The Montreal Impact consolidated top spot in Major League Soccer's Eastern Conference on Saturday night with a 1-0 victory over the New York Red Bulls.

Italian forward Marco Di Vaio grabbed the game's only goal after 14 minutes, latching onto Patrice Bernier's pass and firing past visiting goalkeeper Luis Robles to secure his side's fourth win in four games.

The Red Bulls emerged for the second half looking positive, despite the absences of Thierry Henry (injury) and Tim Cahill (international duty). But they could not find an equaliser, and saw their dwindling hopes of picking up any points at Olympic Stadium further dented by Brandon Barklage's 74th-minute red card for a second bookable offence.

Columbus remained second in the EC, five points behind Montreal, after Ben Speas' first MLS goal earned the Crew a 2-1 victory at DC United. Josh Williams had put the visitors ahead in the 15th minute at RFK Stadium only for Rafael to equalise with a superb half-volley seven minutes later.

But Speas restored the Crew's lead 11 minutes into the second half, smashing into an empty net after defender Brandon McDonald had slipped while attempting to clear the ball after DC goalkeeper Bill Hamid had spilled Federico Higuain's curling free-kick.

FC Dallas claimed sole possession of first place in the Western Conference with a 2-0 home triumph over Real Salt Lake.Fabian Castillo opened the scoring broke the deadlock in the 70th minute with a fierce effort and Jackson doubled Dallas' advantage 11 minutes later when he capitalised on RSL goalkeeper Josh Saunders' failure to deal with a tricky back-pass. The visitors' miserable night continued when midfielder Yordany Alvarez was shown a second yellow card for diving.

Colorado paid the price for a moment of madness from Drew Moor as Mike Magee's penalty five minutes into the second half earned the Los Angeles Galaxy a 1-0 victory over the ten-man Rapids at the Home Depot Center. Moor saw red for an off-the-ball elbow on Marcelo Sarvas in the penalty area, and Magee coolly despatched the resulting spot-kick for the game's only goal.

Chris Wondolowski's strike on the stroke of half-time handed the San Jose Earthquakes a 1-0 win over the Seattle Sounders.

Houston overcame a half-time deficit to defeat Vancouver 2-1. Darren Mattocks had given the Whitecaps a first-half lead, but Giles Barnes and Warren Creavalle turned the game on its head after the interval - with their first MLS goals - to extend the Dynamo's home winning streak to 33 games.

Finally, the New England Revolution and Sporting Kansas City battled out a goalless draw at a windswept Gillette Stadium.