Real Salt Lake 1, Houston Dynamo 0
Alvaro Saborio continued his torrid scoring pace and Real Salt Lake's defense clamped down on the Houston Dynamo for a 1-0 victory Saturday night.
Saborio converted a penalty kick in the 37th minute for his fifth goal in three games and Nick Rimando recorded three saves for his seventh shutout of the season.
Real Salt Lake improved to 12-7-5, and its 41 points are tops in Major League Soccer.
''I think we were a little flat in the first half,'' Real Salt Lake coach Jason Kreis said. ''All-in-all I'm really pleased. I think we got the result in a different way tonight and I think that's important heading into the stretch, you have to feel like you can win multiple ways.''
Toronto 1, Seattle Sounders 2
Mauro Rosales scored in the first half and the Seattle Sounders hung on to beat Toronto FC 2-1 on Saturday.
The game was the Sounders debut for star American forward Clint Dempsey. Dempsey was called in with 11 minutes remaining in the first half after starting forward Obafemi Martins was taken off following a tackle by Doneil Henry.
Dempsey, a former Fulham and Tottenham player, got his first touch a few minutes later in front of the Toronto goal, but defender Ashtone Morgan took him off the ball.
The other goal for the Sounders (10-7-4) came on an own goal by Henry.
Jonathan Osorio's fifth goal of the season early in the second half was the lone goal for Toronto (4-11-8).
Vancouver Whitecaps 2, San Jose Earthquakes 0
Camilo Sanvezzo and Kenny Miller scored second-half goals and the Vancouver Whitecaps beat the San Jose Earthquakes 2-0 Saturday.
Sanvezzo and Miller, who returned after missing the previous game with a groin injury, scored 14 minutes apart as the Whitecaps (10-7-6) ended a three-game winless skid.
Vancouver also put six points between the two clubs in the tight Western Conference. The Earthquakes (8-10-6) had their winning streak end at three games.
Whitecaps goalkeeper David Ousted recorded his first MLS shutout as he made his home debut since signing with Vancouver in June. It was Vancouver's fourth shutout of the season by three different goalkeepers.
Columbus Crew 2, New York Red Bulls 0
Each time Matt Lampson made a critical stop, his Columbus Crew teammates responded at the other end of the field.
He helped the Crew earn a 2-0 victory against New York on Saturday that ended a three-game losing streak.
Lampson, starting for the injured Andy Gruenebaum for the third time this season, got his second shutout by making two saves.
Within minutes of each the Crew got goals by Federico Higuain, who converted a penalty kick in the 62nd minute and added his first goal from the run of play in more than five months in the 76th.
''Those saves were huge,'' Crew defender Chad Barson said. ''They definitely kept us in the game. It takes pressure off us when we're able to keep a clean sheet.''
New York (11-8-5) was without top players Tim Cahill and Thierry Henry, but stayed in the match through several excellent saves by Luis Robles.
Philadelphia Union 2, DC United 0
Conor Casey scored his eighth and ninth goals of the season to lead the Philadelphia Union to a 2-0 victory over D.C. United on Saturday night.
Casey scored in the 35th minute, with Sebastien Le Toux picking up his league-best 11th assist, and in the 75th. He trails Jack McInerney by one goal for the team lead.
The Union (10-7-7) improved to 3-1-1 in their last five games. Philadelphia goalkeeper Zac MacMath earned his eighth shutout of the season.
D.C. United have dropped three of their last four and fell to a league-worst 3-16-4 overall and 0-8-3 on the road. They're the only club without at least one road victory.
Chicago Fire 2, Montreal Impact 1
Joel Lindpere and Dilly Duka scored first-half goals and the Chicago Fire held on for a 2-1 victory over the Montreal Impact on Saturday night.
The win was the Fire's second straight and improved them to .500 this season (9-9-4), stretching an unbeaten streak to four games (3-0-1) in MLS competition. Coupled with New England's loss, Chicago climbed to sixth in the MLS' Eastern Conference.
The Impact (10-7-5) lost their second straight, and for the fourth time in the past eight matches, falling behind Philadelphia to fourth in the Eastern Conference.
The Impact's Felipe Martins cut the Chicago lead in half in the 57th minute, two minutes after entering the match. Martins drilled a 28-yard left-footed shot past Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson for Montreal's only goal of the match, and his fourth of the season.
Sporting Kansas City 3, New England Revolution
Kei Kamara scored in each half, and Sporting Kansas City retook the Eastern Conference lead with a 3-0 victory over the short-handed New England Revolution on Saturday night.
Benny Feilhaber scored on a free kick in stoppage time for Sporting (11-7-6), which broke a two-match losing streak and moved ahead of New York by a point in the East standings.
Defender Kevin Alston made his first start since his leukemia diagnosis in early April for New England, but was beaten on both of Kamara's goals and lifted in the 57th minute.
The Revolution (8-9-6) had to play a man down after forward Dmitry Imbongo elbowed Sporting's Uri Rosell in the throat in the 64th minute and was given his second yellow card, and went down to nine in the 86th when Andy Dorman was given a straight red for a hard foul on Kamara.
