Altidore powers TFC to Canadian Championship

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Rooney nets two as DC United stays hot to beat Timbers

TORONTO, 16 AUG, (RTRS): Jozy Altidore produced three goals in a 14-minute stretch spanning halftime, and Toronto FC beat the visiting Vancouver Whitecaps 5-2 Wednesday to capture their third consecutive Canadian Championship.

TFC took the two-game, total-goals series 7-4 on aggregate. The teams played to a 2-2 tie in Vancouver, British Columbia, last week. The championship gives Toronto a berth in next season’s CONCACAF Champions League.

Goals by Altidore in the 39th, 49th and 53rd minutes, plus a tally by Sebastian Giovinco in the 44th minute, allowed Toronto to open a 4-0 lead.

Kei Kamara (63rd minute) and Brek Shea (77th minute) responded with goals for the Whitecaps before Tosaint Ricketts’ score in the 80th minute ended all doubt.

Toronto has dominated the Canadian Championship in its 11-year history, winning the title seven times. The Montreal Impact are three-time champions, and the Whitecaps took the crown in 2015.

TFC returns to Major League Soccer action Saturday night in California against the San Jose Earthquakes. Vancouver plays host to the New York Red Bulls on Saturday.

DC United 4, Timbers 1

Wayne Rooney scored twice to lead DC United to 4-1 victory over the visiting Portland Timbers at Audi Field on Wednesday to extend their unbeaten streak to four matches.

Oniel Fisher and former Timbers forward Darren Mattocks also scored for DC (6-9-6, 24 points), which has three wins and a tie in its past four games.

Rooney, who tied the match 1-1 late in the first half, followed the go-ahead goal by Fisher in the 47th minute with a free kick over the wall in the 68th minute for a two-goal advantage.

Rooney has three goals in seven games for United after scoring 208 goals in the English Premier League for Manchester United and Everton.

Mattocks got his ninth goal in the first minute of stoppage time for the final score.

Samuel Armenteros gave Portland (10-5-7, 37 points) the lead in the 35th minute. The Timbers have lost two straight after a 10-0-5 streak.

Armenteros scored his eighth goal after a cutback pass to him in the middle of the box by Andy Polo, who was the recipient of a pass down the left flank by Sebastian Blanco.

Rooney made it 1-1 in the 43rd minute. He ran into open space for the through ball by Yamil Asad and put a left-footed shot past Jeff Attinella.

Fisher broke a 1-1 tie in the 47th minute as the Jamaican defender scored his first goal in 45 career games with D.C.

A midfield lay off by Rooney put Luciano Acosta free for a run to the box where he fed Fisher on the right channel. Fisher’s shot hit the far post before bounding across the line.

Portland stays on the road with a match Saturday vs Sporting Kansas City. DC United is home Sunday against the New England Revolution.

LAFC 2, RSL 0

Christian Ramirez scored twice in his first start for his new team, lifting Los Angeles Football Club to a 2-0 home victory over Real Salt Lake .

Ramirez was in his second overall appearance for LAFC after arriving in a trade from Minnesota United last week.

After narrowly missing a scoring chance as a substitute in LAFC’s 2-0 loss to visiting Sporting Kansas City on Saturday, his eighth and ninth goals overall this season helped his team snap a five-match league winless skid.

LAFC (11-7-6, 39 points) moved up to third into the compact Western Conference standings. Seven points currently separate second place from eighth, with the top six teams qualifying for the playoffs at the end of the season.

Real Salt Lake (10-10-5, 35 points) lost for the first time in five matches to remain in sixth place and also saw starting goalkeeper Nick Rimando exit at halftime with an injury.

Rookie Andrew Putna came on and made four saves in the second half in his MLS debut.

By that time, however, Ramirez had already done his damage.

Carlos Vela set up his new teammate’s first goal in the 13th minute when he got hold of a loose ball on the right helped by pressure from midfield teammate Benny Feilhaber.

Vela turned and fired a quick diagonal feed to Ramirez as he charged into the penalty area. Ramirez took one touch to control, then fired his second off the bounce past Rimando, who was left with little chance.

Ramirez made it 2-0 17 minutes later after some tight interplay from LAFC down the left. Eduard Atuesta played a give-and-go with Jordan Harvey to carve out some space down the left flank.

Then as Vela made a near-post run to draw multiple defenders, Atuesta smartly dragged his cross behind it, where Ramirez was waiting loosely marked for an easy tap-in.

Steven Beitashour nearly made it 3-0 for the hosts in the second half when the outside back got free down the right, only to see Putna deny his effort from a tight angle.

Sebastian Saucedo had RSL’s best chance of the game in the 66th minute, but LAFC goalkeeper Tyler Miller did well to parry away his ferocious half-volley from 15 yards out.

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