Clint Dempsey scores 50th Sounders goal to help Seattle beat Sporting KC

Clint Dempsey scored his 50th career goal for the [b]Seattle Sounders[/b] to provide a 1-0 win over [b]Sporting Kansas City[/b] on Saturday.[br /][br /]Dempsey headed home from a Jordan Morris cross in the 36th minute to reach the landmark in his fourth full season with Seattle since his return to MLS in 2013.[br /][Ads /][br /]After regaining control of the ball high on the right wing side, Morris took it toward the end line and floated a cross into the penalty area. Dempsey met it eight yards in front of the net and headed it into the back right corner past goalkeeper Tim Melia.[br /][br /]He became the second player to reach 50 goals for the club after Fredy Montero, who has 60. He has 10 goals this season, and three in his past two games.[br /][br /]The Sounders extended their club-record shutout streak to 400 minutes and pulled level on points atop the Western Conference with Sporting KC, which was playing on short rest after Wednesday's U.S. Open Cup win, and they lost for the first time since May 27.[br /][br /]"It's confidence -- that's what happens when you get on a streak like we're on," Dempsey said of Seattle's current eight-game unbeaten run that's featured five wins. "There are defining moments of the season when a team has to dig deep and show a lot of character. The moments that stand out to me are being 3-0 down versus New England and coming back and drawing that game, and being 3-0 down to D.C. United and coming back to win 4-3.[br /][br /]"I think those type of gut-check moments are when a team could fold, but we showed resilience and character. That helps with momentum."[br /][br /]The [b]Houston Dynamo [/b]joined Seattle and Sporting KC on 37 points after a 3-0 win over the [b]San Jose Earthquakes[/b].[br /][br /]Alberth Elis headed home from a corner to provide the opener in the 21st minute, and it could have been 2-0, but Erick Torres' penalty was saved byTyler Deric.[br /][br /]Earthquakes defender Andres Imperiale was sent off for conceding the penalty, but after a video review was allowed to stay on the pitch with just a yellow card.[br /][br /]Elis then madeImperiale's night worse in the 86th minute as he nutmegged the defender before setting up Vicente Sanchez to score, andMauro Manotas added a third goal in stoppage time.[br /][br /]Kaka was shown a red card following a bizarre video review as the[b] New York Red Bulls [/b]earneda contentious 3-1 win over [b]Orlando City[/b].[br /][br /]Players from both sides came together in stoppage time with some light pushing and shoving, and Kaka jokingly put his hands around the mouth of his former teammate Aurelien Collin from behind.[br /][br /]The players laughed it off immediately, but Kaka was shown a red card after MLS's video replay system was brought into play.[br /][br /]Carlos Rivas, with an assist from Kaka, put Orlando up 1-0 with his fifth goal in the 18th minute but an own goal by Leo Pereira leveled the game in the 30th minute.[br /][br /]Sea Davis set up the go-ahead goal in the 60th minute, slotting the ball forward to Alex Muyl with Bradley Wright-Phillips beating goalkeeper Joe Bendik to the spot on the centering pass for the redirect and his 14th goal.[br /][br /]Davis then took a throw-in from Kemar Lawrence, tapped it to his right and curled perfect shot from distance in the 80th minute.[br /][br /]Jonathan Lewis and David Villa scored to help [b]New York City FC[/b] beat the LA Galaxy[/b] 2-0.[br /]Sean Johnson had five saves in his fifth shutout of the season for New York City.[br /][Ads /][br /]Lewis, a 20-year-old rookie, side-stepped a defender and then ripped a shot from just outside the box off the bottom of the crossbar and into the net to open the scoring in the 54th minute. It was his first MLS goal.[br /]Villa, working against two defenders, jumped back to create space and then stepped left before rifling a long-range left-footer past Brian Rowe for his MLS-leading 18th goal of the season in the 73rd.[br /]Los Angeles outshot NYCFC 21-10. The Galaxy are winless, with seven losses, in their last eight games and have just one win since the end of May.