Kamara nets hat-trick as Rapids rout Impact; United beat Galaxy

COMMERCE CITY: Kei Kamara scored the second hat trick of his career and the Colorado Rapids used a flurry of first-half goals to beat the Montreal Impact 6-3 on Saturday night.

Kamara gave Colorado (6-12-5) a 2-1 lead in the 36th minute with a penalty kick and made it 3-1 in the first minute of first-half stoppage time. Three minutes later, Diego Rubio scored to make it 4-1 before halftime.

Kamara netted his hat trick with a header to cap the scoring in the 90th minute.

Montreal (11-11-3) cut it to 4-3 with a pair of goals in the second half. Maximiliano Urruti scored in the 55th minute and Saphir Taïder converted a penalty in the 76th.

But Andre Shinyashiki scored two minutes later to help the Rapids open a two-goal lead.

Kamara opened the scoring with an own goal in the 18th minute that gave Montreal the lead. Montreal goalkeeper Evan Bush answered with an own goal in the 21st to tie it at 1.

The Impact have lost five of their last six.

Elsewhere, Atlanta United scored a pair of own-goals in the first half and Josef Martinez added a penalty kick to finish off a 3-0 victory over the LA Galaxy on Saturday, pushing the reigning MLS Cup champions into a first-place tie in the Eastern Conference.

United (12-9-3), pulling even with Philadelphia at 39 points, stretched its home unbeaten streak to 10 games in a matchup between two of the league’s top teams. Atlanta has never allowed a goal to the Galaxy, recording three straight shutouts since entering the league in 2017.

With the upper deck opened up and another MLS record crowd of 72,548 cheering on United, the home team responded with one of its best performances in what has been an up-and-down season under first-year coach Frank de Boer.

The Galaxy (12-10-1) provided plenty of help.

In the 23rd minute, Florentin Pogba retrieved a long ball at the Atlanta end of the field and worked it up to Ezequiel Barco racing through the midfield. Barco slid a nifty pass to Pity Martinez, who broke into the clear down the right side. Martinez tried to work the ball in front, where both Barco and Josef Martinez were lurking, but the pass struck defender Dave Romney, sliding across the area on his back, and deflected past helpless goalkeeper David Bingham.

Atlanta made it 2-0 with a nearly identical play in the 43rd. This time, Justin Meram sprinted free down the left side and looked to get the ball to Josef Martinez, who was open in front of the net. Defender Giancarlo Gonzalez slid across to block the pass and wound up doing the same thing as Romney - deflecting the ball past Bingham.

Agence France-Presse