season.
Then a lightning-quick counterattack pushed Columbus into the lead. Robbie Rogers was freed down the right flank and served in a pinpoint cross to the back post for Guillermo Barros Schelotto to head home for his seventh goal on the year.
Yet with 11 minutes to go, McBride again popped up to victimize his former club. Cuauhtemoc Blanco swung in a free kick from the right, it was nodded on by Conde, and McBride hooked it home from close range for his fourth goal since returning to MLS from England's Fulham FC.
At Buck Shaw Stadium, Chivas USA came in winners of three in a row and five of their last six as they had risen up the Western Conference table. The Earthquakes had rebounded from seeing their nine-game unbeaten streak ended with a tie in Dallas the week before.
The game's only goal came early, in the seventh minute. Alecko Eskandarian's ball from midfield over the Quakes back line sprung Justin Braun, and the rookie raced into the penalty area before slotting home past San Jose goalkeeper Joe Cannon inside the right post, his fourth goal on the campaign.
At Pizza Hut Park, FC Dallas were unbeaten in four in a row, playing their final home game of the season, while Toronto FC had kept their playoff dreams intact the week before, winning for the first time in nearly two months.
The Hoops took the lead into the break after Kenny Cooper's opportunistic goal in the 34th minute. Adrian Serioux's long throw-in from the right touchline bounced around the goalmouth before Cooper latched onto it, and he stroked it home from a tight angle for the opener.
But TFC grabbed control of the match in the second half, and pulled level in the 72nd minute. Also from a long throw-in, this time from Marvell Wynne at nearly the identical spot as Serioux, Danny Dichio flicked a near-post header back toward the spot, and Marco Velez side-volleyed the ball into the back of the net.
Then two minutes from full time, Wynne put TFC into the lead. Chad Barrett sprung the U.S. international with a perfectly weighted, defense-splitting through ball, and Wynne curled it around an advancing Dario Sala from well outside the area for his second goal on the year.
But the game was far from over. From a free kick beyond the left corner of the TFC area, the ball was swung and referee Mark Geiger spotted TFC substitute Julius James pulling back on Serioux's jersey, awarding a penalty kick. Cooper converted the first attempt, but it was disallowed for encroachment into the area. On the second try, TFC goalkeeper Greg Sutton guessed correctly, but Cooper still slipped under his hand for the leveler, his 18th goal on the season, tying the FC Dallas club record held by Jason Kreis.
At Rio Tinto Stadium, a sellout crowd was on hand to celebrate the opening of the seventh soccer-specific stadium in the league. RSL were coming off a two-game road swing where they had taken a rare four points, while the Red Bulls had lost three games on the trot, conceding 11 goals in that run.
The honor of first goal scored in RSL's new home went to the visitors. Seth Stammler drove a corner kick goalward, but Kyle Beckerman was stationed right on the goal line to head it away. But it went only as far as the edge of the area, where Dave van den Bergh hammered the rebound back inside the right-hand post for his seventh goal on the year.
Ten minutes later, Real finally gave the home fans something to celebrate. Also from a corner kick, from Javier Morales, the service took a bounce in the area and fell to defender Jamison Olave, who was able to get a touch onto it and loop it over New York goalkeeper Jon Conway for the equalizer.
At CommunityAmerica Ballpark, the Wizards had just two wins in their last eight games, in the second game of a late-season three-game homestand. The Revolution had won just once in their last seven games, still clinging to second place in the Eastern Conference.
The game took a massive turn very early on, when Steve Ralston was clipped by Kansas City midfielder Herculez Gomez in a midfield tackle. The Revolution playmaker was forced off the field and substituted for, and X-rays revealed he suffered a broken right fibula which will likely keep him out for 6-8 weeks.
The lone goal came in the 61st minute. A corner kick came in from the left and center back Jimmy Conrad once again rose up and headed it off the back of New England defender Jay Heaps and into the goal, his team-leading sixth goal of the season.
At The Home Depot Center, the Galaxy were coming off back-to-back losses on the road and had won just once since mid-June, while the Rapids saw their four-game unbeaten streak come to an end at home the weekend previous.
The teams traded goals late in the first half. Edson Buddle latched onto a pass from Sean Franklin and drilled home an angled shot for his 14th goal of the season in the 36th minute to give LA the lead. But seven minutes later, Cory Gibbs flung himself toward a corner kick and flicked a diving header back inside the far post for his first-ever MLS goal.
The Galaxy grabbed control of the match with two goals 11 minutes apart. Eddie Lewis swung in a free kick from the right flank in the 70th minute, and while marking his man, Colorado defender Ugo Ihemelu saw the ball bounce off his chest and into the goal. Then in the 80th minute, Brandon McDonald scored his first professional goal in impressive fashion, sending an absolute screamer from all of 35 yards into the upper right corner of the net.
The Rapids pulled a goal back late when LA center back Sean Franklin was deemed by referee Michael Kennedy to have handled the ball in the area while defending a cross. Tom McManus put away the spot kick for his fifth goal of the year.
At Robertson Stadium, both teams were coming off good midweek results in the CONCACAF Champions League, the Dynamo winning the first game for an MLS team, while United took a reserve-laden team to Deportivo Saprissa and claimed a draw.
But in league play, the teams were on opposite courses, the Dynamo with just one loss since mid-June, while United were on a six-game winless run (and nine games in all competitions).
There was little to separate the two teams on the night, as they combined for just three shots on goal in the defensive stalemate, though United were forced to play the final 17 minutes shorthanded when Bryan Namoff was sent off for a second bookable offense.
The best chance of the game came seconds from the end when Corey Ashe swung in a cross from the left and Dwayne De Rosario targeted a downward header for the left post, but D.C. goalkeeper Louis Crayton was able scramble the ball around the post to preserve the tie.
