The Mane Land MLS Power Rankings: Week 16

There were plenty of top-tier match-ups over Week 15, with plenty of teams currently in playoff places squaring off. Unfortunately, there were few victors in the East as only Toronto FC took more than one point away from the weekend. The West, on the other hand, was as wild as ever with dramatic finishes in Vancouver, San Jose, and Seattle.

Check out how all of the action informed this week’s power rankings:

1. Sporting Kansas City (Last Week: 1)

There were few highlights from Sporting’s 0-0 road draw in Portland, but Tim Melia continues to prove why he was named the Goalkeeper of the Year in 2017. The draw was enough to keep a share of the top of the Western Conference, but Dallas is creeping up on KC.

2. Columbus Crew (Last Week: 2)

The Crew kept pace at third in the East, extending their league unbeaten run to nine with a draw with the Red Bulls. Columbus will feel as though it could have come away with more, though, after looking like the better side for much of the match.

3. New York City FC (Last Week: 3)

It was a frustrating afternoon for the Pigeons, who would have slaughtered Atlanta with their performance nine times out of 10. But Brad Guzan stood tall in goal to deny the NYCFC attack time after time. To make it worse, a pair of would-be winners from Jesús Medina and Maxi Moralez achingly pinged off the post in the final minutes.

4. New York Red Bulls (Last Week: 4)

Alex Muyl saved the day in Columbus with his equalizing header near the hour mark. New York has been cruising since April with just two losses (and just as many thrashings of NYCFC) and has solidified its place above the red line after a rocky start to 2018.

5. FC Dallas (Last Week: 7)

Dallas continued its meteoric rise to the top of the West with a victory over floundering Montreal. The Hoops have lost just once this season as Mauro Diaz is returning to form.

6. Portland Timbers (Last Week: 6)

It was a draw to forget for the Timbers, who kept Tim Melia busy but couldn’t find the back of the net. Portland remains unbeaten through eight but Diego Valeri and company have been consistently frustrated by Peter Vermes and SKC.

7. Atlanta United (Last Week: 5)

Atlanta was lucky to take a point away from Yankee Stadium after the Five Stripes were manhandled by NYCFC. United luckily scored on one of the two shots it put on target and got some lucky bounces from the woodwork and stellar saves from Guzan, who was often left alone with New York attackers, on the other end to keep things level.

8. Houston Dynamo (Last Week: 10)

The Dynamo dispatched the Rapids just like they were expected to. Houston held a staggering 75% of possession, launched 20 shots at Tim Howard, and held the dour Rapids offense to just one shot on target.

9. Toronto FC (Last Week: 9)

The reigning champs are far from dead even though the Reds have struggled in recent weeks. They gained ground on the rest of the East with a victory over the Union spurred by the easiest brace Jonathan Osorio will ever score.

10. Vancouver Whitecaps (Last Week: 13)

Alphonso Davies put on a show, tearing Orlando City to bits and dancing around the Lions’ fullbacks. He not only broke ankles, he bagged a goal and three assists and the Caps are now unbeaten in six.

11. Los Angeles FC (Last Week: 11)

It was a wild win for LAFC, which came from behind twice to snatch all three points. Adama Diomande scored a brace but it was rookie Joao Moutinho who stole the show with a dramatic stoppage-time winner.

12. New England Revolution (Last Week: 8)

The Revolution are in the playoff picture by making their own luck with high pressure, but road points don’t get much easier than this one did in Bridgeview. Teal Bunbury was handed the equalizer on a platter after a rough performance from New England.

13. LA Galaxy (Last Week: 14)

Zlatan Ibrahimovic decided to take over against RSL, scoring two of Los Angeles’ three goals and getting the Galaxy back on the winning track. Now they’ll just have to do it against better opposition.

14. Chicago Fire (Last Week: 16)

Chicago’s goalkeeper woes have been well documented, but Saturday night was the icing on the cake. With the surprisingly solid Patrick McLain out injured, Veljko Paunovic once again turned to Richard Sanchez. The Mexican keeper muffed an easy play in the final 10 minutes and dropped two points for the Fire.

15. Philadelphia Union (Last Week: 12)

The Union continue to be up-and-down (with far more down) in 2018. Philadelphia failed to finish yet again, being denied by Alex Bono repeatedly. David Accam has neither scored nor assisted this year and that $1.2 million sent to Chicago in allocation money is looking like wasted resources.

16. Orlando City (Last Week: 15)

It looked like the Lions might escape Vancouver with a point even a man down as the match entered the 75th minute. But it wasn’t to be as Alphonso Davies exploded on the counter, sparking a stretch of four goals in 14 minutes as Orlando was blown away and handed its fifth straight league loss.

17. Seattle Sounders (Last Week: 19)

Seattle finally found some offense against D.C. in dramatic fashion. Magnus Wolff Eikrem nabbed his first in MLS with just eight minutes in regulation to see off United and creep just a little further out of the basement of the West.

18. Montreal Impact (Last Week: 18)

Montreal continued its rough stretch with its fifth loss in the last six matches. West leaders FC Dallas were all over the Impact defense and the Montreal offense couldn’t quite create enough clear-cut chances. The summer window can’t come soon enough for Remi Garde.

19. D.C. United (Last Week: 20)

The Black & Red need to fly back East in the worst way. D.C. has spent half of its season on the west coast dropping matches in a grueling schedule with several weeks off. United dropped a result late in Seattle and remain dead last in the East, but have a few games in hand on the competition. They just need to make all of their upcoming games in Audi Field count.

20. Real Salt Lake (Last Week: 17)

Real Salt Lake followed up three straight victories with back-to-back defeats. Rival Sporting Kansas City thwarted the RSL attack in the U.S. Open Cup and the offense failed to show up against the Galaxy at the weekend. Mike Petke is still in search of consistency in Sandy.

21. Minnesota United (Last Week: 21)

The Loons took the weekend off.

22. San Jose Earthquakes (Last Week: 22)

San Jose nearly had the turnaround game it needed. Chris Wondolowski continued to inch closer to the league scoring record with a pair of goals to give the Earthquakes the lead with less than 30 minutes to play. But it all fell apart after the 90th minute as LAFC scored twice and Kevin Partida was sent off.

23. Colorado Rapids (Last Week: 23)

The Rapids only managed to put one shot on target against the Dynamo, which was actually an improvement over not being able to put any shots on target against USL side Nashville SC in the Open Cup during the week.