Week 5 Power Rankings

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2012 Power Rankings: April 9
 RK (LW)TEAMRECCOMMENT
Kansas City1 (1)Kansas City5-0-0SKC continued to set the early pace with its 1-0 win over Los Angeles. Kansas City's five consecutive wins to start the season is the longest such streak since the shootout era.
Real Salt Lake2 (2)Real Salt Lake5-1-0Jason Kreis was none too pleased after watching his side struggle in a 1-0 midweek win over Montreal. But RSL raised its game over the weekend, dominating Rocky Mountain Cup rival Colorado 2-0.
San Jose3 (5)San Jose4-1-0The Quakes showed off their grit and depth in coming back to beat Vancouver 3-1. The second-half insertion of forward Alan Gordon proved critical. He scored the game winner, and his holdup play got San Jose going.
Seattle Sounders FC4 (3)Seattle Sounders FC2-1-1Marc Burch nearly nabbed a stoppage-time winner against his former team, but his header hit the crossbar. Saturday's 0-0 draw with D.C. United marked the third consecutive game that Seattle has failed to score in the run of play.
Houston5 (4)Houston2-1-0Houston's midseason vacation is now complete. After two weekends off, the Dynamo will travel to Chicago to take on the Fire.
New York Red Bulls6 (7)New York Red Bulls3-2-0The front-line tandem of Thierry Henry and Kenny Cooper remained in sizzling form, as each recorded a brace in New York's 4-1 demolition of Columbus.
Vancouver Whitecaps7 (6)Vancouver Whitecaps2-1-2Vancouver set an MLS record by starting the season with a 427-minute shutout streak. And then the roof caved in, as the Caps allowed three goals in 10 minutes in losing to San Jose.
Chicago8 (9)Chicago1-1-1If the Fire are to prove that last season's late revival wasn't a fluke, they will need to beat Eastern Conference heavyweights such as Houston. A bye over the weekend should have the team plenty rested.
Colorado9 (8)Colorado3-2-0Against Real Salt Lake, manager Oscar Pareja forgot one of the primary rules of coaching: Never mess with a good center-back pairing. Instead, he pushed Drew Moor into midfield, and the Rapids rarely got going in a 2-0 loss.
FC Dallas10 (15)FC Dallas2-2-1After last week's humbling loss to D.C. United, FCD needed a bounce-back game from its back line and got it. Defender Ugo Ihemelu led Dallas to a shutout, and his stoppage-time winner got three much-needed points in a 1-0 win versus New England.
DC United11 (12)DC United1-2-2Rookie Nick DeLeon continues to shine, but a teamwide lack of sharpness in front of goal forced United to settle for a 0-0 draw against Seattle.
Columbus12 (11)Columbus2-2-0Chad Marshall's noncelebration on his late tally said it all. By failing to show up in the first half, the Crew never gave themselves a chance against a rampant New York side.
New England13 (13)New England2-3-0Conceding a stoppage-time winner always hurts, but if the first weeks of the campaign are any indication, Jay Heaps has fashioned a much-more-competitive Revs side this season.
Chivas USA14 (16)Chivas USA2-3-0The Goats were deserving winners in coming from behind to beat Portland 2-1. The second-half insertion of Ryan Smith proved critical, as both goals came courtesy of pinpoint service from the Englishman.
Los Angeles15 (10)Los Angeles1-3-0The Galaxy defended better in their 1-0 loss to Kansas City, but it came at the expense of their offense, as L.A. struggled to build a consistent attack against the league's hottest team.
Montreal Impact16 (17)Montreal Impact1-4-1Montreal struggled late to tame a 10-man Toronto side, but Jesse Marsch can breathe a bit easier now that the expansion Impact have broken into the win column.
Portland Timbers17 (14)Portland Timbers1-3-1Another week, another blown lead. On this occasion, the Timbers' weakness at the outside back positions was brutally exposed by Chivas USA, condemning Portland to its second consecutive home loss.
Philadelphia Union18 (18)Philadelphia Union0-3-1After getting the weekend off, manager Peter Nowak will be hoping that a visit from Columbus will help get his struggling offense into gear.
Toronto FC19 (19)Toronto FC0-4-0TFC is the official tonic for expansion teams. After becoming Vancouver's first victim last year, Toronto repeated the feat against Montreal this year in a 2-1 loss. For all the talk of the team's defensive problems, the midfield has been of little help.