MLS Capsules: Bastian Schweinsteiger nets in debut as Fire and Impact tie
BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. – Bastian Schweinsteiger scored in his MLS debut, Luis Solignac scored in second-half stoppage time, and the Chicago Fire tied the Montreal Impact 2-2 on Saturday.
Schweinsteiger, a World Cup winner with Germany, was acquired from Manchester United on March 21st after the 32-year-old struggled to replicate the highs of his Bayern Munich career.
Schweinsteiger headed in David Accam’s cross in the 17th minute to give Chicago a 1-0 lead. The Fire played the short option on a corner kick and Schweinsteiger was unmarked in the box. In the third minute of second-half stoppage time, Solignac chested a long pass from Dax McCarty and turned on a shot from just outside the 18-yard box.
Matteo Mancosu headed in Chris Duvall’s cross at the back post as Montreal tied it at 1-all in the 61st minute. Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla, making his first MLS start, sent a shot from distance in the 90th minute to give Montreal a 2-1 lead.
Minnesota 4, Real Salt Lake 2
MINNEAPOLIS – Christian Ramirez scored two second-half goals and Minnesota United rebounded from an early deficit to earn the franchise’s first win, 4-2 over Real Salt Lake.
Minnesota (1-3-1) had opened its inaugural season with three losses and a draw, and shook up the roster Friday by acquiring Sam Cronin and Marc Burch.
Luke Mulholland put Real Salt Lake (0-3-2) on the board first with a goal in the fourth minute, but Kevin Molino quickly responded with the equalizer for Minnesota in the 16th minute which sent the game into halftime knotted at 1.
Ramirez gave Minnesota United the lead in the 52nd minute. Ramirez added his second goal 10 minutes later for a 3-1 lead.
Molino netted his second assist when he stole the ball from Justin Schmidt and led a three-on-one attack, drawing Rimando away from the net before dropping the ball to Johan Venegas for the goal.
Real Salt Lake was playing its first game since Mike Petke replaced the fired manager Jeff Casser.
Dynamo 4, Red Bulls 1
HOUSTON – Erick Torres scored three straight goals to break a 1-1 tie and lead Houston over the New York Red Bulls.
The Dynamos (3-1-0) have won three of four to open the season and have a plus-4 mark in goal differential (11-7).
Bradley Wright-Phillips scored first for New York (2-2-1) to give the Red Bulls a brief 1-0 in the 13th minute. But Dylan Remick quickly answered with a header set up via an assist across the box from Alex one minute later to even the score. It was Remick’s first career goal.
Torres broke the tie in the 41st minute with his first goal, converting a penalty kick after Mauro Manotas was taken down in the box. Torres added his second in the 56th minute to effectively ice the game, gathering in a high arcing save off the hands of New York goalkeeper Luis Robles before firing it home. He sealed the hat trick on a free kick in the 91st minute.
New York City FC 2, Earthquakes 1
NEW YORK – Jack Harrison scored in the first half, Thomas McNamara scored four minutes after entering as a second-half substitute and New York City FC beat the San Jose Earthquakes.
New York City (2-1-1) tied it at 1-all in the 10th minute. Harrison ran to David Villa’s back-heel pass and powered a shot off goalkeeper David Bingham’s hands. McNamara made it 2-1 after a nice combination play. Ronald Matarrita ran past the defense to Villa’s flick and found a trailing McNamara.
Marco Urena scored his first goal for San Jose (2-2-0) in the sixth minute. He forced a rushed clearance by goalkeeper Sean Johnson, won the loose ball and scored from a tough angle at the corner of the 6-yard box.
DC United 2, Union 1
WASHINGTON – Jose Guillermo Ortiz and Luciano Acosta each put through first-half goals and DC United hung on to beat Philadelphia.
The victory is DC United’s first of the season, snaps a three-match winless streak for DC United against Philadelphia. It’s their first victory over the Union since July 2015.
Ortiz found the net first, taking advantage of a Philadelphia turnover in its own zone to give DC United (1-2-1) a 1-0 in the 18th minute. After making a save, Union goalkeeper Andre Blake’s pass to Fabinho was mishandled, ricocheting off his head to Lloyd Sam who promptly found Ortiz for the goal.
Acosta added the second goal nine minutes later via penalty kick after the Union were called for a handball in the box.
Philadelphia (0-2-2) got on the board in the 71st minute, when C.J. Sapong scored on a rebound after Alejandro Bedoya’s shot was saved by Bill Hamid.
Crew 2, Orlando City SC 0
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Justin Meram scored a goal in each half and the Columbus Crew beat Orlando City SC 2-0.
In the 13th minute, Meram raced in the open field to get to a chipped pass and he powered a shot off the hands of goalkeeper Joe Bendik. Meram scored for Columbus (3-1-1) on another counter attack in the 77th minute.
Columbus goalkeeper Zack Steffen had his second clean sheet of the season. The best scoring chance for Orlando (2-1-0) came in the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time on Will Johnson’s shot that went just wide.
Vancouver 4, Los Angeles 2
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Fredy Montero and Matias Laba scored one minute apart in the second half and the Whitecaps rallied to defeat the for their first win of the season.
Laba added another late goal for Vancouver (1-2-1), which also got a goal from Cristian Techera.
Romain Alessandrini scored for Los Angeles (1-3-0) and also took the initial shot on the Galaxy’s opener that hit the post and bounced off the head of Whitecaps goalkeeper David Ousted before dribbling over the line for an own goal.
Montero, a designated player on loan from a club in China, subbed on at halftime with the Whitecaps down 2-1 and picked up his first MLS goal for Vancouver in the 66th minute when he tapped a rebound home off Techera’s initial shot.
Fans at B.C. Place Stadium were still buzzing moments later when Montero fed a pass to Laba, who blasted his first past Clement Diop from just outside the penalty area to send the crowd into a frenzy.