Chicago Fire fans can breathe a sigh of relief. The “Men in Red” finally got into the win column today. It took two late goals from an unlikely hero to defeat the New York Red Bulls 3-1 in front of over 12,000 fans at Toyota Park.

Brazilian forward Maicon Santos put the Fire ahead in the 83rd minute of play with a brilliant move that left Red Bulls goalkeeper Luis Robles out of position.

Santos followed his go-ahead goal with a header for an insurance score near the 90th-minute mark.

The match began as a seesaw event that featured good passing and solid defense.

Both teams swapped possessions during the first 15 minutes of play. Neither the Fire nor the Red Bulls were able to take advantage of several scoring chances.

The Fire had a great chance at drawing the first blood when they had a corner kick opportunity within the second minute, but Chris Rolfe lofted a soft shot that went into Robles' arms.

Later in the first half the Red Bulls took a 1-0 lead with a goal. The bicycle kick by defender Jamison Olave caught the attention of the fans, and Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson never had a chance to make the save.

The Fire refused to hang their heads after such a highlight-reel play. Just before halftime, Daniel Paladini drew the Fire even with a wonderful header.

The Fire relied on strong defense to prevent the Red Bulls from scoring again.

The Fire escaped with a victory despite playing without injured stars Arne Friedrich and Patrick Nyarko. Injuries have plagued the team thus far in the season, but Sean Johnson assuredly believes that the Fire have what it takes to get past the setbacks.

Sean Johnson on the win and current injuries (quotes obtained firsthand):

We have a group of guys who are committed to a cause and that’s winning games and that’s all we set out to do. It doesn’t matter who is on the field, we have the personnel to step up at any point and time. As you saw tonight, players stepped up, done well. Hunter (Chicago Fire defender Hunter Jumper) his first start, fantastic. Just different stepped up at different times. It’s great when you have depth on the team and you can count on different guys to get the job done.     

Johnson’s thoughts on getting the first win of the year were spot on. Different players must step up when their names are called.

The Fire’s first triumph was a complete team victory—one that should propel them as the season marches forward.

All quotes were obtained firsthand.

Follow @ernestshepard

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It was quite the unorthodox week in Major League Soccer with a Eastern Conference showdown being played on Friday night and five teams sitting on the sidelines. 

With just 14 teams in action because of the participation by the Sounders and Galaxy in the CONCACAF Champions League, each of the seven games played this weekend was thrust into the national spotlight at some point. 

Sporting Kansas City opened the weekend with a win at home over D.C. United on Friday while the Chicago Fire closed out the slate of seven games on Sunday with a home victory of their own over the New York Red Bulls.

Sandwiched in between those games were five clashes on Saturday that saw Portland and Colorado both earn their first win of the season.

Find out where your favorite MLS team landed in this week's edition of the MLS power rankings. 

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There were seven total games played in Week 6 of Major League Soccer this weekend.

Of the seven three ended in shared spoils while three teams gained a win for the first time this season. 

There were 16 total goals scored by 14 different players for an average of over two goals per game. 

Ryan Johnson and Maicon Santos led the weekend in goals with two each. 

Johnson's brace was enough to help the Portland Timbers earn their first three points of the season over a physical Houston Dynamo side. 

Chicago, too, got their first victory of the year.

One of the better back-to-goal strikers in the league, the forever controversial Steven Lenhart, took the pitch for the first time this season in San Jose's 1-1 draw at home against the Vancouver Whitecaps.  Vancouver utilized a lineup switch in which stars Kenny Miller and Darren Mattocks were not in the starting 11.

The Colorado Rapids also got their first win of the season against rivals Real Salt Lake in the second edition of this campaign's Rocky Mountain Cup. They are now in the drivers seat to win the regional competition with just one match left between the two clubs. 

Here are more details about each of the games played so far.

All data is gathered through MLS Soccer.  

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With a shortened schedule of seven games in Major League Soccer this weekend, determining who should sit on top of the inaugural superstar power rankings was quite an easy decision. 

Five teams were idle this weekend due to the involvement of Seattle and Los Angeles in the CONCACAF Champions League. Those two teams combined have five designated players on their rosters. 

For the players who did make their way onto the field, there were a few standout performances by the league's best talent.

Continue reading to find out who topped the first edition of the weekly MLS superstar power rankings. 

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Forward Claudio Bieler scored in the 89th minute and Sporting Kansas City defeated D.C. United 1-0 on Friday night in front of a sellout crowd of 18,988 at Sporting Park.

The clean sheet was Jimmy Nielsen's league-leading fourth straight, and the club's shutout streak now stands at 429 minutes. It's the team's second-longest such streak since 2000.

During the postgame press conference I attended, Sporting KC manager Peter Vermes said there's only one really good thing about shutout streaks.

Vermes said, "It's only good that we don't give up goals. That's the great thing. I care less about the streaks. It's great when you don't give up goals. I say it all the time, if you don't give up goals, you not only get results but I think you set yourself up as time goes on to be able to win the important games because you're not giving the easy chances away."

