MLS: Real SL extends home streak to 28

SANDY, UTAH (AP) -- Will Johnson put in a high volley in the 87th minute and Real Salt Lake stretched its home unbeaten streak in MLS to 28 games with a 1-0 victory over Chivas USA on Saturday.

The winners held a two-man advantage when Johnson finally tapped in the decisive goal after reserve midfielder Collen Warner sent in a cross as Johnson streaked to the far post. The goal brought relief to the home team after seeing several chances get parried away by Chivas goalkeeper Dan Kennedy.

"We just wanted that first goal as quickly as possible," Johnson said. "The longer it goes on, the more frustrated you get."

Getting its fifth win of the season came at a cost for Salt Lake (5-1-0). Midfielder Javier Morales broke his left ankle in the 37th minute when Chivas USA forward Marcos Mondaini took down Morales with a hard tackle from behind. Morales landed awkwardly and could not get back up.

He was taken from the field on a stretcher to an ambulance and was examined at a nearby hospital. The two-time MLS all-star is expected to be sidelined four months.

Teammates were somber afterward.

"He's our best player," fellow midfielder Kyle Beckerman said. "He's one of the best in the league. So it's not only bad for us, it's bad for the league he's not going to be playing."

With Morales playing such an integral role in the offense, RSL will need to adjust its approach to account for his absence. Defense will become a bigger emphasis to offset the loss of a key playmaker.

"We pride ourselves on defense," goalkeeper Nick Rimando said. "Even if Javi is in there, we have to play defense. Now we're going to have to do better possessing the ball."

Mondaini received a straight red card for a reckless tackle. Combined with Andrew Boyens earning a pair of yellow cards earlier in the half, it gave RSL a two-man advantage over Chivas going into the second half.

The advantage did not seem to matter for a while. Salt Lake pressed and produced plenty of scoring chances against its short-handed opponent. Real had eight shots on goal compared to a single shot on goal for Chivas. But until Johnson's strike, Real could not find a way to finish things.

RSL coach Jason Kreis is confident the team has enough depth to replace Morales. The bigger concern for Kreis is seeing Real emerge from a mental cloud that has been hanging over the team since a heartbreaking loss to Monterrey in the CONCACAF Champions League title game.

Kreis said his team is not playing with the fire or passion needed to be successful over the long haul.

"We need to come out of this funk," Kreis said. "I don't think that performance showed we're out of this funk."

Toronto FC 2, Houston 1

TORONTO -- Toronto FC's Joao Plata scored once and set up another goal in his MLS debut.

After Toronto forward Nick Soolsma was taken down in the Houston penalty area by Andre Hainault, Plata, a 19-year-old Ecuadorian with lightning quick feet, stepped up to the penalty spot. He deposited a shot into the top left corner past a helpless goalkeeper Tally Hall in the 50th minute.

Plata was mobbed by teammates after running to the corner flag in front of the supporters' section to celebrate.

"Before the game I said that if I scored a goal I was going to dedicate it to (Toronto FC coach Aron Winter) in response to the confidence he's had with me and the trust," Plata said through an interpreter. "I was very happy."

After the penalty was called, Plata grabbed the ball and stoically awaited his chance.

"Plata has done very well. I was also very happy he made the penalty," Winter said. "You have to be careful with those players, because he's still young. It's a very tough league."

Plata then turned playmaker in the 81st minute, sending a through ball to second-half substitute Maicon Santos for a 2-0 lead.,

Houston (3-3-3) got one back in the 87th minute from Lovel Palmer.

A crowd of 20,259 was on hand at BMO Field to see Toronto get just its second victory this season.

Plata, who was given a rousing ovation when he was subbed out in second-half stoppage time, was the most dangerous player on the field all night and thought he'd earned a second penalty kick in the 61st minute. The 6-foot-2 striker moved in on Hall, who appeared to bring him down. Referee Jorge Gonzalez initially pointed to the spot and gave Hall a yellow card.

But after conferring with the linesman, Gonzalez reversed his decision and awarded Houston a free kick, apparently believing that Plata dived.

"That was a strange decision because he saw it well. He said it was a penalty, but the linesman saw something different," Winter said. "It was strange. For me, it was a penalty."

It looked early on as if Toronto's scoring troubles in the league would continue. Coming into Saturday, the team scored just three goals in MLS play since trading captain Dwayne De Rosario to New York two games into the season.

After a first half with little offensive flair, Toronto came out with more vigor, and Plata carried it to victory.