[br /][br /]Justin Morrow scored twice as Eastern Conference leaders [b]Toronto FC[/b] routed the [b]Portland Timbers[/b] 4-1.[br /][br /]Toronto had to wait until the 58th minute to break through when Portland failed to properly deal with a Sebastian Giovinco cross and it fell to Morrow to blast into the roof of the net.[br /][br /]It was 2-0 in the 72nd minute after Marco Delgado played a through ball for Giovinco, whose low cross was flicked in by Victor Vazquez.[br /][br /]Four minutes later, Giovinco attempted to play a one-two with Jozy Altidore, but the second pass deflected to Morrow to net his second and Toronto's third, and Delgado slammed home a fourth with three minutes to play.[br /][br /]Diego Valeri scored his 50th career goal for Portland in stoppage time, though it proved little consolation for the Timbers, who missed a chance to join the Western Conference leaders.[br /][br /]Justin Meram scored in the 73rd minute to help [b]Columbus Crew SC[/b] beat the [b]Chicago Fire[/b] 3-1 to snap a three-game losing streak.[br /][br /]Michael de Leeuw gave the Fire a 1-0 lead in the 13th minute, but Kekuta Manneh chipped a loose ball over the sliding Matt Lampson to tie it in the 18th.[br /][br /]Meram, with the outside of his right foot, tapped home a cross by Waylon Francis to give Columbus its first lead. Wil Trapp perfectly placed a long, arcing pass down the left side to Francis, who fed Meram at the top of the six-yard box for the finish.[br /][br /]Ola Kamara capped the scoring in the 88th minute, converting from the spot after drawing a penalty from Lampson, who came well off his line to challenge Kamara on a breakaway.[br /][br /]Chicago has lost three of its last four after an 11-match unbeaten streak.[br /][br /]Blerim Dzemaili scored twice and drew a penalty to carry the [b]Montreal Impact [/b]to a 3-0 win over the [b]Philadelphia Union[/b].[br /][br /]The breakthrough came in the 69th minute when Union defender deflected a cross into the center of the box for Dzemaili to lash home.[br /][br /]The game stayed close until stoppage time, when Ignacio Piatti scored from a penalty after goalkeeper John McCarthy brought down Dzemaili in the box, and there was still time for the Swiss midfielder to curl home Montreal's third to put some gloss on the scoreline.[br /][Ads /][br /]Teal Bunbury scored his fourth goal in five games, helping the [b]New England Revolution[/b] beat the [b]Vancouver Whitecaps [/b]1-0.[br /][br /]Bunbury finished a nice passing sequence in the 53rd minute. Kelyn Rowe, near midfield, tapped a goal kick by Vancouver's Stefan Marinovic to Kei Kamara, who tapped it back to Rowe on the right side for the feed to a charging Bunbury just outside the six-yard box.[br /][br /]Each of New England's seven wins has come at home, while the Revs are winless in 11 games away. Vancouver had its three-game road unbeaten streak snapped.[br /][br /][b]FC Dallas [/b]and the [b]Colorado Rapids [/b]played out a goalless draw after a lengthy delay in the 82nd minute. Lightning in the area stopped play for about 90 minutes, but there were still no goals after the players retook the field.[br /][br /]Maxi Urruti had a long-range strike ruled out for a foul in the buildup.[br /][br /]The referee consulted a video replay and ruled that Colorado's Dominique Badji had been fouled on the other end of the field. That tackle that allowed Dallas to win the ball back before a counterattack that led directly to the goal.[br /][br /][b]D.C. United[/b]'s match against [b]Real Salt Lake[/b] was stopped because of lightning with the game goalless in the 29th minute, then later abandoned after a [url TARGET="_blank" HREF="https://www.instagram.com/p/BXtpEXJg0_6/" ]torrential[/url] [url TARGET="_blank" HREF="https://twitter.com/RealSaltLake/status/896523772789792768" ]downpour[/url] deluged RFK Stadium.[br /][br /]The game will resume where it left off on Sunday at 7 p.m ET.[br /][br /][i]Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.