MLS Power Rankings: Seattle stays on top, Orlando climbs

Seattle didn’t blow our socks off this week, but it found a way to consolidate its place on top our list. Elsewhere, New England stumbled while Nani‘s purple patch has Orlando rising up the order.

So, let’s get caught up with the weekend’s action and see where your team sits in our Week 9 Power Rankings.

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Previous ranking: 1

Next MLS match: July 4 at Colorado Rapids, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN+

After New England’s loss to Dallas, there isn’t a reasonable way to justify anyone else atop the rankings. With that said, a 2-2 draw with Vancouver on Saturday shows the Sounders aren’t untouchable, and that came after they needed a late penalty to get by Real Salt Lake, 2-1, on Wednesday. — Bonagura

Previous ranking: 5

Next MLS match: July 3 vs. New York Red Bulls, 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+

Nani set up the equalizer and scored the winner in Orlando’s 2-1 comeback victory over Miami. He’s been directly involved in exactly half of the Lions’ goals for this season, with two goals and three assists in his past two appearances. It’s the sort of purple patch (pardon the pun) that could make Orlando a real contender at the business end of the season — if the 34-year-old can continue at this pace. — Lindberg

Previous ranking: 4

Next MLS match: July 4 at LA Galaxy, 10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+

It was an impressive week for Sporting KC, which outclassed Colorado, 3-1, before coming back to beat 10-man LAFC 2-1 at home. Daniel Salloi bagged the winner on Saturday after scoring twice against the Rapids.— Bonagura

Previous ranking: 2

Next MLS match: July 3 at Columbus Crew, 5 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN Deportes

Dallas ended its six-game winless streak against New England, snapping the Revs’ five-game winning streak. The Revolution are still on top of the Eastern Conference, but only by two points over Orlando, who have a game in hand. — Lindberg

Previous ranking: 6

Next MLS match:July 4 vs Sporting Kansas City, 10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+

Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez scored a pair of goals in a cakewalk of a win for the Galaxy at San Jose. The Galaxy won, 3-1, with a San Jose own goal adding LA’s third, but the game could have easily been more lopsided. — Bonagura

Previous ranking: 7

Next MLS match: July 3 at Nashville SC, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN+

Quinn Sullivan won’t soon forget his first goal in MLS, a spectacular bicycle effort, but a 3-3 draw at Chicago isn’t a result worth remembering for a club with postseason aspirations. — Lindberg

Previous ranking: 3

Next MLS match: July 4 vs Seattle, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN+

The 3-1 scoreline in Colorado’s loss to Sporting Kansas City on Wednesday felt a little harsh, but the Rapids were still clearly outplayed in their first game against one of the league’s top-tier teams this year. — Bonagura

Previous ranking: 11

Next MLS match: July 7 at CF Montreal, 7:30 pm ET; ESPN+

Keaton Parks equalized in the 84th minute and Thiago Andrade netted the winner in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time as NYCFC fought back to beat D.C> 2-1 on Sunday. City haven’t scored a first-half goal in any of their past four games, yet still won three of them. It’s impressive resolve, but not a sustainable long-term strategy. — Lindberg

Previous ranking: 8

Next MLS match:July 3 vs. New England Revolution, 5 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN Deportes

The Crew have been held scoreless in their past two games, but their fans can take solace in the fact that Sunday’s 0-0 draw in Austin ensured former owner Anthony Precourt’s new team has now been unable to celebrate a goal in either of its first two games in the brand-new Q2 Stadium. — Lindberg

Previous ranking: 10

Next MLS match:July 3 vs. Philadelphia Union, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN+

Nashville needed every last moment of stoppage time, but Abu Danladi‘s 94th-minute equalizer in the 1-1 draw against Montreal extends Music City’s unbeaten run at home — where they’ll play four of their next five — to seven straight matches. — Lindberg

Previous ranking: 18

Next MLS match: July 3 vs San Jose, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN+

Minnesota ran its unbeaten streak to six with a pair of wins this week and have climbed all the way to fifth place in the Western Conference. The Loons got two clean sheets from Tyler Miller, while Adrien Hunou scored in both wins (2-0 vs. Austin, 1-0 at Portland) and Franco Fragapane added the other. — Bonagura

Previous ranking: 9

Next MLS match: July 3 at Orlando City, 7:30 pm ET; ESPN+

Two games without RB Leipzig-bound Caden Clark, and the Red Bulls have a loss and a draw to show for it. They need the 18-year-old creator back, as soon as possible. — Lindberg

Previous ranking: 12

Next MLS match: July 3 vs LAFC, 10 p.m. ET, ESPN+

After nearly taking a point off Seattle in a 2-1 loss on Wednesday, RSL settled for a point against Houston after Justin Gladd’s 11th-minute opener didn’t hold up. Bobby Wood made his long-awaited debut off the bench against the Sounders and appeared again off the bench against Houston. — Bonagura