If you were to describe the match in one word, disjointed would be a good choice. Neither team seemed to be linking up all that well from the back and there were very few chances to speak of for either team. The best line of the night from the press box came from MLSSoccer.com beat writer Steve Brisendine with this tweet:

Another sign that a game's pretty ugly is when you have more yellow cards (five) than shots on goal (three).

Referee Armando Villareal is only in his second year in the league, and it showed. He let too much go in the first half and tried to get control back with yellow cards in the second half. Call it tight early and you don't have those problems.

Both teams did have one good scoring chance in the first half. In the 18th minute, defender Matt Besler put in a long throw-in from the left side and found Bieler's head, but the shot went wide right.

Just before halftime, DC United forward Lionard Pajoy dribbled through three Sporting KC defenders, but his shot was wide left of the near post. If that sounds bad, it's because it was.

Besides the goal, the other good scoring chance for Sporting KC came in the 64th minute. Midfielder Benny Feilhaber drove into the 18-yard box and passed to his right for Bieler, who gave it right back. Feilhaber's shot was across the goal mouth and wide right.

D.C. United's good scoring chance of the second half came in the 81st minute when a Sporting KC clearance came out to defender Chris Korb.

Korb's pass found midfielder Perry Kitchen, who popped it up to his left. Carlos Ruiz connected on an overhead bicycle kick, but it was well-saved by Nielsen. It wouldn't have counted if it had gone in, Ruiz having been flagged for offside, but Nielsen didn't know that.

Second-half substitute Soony Saad and Sporting KC's high-pressure style of play created an opportunity to grab the win in the 89th minute.

Midfielder Marcos Sánchez got sloppy deep in the United half and Saad stole Sánchez's pass to Marcelo Saragosa. Saad then nutmegged Saragosa and crossed the ball to Bieler just outside the six-yard box. Bieler one-timed the ball with his left foot into the back of the net past an outstretched Bill Hamid.

During the postgame press conference, Saad was asked what his favorite part of that play was. Saad said, "I think my favorite part of the play was Claudio (Bieler) hitting in the back of the net. Just watching it hit the back of the net and the stadium going crazy."

Sporting KC has next weekend off before traveling to Red Bull Arena for a match with New York on Wednesday, April 17. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. EDT.

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The first month of the 2013 Major League Soccer season is in the books. It was an exciting month, with the league’s first ever “Rivalry Week” and with clubs like Chivas USA and the Montreal Impact exceeding expectations.  There were also some thought-to-be title contenders like the Seattle Sounders that got off to a rough start.

Let’s take a look at who makes the league’s best XI for the first month of action.

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The Major League Soccer season is well underway. Dreams have been made, hearts have been crushed and the Chicago Fire have yet to realize that scoring goals leads to points. 

A fantastic crop of youth talent has entered the league, and with it, teams have been able to capitalize on early results. 

The following is a look into how the top six MLS Superdraft picks have performed in the first five weeks of the season. 

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Most players who leave League Soccer for greener pastures, whether it be Europe, Mexico or South America, depart with plenty of praise from their previous team. 

That was not the case for Herculez Gomez, who at 30 years old is in the form of his life playing for Santos Laguna in Liga MX.

Gomez and his Santos Laguna teammates made the venture up to the Pacific Northwest to play the Seattle Sounders in the first leg of the CONCACAF on Tuesday night. In the game, Gomez did something he has done on a frequent basis in the competition—score against a MLS team. 

Gomez, who has earned 21 caps for the United States, struck home a powerful shot past Sounders keeper Marcus Hahnemann in the 54th minute to give the Mexican side a valuable away goal as they head back to Torreon for the second leg in a week's time. 

Before he was setting the pitches of Mexico on fire with his goal-scoring , Gomez struggled to find playing time and any type of form at home in MLS. 

Gomez's first full season with the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2005 showed how much natural ability the forward possessed as he scored 18 goals in all competitions.

After that season in Los Angeles, Gomez's play in MLS went in the direction that his career path would take him four years later—south. 

The Galaxy did not see much from Gomez in 2006, and after only scoring five goals in all competitions that season he was shipped off to Colorado, along with defender Ugo Ihemelu, to play for the Rapids. 

In 2007, Gomez got off to a hot start by scoring the first goal at the new soccer-specific Dick's Sporting Goods Park. However, his spot in the Colorado history books would be one of the only marks he would leave on the Rapids franchise. 

The next stop on the tour of MLS for Gomez was in Kansas City after he was once again traded, but this time it came during the 2008 season.

Gomez did go on to play for the Wizards, as they were known then, for the entire 2009 season before making his departure from the American domestic league a permanent one. 

It would be at Puebla where Gomez not only found his goal-scoring form, but found his spot in the record books as well. Gomez became the first American player to a lead a foreign league in goals when he netted 10 for Los Carnoteros.

After his 10-goal season at Puebla, Gomez became a hot commodity at both the club and international levels. After a two-year absence, Gomez was called back up to the United States squad by then-manager Bob Bradley and he has become part of the national team conversation ever since. 

After stops at Pachuca and Estudiantes Tecos, Gomez found his way to Torreon to play for Santos Laguna this season. During his time in Mexico, Gomez has made MLS fans remember his name. 

