Obafemi Martins scored twice, Clint Dempsey had a goal and an assist and the Seattle Sounders beat New York City FC 3-1 on Sunday night.
Seattle won its third straight game and fourth in its last five, while NYCFC had its winless streak reach seven matches.
Martins ran down a through ball and slotted a breakaway goal in the 23rd minute. He won another 1-on-1 battle with goalkeeper Josh Saunders in the 66th minute when he rolled in a goal after Dempsey's clever back-heel pass.
Seattle led 1-0 at halftime, as NYCFC has scored just one first-half goal this season.
"First half, they were tough to break down," Dempsey said. "They were pressing well, they were creating a lot of chances. But they were probably unlucky not to score."
NYCFC's Mehdi Ballouchy tied it in the 54th minute. After a Seattle turnover in its attacking end, NYCFC worked it up to Patrick Mullins on a counter-attack. Mullins patiently passed it back to the top of the 18-yard box and Ballouchy found the upper left corner. Ballouchy was immediately subbed out for David Villa.
Dempsey gave Seattle a 2-1 lead four minutes later. Martins' individual effort on the left baseline gave him enough space to cross a ball across goal where Marco Pappa drew the defense and found Dempsey for a slow rolling goal inside the far post.
The second half, I think the game opened up a little bit," Dempsey said. "You can't keep that same intensity the whole game. If we were able to get in those pockets and get the turn, me and Oba could make stuff happen."
Dempsey has a goal or an assist in all six MLS games he's played this season.
NYCFC's Kwame Watson-Siriboe was given his second yellow card in 88th minute for a high challenge with Martins. It was NYCFC's second straight game with a red card.
Paulo Nagamura headed in a second-half goal and Sporting Kansas City beat the Chicago Fire 1-0 on Sunday.
Nagamura scored in the 75th minute, 10 minutes after entering as a substitute. The goal concluded a 12-pass sequence, including a perfectly placed cross to the penalty spot by Jalil Anibaba.
Sporting KC got its first win since April 5, while Chicago had its three-game winning streak halted.
Kansas City goalkeeper Tim Melia, making his first start of the season, had a diving stop of Guly's shot from the top of the 18-yard box in the 13th minute. He pounced on his spilled save in the 18th minute.
KC's Dominic Dwyer sailed an open header in the 31st minute and Kevin Ellis headed one off the crossbar two minutes later.
Chicago's David Accam was sent off the in 89th minute with a soft red card, and goalkeeper Sean Johnson had his scoreless stretch end at 317 minutes.