SKC triumph in its clash with Chicago

Week:
  • Share
2012 Power Rankings: October 1
 RK (LW)TEAMRECCOMMENT
Kansas City1 (3)Kansas City17-7-7In a battle of Eastern Conference powers, SKC beat Chicago 2-0 for its first home win over the Fire in five years, essentially locking up home-field advantage in the playoffs at least until the MLS Cup final.
San Jose2 (1)San Jose18-6-7The Quakes delivered another stellar fight-back to forge a 3-3 tie with Dallas. But even the San Jose players know that their late-game magic has to run out at some point. Certainly the Quakes' defense will need to tighten up for the playoffs.
Chicago3 (2)Chicago16-9-5The Fire's recent surge had hidden an ugly stat: Five times in the past eight games they had given up the first goal, and after continuing that trend on Friday, there was no way back against SKC.
Los Angeles4 (4)Los Angeles15-11-5Although the Galaxy managed to keep pace with Seattle with a 1-1 tie against Colorado, of greater concern is the knee injury to defender A.J. DeLaGarza.
New York Red Bulls5 (6)New York Red Bulls15-8-8Thierry Henry put on a show in New York's 4-1 win over Toronto, tallying a goal and three assists. The penchant for conceding early goals continues, however, a worrying habit with the postseason fast approaching.
Seattle Sounders FC6 (5)Seattle Sounders FC13-7-10Seattle's 0-0 tie with Vancouver saw it lose some ground to Real Salt Lake in the Western Conference, and while the clean sheet was pleasing to manager Sigi Schmid, his side is now winless in its past three games.
DC United7 (7)DC United15-10-6The Black-and-Red managed to grind out a valuable away point in Portland on a night when they were far short of their best. United's run-in to the end of the season now eases up somewhat with an away date at Toronto.
Real Salt Lake8 (8)Real Salt Lake16-11-4Alvaro Saborio's hat trick will get the headlines for RSL, but the best news of all has been the return to form of Fabian Espindola, whose tenacious work up top set the table for three of Real's four goals in its demolition of Chivas USA.
Houston9 (9)Houston13-8-10Houston got back to winning ways with a 2-0 win against New England, overcoming a game-long deluge from above, as well as some stellar goalkeeping from New England's Bobby Shuttleworth.
Columbus10 (10)Columbus14-11-6The soccer gods smiled on Columbus against Philadelphia, as Milovan Mirosevic's 87th-minute game winner was clearly offside. The Crew aren't about to give back the two points gained, however, as the win allowed it to keep pace with fifth-place Houston.
FC Dallas11 (11)FC Dallas9-12-10FCD endured a sucker punch in blowing two late leads at San Jose, and the two points dropped could have seen Dallas move into fifth place. Dallas is hoping that a woeful Chivas side takes points off of Vancouver.
Montreal Impact12 (12)Montreal Impact12-15-4Bye weeks don't come any worse, as the Impact slid further behind Houston and Columbus, and the Impact's already faint playoff hopes hang by a thread. Montreal faces Houston in an ultimate do-or-die match.
Portland Timbers13 (13)Portland Timbers7-15-9Portland's 1-1 home draw with DCU took a backseat to owner Merritt Paulson's postgame confrontation with officials. Paulson took issue with a penalty whistled against Timbers defender David Horst.
Philadelphia Union14 (14)Philadelphia Union8-15-6The Union showed off their youth against Columbus, the good and the bad of that -- strong in attack, weak at the back. The Union's long-shot playoff push is officially over.
Vancouver Whitecaps15 (15)Vancouver Whitecaps10-12-9Oh, Camilo. The Brazilian will have nightmares about his late miss against Seattle, a chance that could have given the Whitecaps all three points instead of a 0-0 tie. Complicating matters are the injuries to John Thorrington and Darren Mattocks.
Colorado16 (16)Colorado9-18-4The Rapids managed to halt the Galaxy's surge up the Western Conference standings thanks to Jaime Castrillon's equalizer. Colorado has a chance to affect the Supporters' Shield race as it hosts league-leading San Jose this weekend.
New England17 (17)New England7-16-8With nothing to play for but a better position in this January's SuperDraft, it was no surprise that the Revs eventually succumbed 2-0 to a hungrier Houston side. At least the aforementioned Shuttleworth is showing his quality.
Toronto FC18 (18)Toronto FC5-19-7Ryan Johnson's early goal proved to be a mere prelude to Thierry Henry's brilliance, as TFC fell 4-1 to New York. Toronto continues to battle Chivas USA for the Playing Out the String Award as it extended its winless streak to 11 games.
Chivas USA19 (19)Chivas USA7-16-7The Goats are a dead team walking, as evidenced by some of the basic errors they made in the back during a 4-0 hammering at the hands of RSL. Time to start over. Again.