In CONCACAF Champions League play, Gomez has scored nine goals—all of which have come against MLS opposition. His latest exploits against the club he spent one season with in 2003 once again proved that the 30-year-old has developed into a reliable forward south of the border. 

For American soccer fans, the success of Gomez is bittersweet. Knowing that one of the top forwards in the national team setup is scoring goals is always a positive. But, whenever Gomez has scored on the continental club stage, he has done it against teams from the league that let him slip through the cracks and succeed south of the border. 

Follow me on Twitter, @JTansey90. 

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This was a Saturday in Major League Soccer to be remembered because Landon Donovan, the best player in league history, returned to the Los Angeles Galaxy.

A lot more went on during the eight games that took place on Saturday. 

Chivas USA continued to prove that it is indeed for real this season. 

Thierry Henry notched his first goal of the season and subsequently ensured the New York Red Bulls’ first win.  

Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder Mike Magee scored his league-leading fifth goal.

The Montreal Impact dropped their first points of this campaign at the hands of Sporting Kansas City.

Once again, there is a lot to discuss: Nothing more important, though, than the return of the legend, Landon Donovan. 

The Best

Landon Donovan is Back

There are multiple reasons to be happy about Donovan’s comeback to soccer. 

Be it from the perspective of having quality players plying their trade in MLS, the prospect of Donovan joining the US men’s national team in June, or simply the fact that the best player in the history of America is playing. All are worthwhile.

All of these reasons and more came to mind during Donovan’s 30 minutes on Saturday. 

Most notably might have been his immediate return to being an agitator and player aware of exactly what he is. 

It did not take long to Donovan to get mouthy with the Toronto FC backs. Nor should it have.  Donovan has always had an edge about him. It is part of what makes him so special. To see that fire almost immediately after he entered the game was encouraging. 

Thierry Henry is Engaged and Motivated

If his bicycle kick attempt soon after coming into the game was not enough evidence that Henry desperately wants to win MLS Cup, then surely his celebration after netting the game-winner was.

The Frenchman entered New York’s match with Philadelphia with about 30 minutes to go and seemed poised to do just about anything to ensure his team’s first win of the season. His goal was sublime, yes, but his work defending was something rarely seen. 

David Beckham is gone and left MLS with two rings. Titi is highly competitive. He wants that last title in his career before he retires. It should be a pleasure to watch him pursue that all season. 

Chivas USA, Enough Said

This whole Chivas USA situation is getting serious. Another win against a team some consider to be an MLS favorite, the Vancouver Whitecaps. 

The Goats' players look very excited to be playing with one another. They reek of optimism, of teamwork and of a group unconcerned with how outsiders view them. 

Perhaps most importantly is that they have scored the ball more than anyone else so far this season. 

Chivas USA netted twice in its win over Vancouver. That gave the team a total of 10 goals on the season. The Goats are the first team to reach double-digit scoring figures in MLS this year. 

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this team is its tactics. Playing with three backs in soccer these days is like finding a unicorn in a meadow. And when it does occur, the success rate is often not very high. 

Not in Los Angeles; not yet, at least.   

The Worst

The Scoring in New England

The pieces exist for the New England Revolution to be able to score some goals this season. 

Honduran striker Jerry Bengston is one of the more intelligent players in CONCACAF. Lee Nguyen and Juan Toja are skillful and establish nice combination play.

Through their four games, though, they have only scored one goal. They have not been very dangerous in the process, either. 

FC Dallas nabbed the only road victory against the Revolution this weekend and had more shots than the New England outfit as well. 

The hope for Revolution fans is that the goals come from the creative players up top and that they come sooner rather than later.  

No Steven Lenhart and Minimal Alan Gordon

Apologies to the perfectly positioned Chris Wondolowski, but the San Jose Earthquakes simply are not the same without Steven Lenhart and Alan Gordon playing alongside the reigning MVP. 

Why is the change for the team so dramatic?

Perhaps because watching Lenhart and Gordon from both a soccer perspective and a fan perspective is quite enjoyable.   

There is, of course, the “never-say-die” attitude that defined the team last year and clearly motivated both Lenhart and Gordon to score late goals.

Watching Lenhart consistently mix it up with opposing backs is excellent stuff as well. 

From a tactical lens, the Earthquakes are also clearly missing holdup play with these guys out of the lineup. Their absence limits Wondolowski and the Earthquake midfield corps.   

Combine the lack of the true No. 9 with the team missing its tendency to engage in mental warfare, and it is clear why these guys are so important to San Jose.

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Week 5 of Major League Soccer continued to provide the same awe-inspiring and outlandish moments that have categorized the most paradoxical league on the planet.

FC Dallas’ 1-0 victory over the New England Revolution propelled the Hoops to first in the Supporters’ Shield standings. The Portland Timbers were awarded a penalty kick for the first time since 2011, while the Seattle Sounders have failed to impress thus far this season.

Yet for all of that excellence—or in Seattle’s case, a lack thereof—neither was able to make the list of best and worst from Week 5 in MLS.

Read on to find out who did.

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