The Mane Land MLS Power Rankings: Week 11

The drama continued around MLS in Week 10. Orlando City continued to roll on to its sixth straight victory in comeback fashion, the New York Red Bulls were resounding victors in the Hudson River Derby, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic has already started ringing alarm bells in Los Angeles.

Here’s how it all unfolded over the weekend and where teams stand going into the year’s first double game week:

1. Atlanta United (Last Week: 2)

Atlanta has now gone eight straight without losing, this time felling the Chicago Fire in Bridgeview. Like several matches this year, United started slowly and were lucky not to concede early. Ezequiel Barco scored his first in MLS and Josef Martinez added another to hold on for three points.

2. Sporting Kansas City (Last Week: 3)

SKC started the week losing new DP Felipe Gutierrez, who will be sidelined for several months. But the West leaders got back to their winning ways, downing the Colorado Rapids at home. The offense went close several times, but without Gutierrez an already questionable offense has a few more doubts.

3. New York Red Bulls (Last Week: 5)

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It was a rout from the get-go at Red Bull Arena. Kaku and Florian Valot put the home side up two inside of four minutes and NYCFC never got back into the match. Bradley Wright-Phillips and Derrick Etienne got in on the action as New York was painted red on Saturday.

4. New York City FC (Last Week: 1)

The Pigeons were blown off their perch by the cross-river rival Red Bulls. New York City FC’s defense was carved up in the early stages of the match and the team never recovered. It’s a minor setback over the long haul, but it must sting for the blue side of New York.

5. Orlando City (Last Week: 6)

Once again, Orlando City went behind early and once again the Lions clawed back to win their sixth in a row as Dom Dwyer continues to score. The Lions have quietly kept pace with the East heavyweights this year but will be tested with Atlanta United, Toronto FC, and NYCFC in their next five.

6. Los Angeles FC (Last Week: 4)

The black and gold side of Los Angeles made a splash on deadline day, prying Lee Nguyen from New England. It’s tough to pin down just what this attack will look like when Andre Horta arrives in the summer, but it’s loaded with attacking talent. It wasn’t enough against FC Dallas, however, as Steven Beitashour’s early goal was the only breakthrough in a 1-1 contest that LAFC dominated.

7. Toronto FC (Last Week: 9)

The Reds looked like the Toronto of 2017 over the weekend, thrashing Philadelphia to start the weekend. Victor Vazquez and Sebastian Giovinco piled it on at BMO Field. If TFC is back to its record-setting form, watch out.

8. Houston Dynamo (Last Week: 8)

The Dynamo survived a wild one in Houston as Memo Rodriguez found the winner in the 90th minute. Houston lost two leads over the course of the match but made the most of some shoddy Galaxy defending to take all three points.

9. Columbus Crew (Last Week: 7)

The Crew suffered a setback early on when Pedro Santos’ cleats ended up in the face of a Sounder as he tried to clear the ball. But Columbus held on for the next 75 minutes to battle out a difficult draw. It wasn’t for lack of trying, though — Gyasi Zardes had a handful of opportunities.

10. FC Dallas (Last Week: 11)

It was a rough start for the Hoops in the Banc of California as Dallas went down a goal in the first 10 minutes. But Maxi Urruti’s fantastic turn and finish from outside the area meant walking out of LA with a result even though the side was statistically manhandled.

11. Portland Timbers (Last Week: 13)

There wasn’t much in this one for most of the match. The few chances that either team had didn’t really test the keepers and it was mostly back and forth in the midfield. But Diego Valeri’s pinpoint free kick near the final whistle was the difference as the Timbers built their winning streak to three matches.

12. Montreal Impact (Last Week: 22)

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Ignacio Piatti made life easy for Anthony Jackson-Hamel, setting the speedy forward up perfectly for a pair of early goals with precise passes behind the Revolution defense. Nacho finished with three assists and the goal that put the nail in New England’s coffin.

13. LA Galaxy (Last Week: 12)

The Galaxy are struggling to defend, especially now without starting right back Rolf Feltscher. LA allowed three goals to the Dynamo, dropping its second straight. Star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic made his displeasure known, telling ESPNFC:

“We can either wake up or continue like this, but if we continue like this, we don’t want the same objective — we don’t want to win.”

14. New England Revolution (Last Week: 10)

Nacho Piatti single-handedly ripped the Revs to shreds. Time after time, the Argentinean found his forwards streaking behind defenders and New England quickly fell behind, 4-0. A consolation brace from Wilfried Zahibo wasn’t enough to make a bad afternoon any better.

15. Minnesota United (Last Week: 20)

The Loons went down to 10 men early in the second half after a rookie mistake from Mason Toye. But Adrian Heath’s side prevailed in the end when Miguel Ibarra pounced on a rebound into an open net. United held on for three points and their second win in a row.

16. Chicago Fire (Last Week: 15)

The Fire struggled to finish chances early in the match and it cost the Men in Red in the end. Atlanta found two early in the second stanza and Chicago didn’t have the firepower to equalize and remain eighth in the Eastern Conference race.

17. Seattle Sounders (Last Week: 16)

Seattle couldn’t capitalize on a man advantage at home and actually had fewer clear-cut chances in the first half. It’s the latest in a line of poor results for Brian Schmetzer and the Sounders, who remain at the bottom of the West.

18. Vancouver Whitecaps (Last Week: 14)

Not scoring against a 10-man Minnesota United side is the latest drawback in a frustrating run for the Whitecaps. Just three points in their last five — and an avoidable red card in that victory — have the Caps reeling after a solid start to the year.

19. Real Salt Lake (Last Week: 17)

RSL had some golden opportunities to open up a healthy lead in Orlando but couldn’t find the back of the net. It seems like few defenses can hold back the Lions’ firepower, but Mike Petke probably thinks his side could have walked out with a point.

20. San Jose Earthquakes (Last Week: 18)

The Quakes never really tested Jeff Attinella, but their leaky defense held up for most of the match. If not for some brilliance from Valeri, San Jose would have earned a point on Saturday. But Valeri did score and the Earthquakes walked away empty handed and they have now sunk to second-to-last in the West.

21. Philadelphia Union (Last Week: 19)

The Union are treading water in mediocrity lately. They were decimated by a much better side in TFC, but it meant just eight points from eight matches to start the season with four losses to their name.

22. Colorado Rapids (Last Week: 21)

The Rapids were bombarded against West rivals SKC and were lucky not to concede more than one. Tim Howard and the woodwork were the only things separating Colorado from a drubbing.

23. D.C. United (Last Week: 23)

D.C. took the weekend off.