Landon who? The Galaxy start strong

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2013 Power Rankings: March 4
 RK (LW)TEAMRECCOMMENT
Los Angeles1 (0)Los Angeles1-0-0L.A. began the defense of its championship in style thanks to 4-0 shellacking of the Chicago Fire. Mike Magee calmed the nerves of those fretting over the absence of Landon Donovan by scoring a hat trick.
Real Salt Lake2 (0)Real Salt Lake1-0-0Anyone doubting the ability of manager Jason Kreis and general manager Garth Lagerwey to retool RSL need only look at its impressive 2-0 road win over San Jose. Alvaro Saborio bagged both goals.
Kansas City3 (0)Kansas City1-0-0SKC took all three points in a 3-1 win over Philadelphia, a result that was impressive because of the mentality Kansas City showed in coming back from a goal down on the road.
Montreal Impact4 (0)Montreal Impact1-0-0The Impact recorded the most eye-opening result of the weekend -- a 1-0 road win over Seattle -- thanks to Davy Arnaud's first-half goal, stout defending and a bit of luck.
Houston5 (0)Houston1-0-0Houston continued its hoodoo over D.C. United with a 2-0 win. Ricardo Clark was involved in both goals, and -- here's a surprise -- could be seen exchanging jerseys with long-time nemesis Carlos Ruiz.
Vancouver Whitecaps6 (0)Vancouver Whitecaps1-0-0New signing Nigel Reo-Coker exceled on his debut, a 1-0 win over stubborn Toronto. But the loss of Jay DeMerit to a left leg injury cast some gloom over the proceedings.
Columbus7 (0)Columbus1-0-0In beating Chivas USA 3-0, Federico Higuain broke a second-half deadlock with a highlight-reel goal while newcomer Agustin Viana impressed in the center of midfield.
San Jose8 (0)San Jose0-1-0Chris Wondolowski failed to covert several chances, and the defense wasn't solid enough to secure a draw. Injured forwards Steven Lenhart and Alan Gordon can't come back soon enough.
FC Dallas9 (0)FC Dallas1-0-0Dallas' 1-0 win over Colorado wasn't the most convincing of performances. The midfield was lackluster, and the goal came from a dreadful goalkeeping mistake. But it's also the kind of game FCD would have lost last year.
Portland Timbers10 (0)Portland Timbers0-0-1Portland rallied from a two-goal deficit to snag a 3-3 draw against New York, with Diego Valeri looking every bit the DP he was hoped to be. Now if Mikael Silvestre can stop gifting the opposition goals, they'll be set.
New York Red Bulls11 (0)New York Red Bulls0-0-1Fabian Espindola opened his account with two goals against Portland, but New York's inability to manage the game's tempo in the second half ultimately cost it two points.
DC United12 (0)DC United0-1-0Houston continued to be a hellish venue for DCU. Suspended attacker Dwayne De Rosario was sorely missed, and only some stellar keeping from Bill Hamid kept a result within reach.
Seattle Sounders FC13 (0)Seattle Sounders FC0-1-0The Sounders will point to several near misses -- including a close-range shocker from Eddie Johnson -- as proof they deserved better against Montreal. Not ideal preparation for the Sounders' upcoming CONCACAF Champions League tilt against Tigres.
Chicago14 (0)Chicago0-1-0The Fire badly missed the calming presence of Arne Friedrich in the back and had no answer for the Galaxy's Magee. Chicago was poor enough in all areas that it didn't really deserve anything out of the game.
Colorado15 (0)Colorado0-1-0The Rapids could take plenty of positives away from their match against Dallas. Colorado moves the ball crisply at times, and Deshorn Brown looks to be a handful up top. But Stewart Ceus' horrific gaffe was the difference.
New England16 (0)New England0-0-0The Revs had the weekend off, and with Jay Heaps' side opening on the road next weekend against Chicago, they no doubt watched with interest the Fire's struggles in Los Angeles.
Philadelphia Union17 (0)Philadelphia Union0-1-0For 30 minutes, the Union looked brilliant against Kansas City. Then the midfield began to lose control, and some defensive frailties emerged, as did some suspect goalkeeping from Zac MacMath.
Toronto FC18 (0)Toronto FC0-1-0TFC showed some defensive resilience against Vancouver, but looked pretty toothless in attack. You can only hope some reinforcements arrive to give new signing Robert Earnshaw some help.
Chivas USA19 (0)Chivas USA0-1-0It's bad enough to lose your home opener 3-0, but to attract a paltry 7,121 fans to the Home Depot Center is inexcusable. It's looking more and more like the Goats will be the worst team in MLS history.