SEATTLE (AP) - Clint Dempsey scored twice in a five-minute span early in the second half and set up Lamar Neagle’s first-half goal to help the Seattle Sounders beat the Colorado Rapids 4-1 in Major League Soccer on Saturday.
Elsewhere, Fabian Espindola scored twice and added an assist to lead D.C. United past nine-men FC Dallas and Bradley Wright-Phillips continued his hot scoring form with the second-half equalizer in the New York Red Bulls 1-1 draw with Columbus.
Dempsey leads MLS with eight goals and has at least a goal or an assist in each of Seattle’s last six games.
Obafemi Martins added a 75th-minute goal for Seattle to improve the Sounders to 16 points and top of the Western Conference.
Neagle’s blast 2 yards in front of a wide-open goal gave the Sounders a 1-0 lead 15 seconds into first-half stoppage time, and was his third goal of the season.
Dempsey made it 2-0 in the 47th minute, running onto a loose ball at the top of 6-yard box that Colorado goalkeeper Clint Irwin had slapped away, but couldn’t latch onto.
Then early in the 52nd minute, Chad Marshall headed Gonzalo Pineda’s corner kick toward Dempsey, and Dempsey headed it in just over Irwin’s reach.
In Washington, Mauro Diaz put the visitors ahead early before Dallas defender Zach Loyd was sent off for a second yellow card in the 39th minute.
Espindola equalized just before the break, before Bobby Boswell and Sean Franklin also scored for the Washington club early in the second half. Espindola then added his second to complete the rout in the 69th.
Dallas’ Michel also was sent off late by referee Fotis Bazakos.
D.C. forward and U.S. World Cup hopeful Eddie Johnson assisted on Espindola’s first goal just before halftime, but left in the 51st minute with an apparent leg injury.
Wright-Phillips followed a hat-trick in a 4-0 win against Houston on Wednesday with his fifth goal of the season in the 66th minute to bring New York back into the game. He settled a pass from Lloyd Sam on the left side of the box and put a shot through the legs of Crew defender Josh Williams and off the right post.
Earlier, Jairo Arrieta gave Columbus the lead in the 39th minute with a successful penalty kick after New York defender Kosuke Kimura fouled Justin Meram.
Teal Bunbury and Lee Nguyen scored in second half stoppage time to give the New England Revolution a 2-0 victory over 10-man Sporting Kansas City.
Bunbury scored in the in 92nd minute, and Nguyen scored from the spot in the 95th minute to keep the Revolution unbeaten at home this season.
Kansas City went down to 10 men in the 74th minute when Aurelien Collin was red carded for a hard challenge on Diego Fagundez near the box.
Also Saturday, Felipe Martins scored in the first half and the Montreal Impact held on to beat the Philadelphia Union 1-0 for its first MLS victory of the season and Nicolas Mezquida and Sebastian Fernandez scored late goals to rescue a 2-2 draw for the Vancouver Whitecaps at Real Salt Lake.
San Jose beat Chivas USA 1-0 on Yannick Djalo’s 66th minute strike for its first victory of the season.
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