Chicago stays on Fire in MLS, shuts out Vancouver

Bridgeview, Ill. • Nemanja Nikolic scored two early goals, pushing his MLS-leading total to 16, and the Chicago Fire beat the Vancouver Whitecaps 4-0 on Saturday night to take the Eastern Conference lead.

The Fire (11-3-4) have won four straight and are 8-0-2 in their past 10.

Arturo Alvarez and Michael de Leeuw also scored. Matt Lampson made three saves for his sixth shutout, improving to 8-0-2 this season.

Vancouver (6-7-3) had its three-game unbeaten streak snapped.

FC DALLAS 3, TORONTO FC 1 • Roland Lamah scored two goals to lead FC Dallas past Toronto FC, knocking the Canadian club out of first place in the Eastern Conference.

Maximiliano Urruti added a goal and an assist for Dallas (7-3-7). Dallas continued its home dominance of Toronto, having never lost in nine meetings.

Toronto dropped to 10-3-5.

TIMBERS 1, SPORTING KANSAS CITY 1, TIE • Daniel Salloi scored his first career MLS goal in the second half and Sporting Kansas City tied Portland to remain unbeaten at home.

Salloi took a delivery from Roger Espinoza, settled the ball and found the top corner in the 60th minute. Sporting KC (8-4-7) leads the Western Conference and is 6-0-3 at home.

Diego Valeri scored his 10th goal in the 26th minute for the Timbers (7-7-5).

ATLANTA UNITED 2, CREW 0 • Hector Villalba scored twice, Alec Kann had an assist and earned his fourth shutout and expansion Atlanta beat Columbus.

Atlanta struck in the 27th minute when the Crew defense didn't get a touch on Kann's goal kick, and Villaba beat goalkeeper Zach Steffen to the ball. Villalba picked up his eighth goal in the 64th minute when a deflection to the middle of the box ended up on his foot and he rolled the ball between a defender's legs passed the shielded Steffen. Villalba immediately left the game with cramps.

Altanta (8-7-2) moved past Columbus (8-10-1) for fifth in the Eastern Conference.

IMPACT 2, D.C. UNITED 0 • Blerim Dzemaili scored and set up defender Chris Duval's goal in a two-minute span in the first half to help Montreal beat D.C. United.

The Impact (5-5-6) snapped a five-game winless streak in all competitions. D.C. United (5-10-3) slipped into last place in the Eastern Conference.

RAPIDS 3, DYNAMO 1 • Marlon Hairston scored twice, Kevin Doyle had a goal and an assist and Colorado beat Houston.

Dominique Badji had a role in all three goals for the Rapids (6-3-1). They came in with the fewest points in the MLS, but kept the Dynamo (7-7-4) winless in nine road games this season (0-7-2).

Erick Torres scored for Houston. —

MLS standings

EAST W L T Pts GF GA

Chicago 11 3 4 37 35 17

Toronto FC 10 3 5 35 31 18

New York City FC 10 5 3 33 34 21

Orlando City 8 6 5 29 21 26

Atlanta United FC 8 7 3 27 35 25

Columbus 8 10 1 25 29 32

New York 7 8 2 23 17 23

Montreal 5 5 6 21 26 26

New England 5 7 5 20 27 25

Philadelphia 5 7 4 19 21 20

D.C. United 5 10 3 18 12 27

WEST W L T Pts GF GA

Sporting Kansas City 8 4 7 31 23 13

FC Dallas 7 3 7 28 26 16

Portland 7 7 5 26 32 29

Houston 7 7 4 25 31 28

San Jose 6 6 5 23 18 21

Los Angeles 6 6 4 22 25 24

Vancouver 6 7 3 21 21 25

Seattle 5 7 6 21 22 27

Colorado 6 10 1 19 18 24

Minnesota United 5 10 3 18 25 41

Real Salt Lake 5 12 2 17 17 38

Thursday's game

New York City FC 3, Minnesota United 1

Friday's game

Orlando City 1, Real Salt Lake 0

Saturday's games

Chicago 4, Vancouver 0

FC Dallas 3, Toronto FC 1

Montreal 2, D.C. United 0

Portland 1, Sporting Kansas City 1, tie

Atlanta United FC 2, Columbus 0

Colorado 3, Houston 1

Los Angeles at San Jose, late

Sunday's game

New England at Philadelphia, 3 p.m.

Tuesday's games

Columbus at Minnesota United, 5 p.m.

San Jose at Atlanta United FC, 5 p.m.

D.C. United at FC Dallas, 6:30 p.m.

Seattle at Colorado, 7 p.m.

Real Salt Lake at Los Angeles, 8:30 p.m.

Wednesday's games

New York at New England, 5:30 p.m.

Toronto FC at Orlando City, 5:30 p.m.

Montreal at Houston, 6:30 p.m.

New York City FC at Vancouver, 8 p.m.

Chicago at Portland, 8:30 p.m.

Thursday's game

Philadelphia at Sporting KC, 6:30 p.m.

NWSL standings

W L T Pts GF GA

North Carolina 8 4 0 24 18 12

Chicago 7 3 2 23 16 11

Sky Blue FC 6 6 1 19 19 19

Portland 5 3 3 18 15 9

Seattle 4 2 5 17 24 15

Orlando 4 5 3 15 17 18

Kansas City 3 4 4 13 10 13

Boston 3 6 3 12 9 14

Washington 3 6 2 11 13 18

Houston 3 7 1 10 10 20

Saturday's games

Sky Blue FC 1, North Carolina 0

Boston 1, Washington 0

Chicago 1, Orlando 0

Portland at Seattle, late

Sunday's game

Houston at Kansas City, 6 p.m.