Colorado 0, New England 0

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The Colorado Rapids extended their unbeaten streak to seven matches against the New England Revolution after playing to a draw.

Colorado is 3-0-4 against New England over the last seven meetings since 2007. The Rapids are 4-3-2 overall this season, including 2-2-1 on the road.

Before a crowd of 11,755, New England (2-3-4) was shut out for the fourth time over the past five matches, scoring just three goals in that span. The Revolution has been held scoreless through the past 187 minutes.

New England hit the goalpost twice and had a point-blank header by Shalrie Joseph in the 57th minute deflected away by the diving right hand of goalkeeper Matt Pickens, who earned his second shutout of the season.

New England defender Ryan Cochrane banged a header off the goalpost in the 15th minute off an indirect kick by Chris Tierney. Then in the 74th minute, Benny Feilhaber ran onto Sainey Nyassi's cross, one-timing a shot from the right wing off the far left post.

Colorado had five corner kicks, four during the first half, and had its best scoring chance in the first half. Andre Akpan uncorked a 25-yard drive in the 32nd minute, forcing goalie Matt Reis to make the save.

Reis finished with two saves in posting his first shutout of the season.

Columbus 1, Seattle FC 1

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Emilio Renteria converted a penalty kick in the 67th minute as the Columbus Crew ran its unbeaten streak to seven.

The Crew (3-1-4) got the penalty kick when Chad Marshall was pulled down by Patrick Ianni during a corner kick. Columbus, which hasn't lost since the season opener, has scored half of its eight goals via penalty kicks.

"He got me," Marshall said of the Seattle defender. "I've got marks all over me from his hands. I'm glad they called it."

Seattle coach Sigi Schmid wasn't so sure.

"I'm not saying it wasn't a penalty," he said. "All I know is we played Wednesday in D.C. and one of our guys got wrapped up and body slammed to the ground. The referee was 4 yards away and there was no call."

The Sounders (3-3-4) were coming off a 2-1 loss at D.C. and Schmid made several lineup changes. Fredy Montero put Seattle up in the 7th minute by slicing through Marshall and Julius James at the center of the box to flick a cross by Erik Friberg

Kasey Keller made saves on Eddie Gaven in the 10th minute and Robbie Rogers in the 32nd to keep the Crew's slump going of not scoring in the first half this season.

"The most important thing is the result," Crew coach Robert Warzycha said. "We'd like to score first, whether it's the first half or second half, but the result is after 90 minutes."

The Crew had 13 of the 14 shots in the second half, including the final 12.

Keller pushed Andres Mendoza's free kick from 23 yards over the crossbar in the first minute of stoppage time as Seattle went to 2-0-3 vs. the Crew.

"Give them some credit," Keller said. "They're home, trying to get a win. It's a good point, but we kind of faded a little. But that's normal."

FC Dallas 0, D.C. United 0

WASHINGTON -- Kevin Hartman made two close-range saves against Charlie Davies and three overall to help F.C. Dallas draw.

The result helped Dallas (3-3-2) push its unbeaten run to three games with just its second shutout of the season. D.C. (3-4-2) also held an opponent scoreless for the second time.

Hartman charged to deny a wide-open Davies 8 minutes in after Brek Shea's defensive giveaway, with Ugo Ihemelu and Andrew Jacobson each blocking rebound attempts from Davies and Andy Najar.

Then in the 89th minute, Hartman sprawled to his right to push away Davies' header after Josh Wolff's cross found Davies unmarked inside the 6-yard box.

Najar left under his own power in the 72nd minute after apparently hurting a foot or ankle in a tangle with Shea.

Vancouver 0, Chicago 0

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- Vancouver goalkeeper Jay Nolly and Chicago keeper Jay Conway combined for six saves.

Chicago extended its winless streak to six matches (0-3-3), while the expansion Whitecaps have gone 0-4-4 since winning their opening match.

With four saves, Nolly had the busier evening, especially in the first 55 minutes. Chicago took four shots in the first half, and Nolly was forced to cover the ball with Marco Pappa breaking in 5 minutes into the second half.

Conway was pressed into service in the last 15 minutes, his big play beating forward Eric Hassli to a loose ball after Hassli misfired from point-blank range.

The first half was punctuated by three Chicago misfires and one solid chance. Forward Diego Chaves failed to shoot before being ridden off the ball in the penalty area in the 18th minute. He sent a shot off the right goalpost in the 44th.

In between, midfielder Dominic Oduro sailed a close-in shot over the crossbar, and Nolly made a diving save on the drive by Pappa.

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