[/i][br/][br/][sectionHeader]Related Video[/sectionHeader][promoExternal HREF="http://www.espnfc.com/video/latest-videos/600/video/3178426?ex_cid=espnapi_affiliate_abcotv" IMAGE="http://a.espncdn.com/media/motion/ESPNi/2017/0812/int_170812_INET_FC_Seattle_Sounders_vs_SKC_HL/int_170812_INET_FC_Seattle_Sounders_vs_SKC_HL.jpg" TITLE="Seattle 1-0 Sporting KC: Dempsey lifts Sounders" DESCRIPTION="Clint Dempsey played hero for Seattle, with his headed goal the sole difference against Sporting Kansas City." ][br /][promoExternal HREF="http://www.espnfc.com/video/latest-videos/600/video/3178530?ex_cid=espnapi_affiliate_abcotv" IMAGE="http://a.espncdn.com/media/motion/ESPNi/2017/0812/int_170812_INET_FC_Houston_v_San_Jose_HL/int_170812_INET_FC_Houston_v_San_Jose_HL.jpg" TITLE="Houston 3-0 San Jose: Dynamo dominant" DESCRIPTION="The Houston Dynamo flexed their muscles at home, earning a convincing 3-0 over San Jose, who never truly threatened." ][br /][promoExternal HREF="http://www.espnfc.com/video/latest-videos/600/video/3178518?ex_cid=espnapi_affiliate_abcotv" IMAGE="http://a.espncdn.com/media/motion/ESPNi/2017/0812/int_170812_NY_Red_Bulls_3-1_Orlando_City_Tempers_flare/int_170812_NY_Red_Bulls_3-1_Orlando_City_Tempers_flare.jpg" TITLE="New York Red Bulls 3-1 Orlando City: VAR controversy" DESCRIPTION="A VAR decision that saw Kaka receive a red card late in the game overshadowed a come-from-behind win for New York Red Bulls." ][br /][promoExternal HREF="http://www.espnfc.com/video/latest-videos/600/video/3178575?ex_cid=espnapi_affiliate_abcotv" IMAGE="http://a.espncdn.com/media/motion/ESPNi/2017/0813/int_170813_LA_Galaxy_0-2_NYCFC_Villa_extends_goal_lead/int_170813_LA_Galaxy_0-2_NYCFC_Villa_extends_goal_lead.jpg" TITLE="LA Galaxy 0-2 NYCFC: Villa extends goal lead" DESCRIPTION="Rookie Jonathan Lewis and veteran David Villa netted stunning goals to give visiting NYCFC a 2-0 victory over the LA Galaxy." ][br /][promoExternal HREF="http://www.espnfc.com/video/latest-videos/600/video/3178494?ex_cid=espnapi_affiliate_abcotv" IMAGE="http://a.espncdn.com/media/motion/2017/0813/int_170812_INET_FC_TFC_v_Portland_HL24/int_170812_INET_FC_TFC_v_Portland_HL24.jpg" TITLE="Toronto FC 4-1 Timbers: Morrow the man for TFC" DESCRIPTION="After a scoreless first-half, TFC exploded in the second-half against Portland, with Justin Morrow netting a brace." ][br /][promoExternal HREF="http://www.espnfc.com/video/latest-videos/600/video/3178519?ex_cid=espnapi_affiliate_abcotv" IMAGE="http://a.espncdn.com/media/motion/ESPNi/2017/0812/int_170812_INET_FC_Columbus_Crew_v_Chicago_Fire_HL/int_170812_INET_FC_Columbus_Crew_v_Chicago_Fire_HL.jpg" TITLE="Columbus 3-1 Chicago: Crew comeback at home" DESCRIPTION="The Columbus Crew ground out a gritty come from behind win over the high-flying Chicago Fire in an Eastern Conference clash." ][br /][promoExternal HREF="http://www.espnfc.com/video/latest-videos/600/video/3178526?ex_cid=espnapi_affiliate_abcotv" IMAGE="http://a.espncdn.com/media/motion/ESPNi/2017/0812/int_170812_INET_FC_Union_v_Montreal_Impact_HL/int_170812_INET_FC_Union_v_Montreal_Impact_HL.jpg" TITLE="Philadelphia 0-3 Montreal: Dzemaili carries Impact" DESCRIPTION="Swiss international Blerim Dzemaili put the Impact on his back in Philly, netting a brace en route to their 3-0 win." ][br /][promoExternal HREF="http://www.espnfc.com/video/latest-videos/600/video/3178529?ex_cid=espnapi_affiliate_abcotv" IMAGE="http://a.espncdn.com/media/motion/ESPNi/2017/0812/int_170812_INET_FC_New_England_v_Vancover_HL/int_170812_INET_FC_New_England_v_Vancover_HL.jpg" TITLE="New England 1-0 Vancouver: Bunbury the difference" DESCRIPTION="Teal Bunbury's lone goal split the Revolution and Whitecaps, and puts the Revs one point outside of a playoff position." ][br /][promoExternal HREF="http://www.espnfc.com/video/latest-videos/600/video/3178531?ex_cid=espnapi_affiliate_abcotv" IMAGE="http://a.espncdn.com/media/motion/ESPNi/2017/0812/int_170812_FC_Dallas_0-0_Colorado_Urritis_strike_disallowed/int_170812_FC_Dallas_0-0_Colorado_Urritis_strike_disallowed.jpg" TITLE="FC Dallas 0-0 Colorado: Urruti's strike disallowed" DESCRIPTION="Maxi Urruti had his first-half effort disallowed by VAR as the Colorado Rapids got their second draw on the road this season." ]