Chivas loses to Real Salt Lake on late goal, 1-0
Yura Movsisyan scored in the 90th minute for the second straight game to lead Real Salt Lake to a 1-0 victory over Chivas USA in the opener of their playoff series at Sandy, Utah, on Saturday.
The teams were poised for a tie, but with time winding down midfielder Javier Morales took a quick throw-in from defender Robbie Russell inside the box and negotiated a pass to Movsisyan near the far post.
Racing past Chivas defender Shavar Thomas, Movsisyan flicked the ball past goalkeeper Zach Thornton, giving the home team a stunning goal for the second straight week. Movsisyan scored in the 90th minute in the regular-season finale at Colorado last week to lift Real Salt Lake into the playoffs.
Real Salt Lake can win the two-game playoff series with a win or tie at Chivas USA next Saturday.
Columbus 1, Kansas City 1 -- Steven Lenhart scored in the second minute of second-half stoppage time, salvaging a tie for the visiting Crew in the first leg of a playoff series.
Davy Arnaud’s diving header in the 53rd minute put the Wizards up, 1-0, but Lenhart -- an 83rd-minute substitute -- made the most of a deflection at the edge of Kansas City’s penalty area.
Danny O’Rourke’s shot went off Wizards defender Tyson Wahl and bounced to Jaime Moreno, who chested it to Lenhart for the equalizer from 22 yards.
The Wizards had to play a man down after the 75th minute.
Midfielder Herculez Gomez was issued a straight red card for serious foul play, for a hard tackle on Gino Padula. He will be suspended for the next game.
Arnaud, who has a goal in three straight games, started his scoring sequence with a long ball that Claudio Lopez ran down in the corner. Lopez sent a left-footed cross into the area, and Arnaud split Padula and Brad Evans and put the ball in the back of the net.
Columbus, which had the best regular-season record, has not advanced past the first round of the playoffs since 2002.
Houston 1, New York 1 -- Kei Kamara’s late goal off a scramble in front of the net gave the Dynamo a tie with the Red Bulls at East Rutherford, N.J.
New York had taken a 1-0 lead in the 48th minute, when Juan Pablo Angel scored on a header off a crossing pass from John Wolyniec, but Kamara -- who had entered the game in the 66th minute -- evened the score when he connected off a pass from Stuart Holden in the 85th minute.
