Chivas USA rises amid a sea of ties

Attacking midfielder Davy Arnaud has been turning heads early in the season with a trio of scintillating goals for Kansas City. Scott Pribyl/MLS via Getty Images

Our weekly dose of Major League Soccer quick takes, plotlines to watch and Power Rankings.

Fit to be tied

Five of the seven matches contested last weekend ended in draws. While the San Jose-Chicago game was an exciting six-goal affair, both the Houston-New York match and the Los Angeles-Chivas USA battle for Home Depot Center bragging rights were listless nil-nil contests. (The Columbus-Colorado game, as well as the Toronto-Dallas match, finished 1-1.) The most worrisome aspect isn't necessarily the deadlocked games -- although the average sports fan in the U.S. certainly won't approve -- but the dearth of offensive flow. Yes, it's early, it's cold and it's windy, but the quality of play must improve.

Calling Mr. Arnaud

Kansas City midfielder-turned-striker Davy Arnaud, who opened his account in the season's first week with two wonder-goals against the Earthquakes, tallied again over the weekend with another fantastic effort against Seattle from 30-plus yards. So far, it's the only goal given up by the Sounders, and sent the expansion club -- which played the last hour down a man after a Kasey Keller red card -- to its first defeat. MLS could use a lot more blasts like that if it hopes to compete in the highlight-hungry American sports landscape. On a personal level, Arnaud continues his quest to earn a third cap for the U.S. national team. Although he's not currently in the player pool, he could find a spot this summer with World Cup qualifying, the CONCACAF Gold Cup and the Confederations Cup all coming up. Be sure Bob Bradley's eyes are open.

Gut-check time for Chivas USA

In the span of four days, the Goats get the Sounders at home and Toronto FC on the road. Chivas would have its hands full with just Seattle, which will be looking to rebound from the Kansas City misstep, but traveling to BMO Field adds an impressive degree of difficulty to the half-week. Earning four or six points will establish the Goats as a legitimate favorite in the Western Conference and provide a bit of breathing room on top of the table, especially if the win comes against Sigi Schmid's club. Anything less won't be a disaster -- the season has barely begun -- but it will represent an opportunity squandered.

Week 5 Power Rankings   New Rank Previous Rank Team 1 2 Chivas USA (3-0-1) The preseason No. 2 in the SI.com Power Rankings takes the top spot thanks to Seattle's first loss and Chicago's tie with San Jose. 2 3 Chicago Fire (2-0-2) Neither Cuauhtémoc Blanco nor Chris Rolfe found himself in the Starting XI, but both figured heavily in the final score line. 3 1 Seattle Sounders FC (3-1-0) The defense had to allow a goal sometime. Unfortunately, the depleted offense picked the wrong match to disappear. 4 5 Real Salt Lake (2-1-0) Rio Tinto Stadium + Javier Morales = a victory for RSL, as the team comes on strong after an opening-game loss. 5 4 Colorado Rapids (2-1-1) A tie against an injury-ridden Crew squad isn't ideal, but the conditions in Columbus made getting a point acceptable. 6 6 New England Revolution (2-0-1) We've said it before, we'll say it again: Shalrie Joseph deserves more ink. Revs' undefeated record should help change that. 7 10 Kansas City Wizards (2-2-0) Stopping Seattle's vaunted offense -- even when it was down a man -- was almost more impressive than Arnaud's goal. Almost. 8 12 San Jose Earthquakes (1-2-1) Frank Yallop's changes jump-started his team's scoring punch. Too bad the Fire lit up his defense on a cold night in NorCal. 9 8 Toronto FC (1-1-2) Toronto looks to have lost a bit of its swagger at BMO Field. Changing that against Chivas could turn around the campaign. 10 7 D.C. United (1-1-2) Luciano Emilio, who notched his third of the year, has found himself, but United continues its distressing trend of losing leads. 11 9 Houston Dynamo (0-2-2) Most expected the offensive output to decrease with Dwayne De Rosario up north, but few anticipated such a tremendous drop-off. 12 11 Columbus Crew (0-2-3) Without Frankie Hejduk, Chad Marshall, Robbie Rogers, Pat Noonan and three other regular contributors, a tie isn't horrible. 13 13 Los Angeles Galaxy (0-1-2) Can league afford for its marquee franchise to be this bad? And how much can David Beckham's summer return possibly help? 14 15 FC Dallas (0-3-1) Good news: FCD got a point (on the road!). Bad: Pablo Ricchetti remains the only Hoops player to score besides Kenny Cooper. 15 14 New York Red Bulls (0-2-2) MLS' other cornerstone team continues to struggle mightily. At least that new stadium looks amazing.