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Toronto FC’s failure to win for the second week in a row has cost them - at least temporarily - top spot in MLS’ Eastern Conference, with a 1-0 New York Red Bulls victory over the Montreal Impact enough to put them in first place on goal difference.
Daniel Royer got the only goal of the game in Harrison, heading in from close range in the 60th minute.
Always head it down.
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) September 25, 2016
Royer gives @NewYorkRedBulls the lead. #NYvMTL https://t.co/9KmALpHx2J
The game hit the headlines internationally, however, for the wrong reasons after Didier Drogba was filmed confronting two idiotically aggressive Red Bulls fans.
EMBARRASING from Didier Drogba and a pair of #RBNY fans who need to be restrained from each other by security pic.twitter.com/hYtByeTAKN
— Matthew Klimberg (@KlimbergCalcio) September 25, 2016
Toronto will have the chance to re-take first place in midweek, when they play their game in hand at home to Orlando City.
New York City FC also drew level with the Reds - but remain in third on goal difference - by cruising to a 4-1 victory over the Chicago Fire, with David Villa grabbing two and Stiven Mendoza curling in a beauty.
There was better news in the Western Conference, where TFC did not lose any ground on their rivals for the Supporters’ Shield. The leaders of the pack, FC Dallas, drew 0-0 at Real Salt Lake so in the absence of any goals, here’s a nice tackle by Walker Zimmerman.
All. Ball. What a recovery from @thewalkerzim. #RSLvFCD pic.twitter.com/Y3dP3r8Wcc
— X - FC Dallas (@FCDallas) September 25, 2016
All the excitement, it turned out, was in Vancouver, where the Whitecaps played out a remarkable 3-3 draw with the Colorado Rapids. Kendall Waston had scored to make it 1-1 when he was sent off and conceded a penalty early in the second half, sparking off a remarkable sequence of events. TFC, it turns out, are not the only team to run into problems playing against 10 men.
Then there was the weekend’s marquee matchup between two of the league’s biggest clubs, the Seattle Sounders and Los Angeles Galaxy - and it’s fair to say ESPN got exactly what they wanted with a match-winning performance from the most promising young American in MLS.
Results: New York City 4-1 Chicago, Toronto 1-1 Philadelphia, D.C. United 4-1 Orlando City, New York Red Bulls 1-0 Montreal, Vancouver 3-3 Colorado, Houston 3-1 Portland, Real Salt Lake 0-0 FC Dallas, San Jose 1-2 Sporting KC.