Dane Richards netted for the ten-man New York Red Bulls as they maintained their place at the top of the Major League Soccer Eastern Conference with a 2-1 win at Montreal Impact.

The Red Bulls fell behind to Bernardo Corradi's 22nd-minute penalty, but levelled with a spot-kick of their own from Kenny Cooper 12 minutes later.

Victor Palsson saw red after 58 minutes as he collected a second yellow card, but the Red Bulls made light of their numerical disadvantage by netting the winner through Richards nine minutes later.

Sporting slip up
The win kept them a point clear of DC United, who also beat Canadian opposition, Toronto FC, 3-1. Dwayne De Rosario scored after 57 seconds then again two minutes before the break, and when Danny Koevermans pulled one back in the 71st minute, Hamdi Salihi replied two minutes later to settle any nerves.

Sporting Kansas City lost ground on the leaders as they were held to a 2-2 draw at the Colorado Rapids. The Rapids looked poised for victory when Teal Bunbury scored twice in the first 14 minutes, but Tyrone Marshall pulled one back after 52 minutes and Kosuke Kimura levelled on the hour mark.

The San Jose Earthquakes missed the chance to go level on points with Western Conference leaders Real Salt Lake as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Columbus Crew. It could have been worse for the Earthquakes, who trailed on the stroke of half-time through Justin Meram, but Alan Gordon rescued a point in the last minute.

Chivas down Galaxy
Chivas USA ended a run of six straight defeats against Los Angeles Galaxy as Jose Correa's 72nd-minute penalty gave them a 1-0 win over their rivals. David Junior Lopes earned a red card in giving away the penalty by stopping a shot with his hand, while David Beckham came off the bench with 16 minutes remaining but could not alter things.

The Seattle Sounders twice came from behind to claim a 2-2 draw at the Vancouver Whitecaps, Eddie Johnson and Freddy Montero cancelling out goals from Alain Rochat and Camilo.

Gabriel Gomez scored after 56 minutes to rescue a point for the Philadelphia Union with a 1-1 draw at FC Dallas, who had taken a first-half lead through Blas Perez. Saer Sene scored twice as New England Revolution drew 2-2 with Houston Dynamo, who twice equalised through Will Bruin and Luiz Camargo.