The New York Red Bulls are top of Major League Soccer's Eastern Conference as Luke Rodgers' 22nd-minute goal proved enough to see off Sporting Kansas City 1-0.

The win was the Red Bulls' third in a row and kept them above the Philadelphia Union, who were also 1-0 winners at home to the San Jose Earthquakes thanks to Sebastien Le Toux's 76th-minute goal.

The Columbus Crew are level on 12 points with the Eastern Conference's third-placed side Houston Dynamo after the Ohio side beat the Vancouver Whitecaps 2-1 at home.

Emilio Renteria opened the scoring with a penalty five minutes into the second half and grabbed his second in open play in the 59th minute. Omar Salgado grabbed the Whitecaps' goal in the 69th minute.

Salt Lake stutter
Real Salt Lake failed to gain ground on Western Conference leaders Los Angeles Galaxy as Kenny Cooper's 22nd-minute goal for the Portland Timbers condemned the Utah side to a 1-0 loss.

The Seattle Sounders moved level on points with Salt Lake and into third thanks to a 3-0 home win over Toronto FC. Alvaro Fernandez put the hosts in front in the ninth minute and they finished off the Canadians as Brad Evans scored in the 52nd and 75th minutes, the second of his goals coming from the penalty spot.

The Colorado Rapids' winless run extended to four matches as they were held 1-1 at home by the Chicago Fire. Marco Pappa drew first blood for the visitors in the 43rd minute before Andre Akpan levelled four minutes into the second period.

Chivas USA failed to win any of their first five games but have now won two in a row, beating the New England Revolution 3-0. Nick LaBrocca and Marcos Mondaini put Chivas in control and Alejandro Moreno added a third in the 57th minute.