Previous ranking: 13

Next MLS match: July 3 vs FC Cincinnati, 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+

Two points from two matches this week makes it three draws in three for the Dynamo. The midweek 2-2 draw with Portland will sting after Fafa Picault and Tyler Pasher scored first-half goals, only for the Timbers to erase the 2-0 lead and find the equalizer in stoppage time. — Bonagura

Previous ranking: 15

Next MLS match: July 1 at Austin FC, 9:30 p.m. ET

Jeremy Ebobisse rescued a point against Houston with a stoppage-time header on Wednesday, but the Timbers couldn’t climb out of a 1-0 hole in a loss to Minnesota to end the week. — Bonagura

Previous ranking: 17

Next MLS match: July 3 vs. Inter Miami, 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+

The 1-1 draw with Nashville extends Montreal’s unbeaten streak to three games, but the Quebecois will rue what is sure to feel like two points dropped in the game’s final moments, when Abu Danladi scored in the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time to earn the hosts a share of the spoils. — Lindberg

Previous ranking: 16

Next MLS match: July 3 vs Real Salt Lake, 10 p.m. ET, ESPN+r

One step forward, one step back. A reenergized Carlos Velas led the Black and Gold to a dominant 2-0 win against Dallas on Thursday, but after going ahead 1-0 in Kansas City on Saturday, Tristan Blackmon was sent off early in the second half and SKC went on to score twice to take all three points. — Bonagura

Previous ranking: 20

Next MLS match: July 3 vs. Toronto FC, 5:30 p.m., ESPN+

Allowing goals in the 84th and 95th minutes to let a late 1-0 turn into a 2-1 defeat against NYCFC will sting, but D.C. can’t expect to win every game 1-0. United have scored more than one goal in a game just twice this season. — Lindberg

Previous ranking: 23

Next MLS match: July 4 vs Vancouver, 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+

After a laxidasical performance in a 2-0 loss to LAFC midweek, FC Dallas rebounded with its most encouraging performance of the season: a 2-1 win against New England. Ricardo Pepi, 18, provided both goals, with the second coming after an incredible run with the ball in which he left two Revolution defenders in the dust.— Bonagura

Previous ranking:14

Next MLS match:July 3 at Chicago Fire, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN+

The Five Stripes bounced back from last week’s defeat at the hands of NYCFC, but could only manage a scoreless draw against the Red Bulls, extending their winless streak to five games — and nine of their past ten. — Lindberg

Previous ranking: 15

Next MLS match: July 1 vs Portland, 9:30 p.m. ET

The good news: Austin remains undefeated at home. The bad: It still hasn’t scored in front of its home fans. A point against the team that nearly moved to Austin, the Columbus Crew, is a positive result, but it’s hard to get excited about a team that has scored just one goal in its past seven matches — including a 2-0 loss at Minnesota midweek. — Bonagura

Previous ranking: 25

Next MLS match: July 4 at FC Dallas, 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+

The Whitecaps earned just one point in two games, but it was still an encouraging week considering the draw came against the Sounders and the Galaxy scored in the game’s dying moments to win 2-1. — Bonagura

Previous ranking: 22

Next MLS match: July 3 at CF Montreal, 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+

Friday’s 2-1 defeat to Orlando was Miami’s fourth straight loss. The silver lining for the Herons is that Gonzalo Higuain scored his fifth goal in eight appearances; unfortunately for the club, his teammates have combined for just four in 2021. — Lindberg

Previous ranking: 26

Next MLS match: July 3 at Houston Dynamo, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN+

You have to feel for the fans in Cincinnati. The stunning TQL Stadium is now open, but FCC’s fortunes at home haven’t improved any. On the road, though, that’s a different story. Saturday’s 2-0 win over Toronto was their second straight victory — both away from home — and all three of the club’s wins this season have come outside of Ohio.— Lindberg

Previous ranking: 21

Next MLS match:July 3 at Minnesota, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN+

In the past four matches, San Jose has scored more own goals (2) than goals (1) and is winless in seven straight. The Quakes were exciting to start the year and now they’re just irrelevant. — Bonagura

Previous ranking: 24

Next MLS match: July 3 at D.C. United, 5:30 pm ET, ESPN+

As disappointing as a fifth straight loss is for a club as accustomed to success as Toronto has been in the past six years, potentially more damning is a 2-0 defeat to Cincinnati. Only one team in MLS has a worse goal differential than the Reds’ minus-eight. — Lindberg

Previous ranking:27

Next MLS match:July 3 vs. Atlanta United, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN+

The Fire’s three-game losing streak is over after a wild 3-3 draw with Philadelphia, but the underlying context makes for depressing reading and sums up Chicago’s season rather neatly: Three goals in Saturday’s game accounts for more than 40% of the team’s goals this season, and the draw was only the third time in ten games this term that they’ve earned a point or more. — Lindberg