LA Galaxy 4, Seattle Sounders 0
Robbie Rogers became the first openly gay male athlete to play in a U.S. professional league on Sunday night, making his Major League Soccer debut with the Los Angeles Galaxy.
Rogers entered as a substitute in the 77th minute with the Galaxy leading the Seattle Sounders 4-0, which turned out to be the final score.
He received loud cheers from the crowd of 24,811 as he ran onto the pitch, with fans chanting his last name. Rogers ran by teammate Landon Donovan, who slapped his hand and patted him on the back as he took his position.
Rogers touched the ball a couple times in the closing minutes of the Galaxy's victory that ended Seattle's three-game winning streak.
Rogers' signing on Saturday was so recent that he wasn't listed in the game day program, which featured a picture of Mike Magee in the centerfold. Magee, the Galaxy's leading scorer and a fan favorite, was traded to his hometown Chicago Fire, which held Rogers' MLS rights.
Rogers spent the last two seasons in England. He trained with the Galaxy for a month while hoping to continue his career not far from his hometown of Huntington Beach.
The loudest chants of ''Robbie, Robbie'' were for Robbie Keene, who had his first career three-goal game in MLS. His three goals, including two on penalty kicks, and another by Sean Franklin gave the Galaxy a 4-0 lead at halftime.
Keane's hat trick in a 44-minute span was the second-fastest in Galaxy history. The fastest occurred in 43 minutes in 2004 by Alejandro Moreno.
Keane scored three consecutive goals 10 minutes apart. His first in the 24th minute came on a right-footed shot from the center of the box into the bottom right corner of the goal following a corner.
Keane followed in the 34th minute, burying a penalty shot in the bottom right corner. He converted another penalty shot in the 44th minute, booting the ball into the bottom left corner.
The Galaxy's first goal came in the 12th minute when Franklin right-footed shot from close range into the center of the goal. Keene had the assist.
New York Red Bulls 2, Columbus Crew 2
Defender Jamison Olave blasted home a shot in the opening minute of injury time and the New York Red Bulls tied the Columbus Crew 2-2 Sunday to extend their unbeaten streak to seven games, the longest in 10 years.
Thierry Henry also scored for the Red Bulls, who are 5-0-2 in their best run since 2003.
Frederico Higuain appeared to give Columbus the game winner on a penalty in the 74th minute.
However, Olave settled a crossing pass by Jonathan Steele in the box and ripped a shot high into the left corner. Dominic Oduro also scored for the Crew, who are 0-3-3 in their last six games against the Red Bulls.
Crew goaltender Andy Gruenebaum seemed to preserve a win in the 83rd minute, stopping a bullet shot by Juninho from the top of the box. Minutes later Kevan George cleared a header by Olave off the goal line following a corner kick and a collision that left two Columbus players on the pitch.
Higuain's third goal of the season was not without controversy. Eddie Gaven centered a pass that Justin Meram took in stride in the box and then seemed to flub his shot. As the ball popped into the air, Kosuke Kimura knocked Meram down and referee Geoff Gamble pointed to the penalty spot.
Higuain ripped a shot that Red Bulls goaltender Luis Robles had not chance to stop.
Henry had tied the game at 1-all in the 31st minute on a mistake by George, who was making his first start. Tim Cahill, who scored a late game-winning goal against on May 4, sent a long pass from midfield that George went up to head and missed. Henry ran onto the ball and deftly chipped it over Gruenebaum when the goaltender came out to face him one-on-one.
Columbus took the lead in the second minute after a poor clearing header by Olave. Gaven intercepted the ball at the top of the box and Oduro seemingly took the ball off his teammate's boot. He avoided a tackle by Olave, fought off a shoulder challenge by Markus Holgersson and slid the ball past a sliding Robles for his team-high sixth goal.
Unfortunately for the Crew, Oduro injured his right thigh on the goal when Robles slid into him and he left the game six minutes later.
Sporting KC 1, Houston Dynamo 1
Kei Kamara scored his first goal since returning from a loan to England and Sporting Kansas City got a 1-1 draw Sunday against the Houston Dynamo.
A first-half penalty kick against Sporting was waved off, a week after a bad offside call denied them a goal in a 1-1 draw at D.C. United.
Brad Davis scored in first-half stoppage time for the Dynamo (6-4-3), who avoided their third straight loss to Sporting (6-4-4).
The Dynamo were awarded the penalty about eight minutes before Davis' goal, when Uri Rosell brought down Davis in the box. But after conferring with his assistant, referee Drew Fischer reversed his initial call.
Kamara, who returned earlier this month from Norwich City, came on as a second-half sub and equalized in the 68th minute.
