A Javier Morales double steered Real Salt Lake to a 2-0 victory over Eastern Conference leaders Columbus Crew at Rio Tinto Stadium last night. The Argentinia midfielder opened the scoring after 12 minutes and doubled his team's advantage on the hour mark to ensure RSL came out on top in a clash between the past two Major League Soccer champions.

The result was not enough for the victors to close the gap on the Western Conference-leading Los Angeles Galaxy as Edson Buddle's 10th-minute goal earned the Galaxy a 1-0 triumph over the New York Red Bulls in front of a sell-out crowd at Red Bull Arena.

The victory saw the Galaxy remain four points clear in their division on an MLS-best 43 points.

Third-placed FC Dallas extended their unbeaten streak to 10 games with a convincing 3-1 victory over a dispirited DC United at RFK Stadium. Goals from David Ferreira and rookie Eric Alexander either side of half-time put the visitors in the ascendancy, with Jeff Cunningham's stoppage-time strike sealing the win after a Jair Benitez own goal had briefly reduced the arrears.

Elsewhere, the Philadelphia Union and the Colorado Rapids battled out a 1-1 draw at PPL Park with Danny Mwanga's second-half equaliser cancelling out Jeff Larentowicz's opener to nick a point for the hosts.

Serbian forward Ilija Stolica's first MLS goal gave the New England Revolution a 1-0 win over the Houston Dynamo while Chris Wondolowski's volley 10 minutes before half-time was enough for the San Jose Earthquakes to also triumph 1-0 against the Kansas City Wizards.

Finally, Chivas USA and the Seattle Sounders battled out a goalless draw in a match which was marred by a late brawl and two red cards. Mariano Trujillo saw red for the hosts and Leo Gonzalez was dismissed for the visitors.