The Week That Was In Major League Soccer: Round 25

This week was an off week for the Chicago Fire. As I mentioned on Friday, there were a couple of matches that could impact the Fire and their place in the Eastern Conference. There were a few favorable results for the Fire this weekend as well as a few blowouts and a hat-trick. A quick rundown of this weekend's action after the jump.

The big match of the weekend was New York Red Bulls taking on Sporting Kansas City at LiveStrong Sporting Park on Sunday, which ended in a 1-1 draw. Sporting KC had an opportunity to get firm grip on the lead in the Eastern Conference, but an own goal from Kei Kamara leveled the match. From over at Once A Metro:

The Red Bulls struggles were evident from the start -- they simply could not get the ball and keep it for long enough to build a decent attack. Sporting KC were far from excellent, frequently relying on long balls to stretch the visitors' defense, but they at least provided a threat to score, and played positively throughout. They were rewarded for their approach after just four minutes, as Teal Bunbury got around Markus Holgersson and chipped a long ball back up for Kei Kamara to head in for the opening goal.

The first match on Saturday between D.C. United and the Montreal Impact ended very favorably for the Fire with a 3-0 for Montreal. Ben Olsen made some adjustments to his lineup as they are in the middle of a very compact part of their schedule. The fresh lineup kept D.C. competitive in this match, but Patrice Bernier's goal early in the second half off a penalty kick put the match just out of D.C.'s reach. From Mount Royal Soccer:

D.C. United was not out of the game even if the score was at 3-0. Perry Kitchen performed well in the 1st half and Andy Najar was always threat throughout the game.But as soon as the Bernier-Warner duo figured Kitchen-Saragosa in the midfield, this is when things got more interesting for the Montreal Impact. Bringing Boskovic, De Rosario and Pontius later in the 2nd half did not bring a lot even though a disallowed goal was called.

Columbus Crew and the New England Revolution went back and forth at Crew Stadium in a surprisingly entertaining match. Columbus came out on top 4-3. Ferderico Higuain and Jairo Arrietta each had braces in this one. From Massive Report:

It was a roller coaster night for both Columbus Crew fans and players on Saturday. The New England Revolution took an early 2-0 lead, but Columbus fought back to go up 3-2 before the half. With ten minutes remaining, the Revs tied the game from a penalty kick. However, the Crew never gave up and retook the lead in the 85th minute, holding on for a 4-3 victory and three valuable points in the playoff race.

You read that right. Columbus is talking playoff.

Seattle beat the stuffing out of Chivas U.S.A. 6-2 at the Home Depot Center. Freddy Montero had a hat-trick. Mauro Rosales also had a hat-trick with assists. From Sounder At Heart:

Those that would discount a crushing performance against Chivas USA based on their position on the table would ignore that the Goats have given up two or fewer goals in 18 games. Kennedy is a strong keeper. That team of strong defense and great goalkeeping let six goals in their net. Even that own goal would have been a goal if Jazic didn't play it.

That's a very valid point. With Real Salt Lake sliding in the standings, Seattle has now taken over second place in the Western Conference.

Here are the other scores from the weekend:

RSL 0 @ Philadelphia Union 0 - recap

Toronto FC 1 @ Houston Dynamo 1 -recap

Colorado Rapids 1 @ San Jose Earthquakes 4 - recap

Vancouver Whitecaps 1 @ Portland Timbers 2 - recap

FC Dallas 0 @ LA Galaxy 2 - recap