MLS Power Rankings: Which Team Is No. 1 After the Past Week?

There is a clear hierarchy developing in Major League Soccer.

The Columbus Crew and Philadelphia Union have defeated weaker opposition in the Eastern Conference over the last few weeks, while the Seattle Sounders moved up to first place in the Western Conference through Friday's win over Los Angeles FC.

Columbus and Philadelphia are the front-runners to record the most points and land the Supporters' Shield, but the two sides are not scheduled to meet in Phase 2. 

If the Crew and Union are scheduled with each other in one of the final nine games of Phase 2, which have yet to be announced, it could decide the second trophy of the MLS season. 

Portland holds the first crown from winning the MLS Is Back tournament, and it appears to be back in form to challenge Seattle at the top of the West. 

A slew of other teams are lining up behind Seattle to challenge for the West's No. 1 seed, and based on what we have seen throughout MLS' return to home markets, the West may have more drama throughout the table as we approach the playoffs. 

26. San Jose Earthquakes (Previous Ranking: 21)

There's bad defending, and then there's what the San Jose Earthquakes did Saturday night.

In their last three losses, the Quakes have been outscored 18-3 by Los Angeles FC, Seattle and Portland.

Thatn total is more than what nine of the 10 teams in the Eastern Conference playoff positions have given up in all their regular-season contests. That applied to all 10 before Montreal allowed four goals Sunday.

Manager Matias Almeyda deserves some of the blame for not making the right adjustments to stop the bleeding, but the front office has to own up for the mistakes too since it still has players on the roster held over from the pre-Almeyda era who are not suited to play his man-marking style.

Letting Almeyda go may not be the right choice at the moment, but if results like Saturday's keep showing up, the Quakes may run out of excuses to keep him before transfers are settled.

25. Atlanta United (Previous Ranking: 24)

It was a very bad sports weekend in Atlanta, so let's try a positive approach.

At least Atlanta United isn't as bad as San Jose.

We know that is an incredibly low bar to clear at the moment, but it is about the only pick-me-up you can give fans of the Five Stripes, who also had to endure tough losses by Georgia Tech football and the Atlanta Falcons this weekend.

The Five Stripes are two points above last-place Chicago after their loss to Inter Miami, but with the expanded playoff field in place, they are still just one point back of 10th-place FC Cincinnati.

24. Chicago Fire (Previous Ranking: 25)

Chicago has one point from its last three games compared to Atlanta United's zero. Again, the bar to clear is comparable to a beginner's jump for an amateur high jumper.

The Fire were active in the final third in their loss to Orlando City, as Robert Beric attempted six shots. However, only one of them went on target.

Even though Chicago lost by two more goals than Atlanta on Saturday, it at least showed some promise in the final third.

23. Montreal Impact (Previous Ranking: 14)

Montreal had the most difficult week for any MLS team on and off the field.

The Impact suffered a 3-1 defeat at Vancouver on Wednesday and then had to travel across the continent to settle in northern New Jersey to play a "home" game against Philadelphia on Sunday at Red Bull Arena.

It did not help Thierry Henry's side that it played with 10 men in both of those contests.

The ejections handed to Rudy Camacho and Romell Quioto were preventable. Camacho punched Fredy Montero in the leg Wednesday, and Quioto swung an elbow in the direction of Mark McKenzie's head Sunday.

If the Impact regain their discipline, they can still put together a solid season. The sixth-place side visits New England on Wednesday.

22. D.C. United (Previous Ranking: 22)

D.C. United has the advantage over the four clubs at the bottom because they at least tried to win a soccer game this weekend. The Black and Red fought back to earn a 2-2 home draw with Toronto FC through Griffin Yow's first professional goal.

The most important tally of the contest may end up being the first one, netted by Ola Kamara in the fifth minute. Kamara entered Saturday on a four-game scoreless streak and with one goal in his first 10 matches. A return to form could help D.C. get the performances it needs up top.

21. FC Cincinnati (Previous Ranking: 26)

FC Cincinnati scored goals in back-to-back games for the first time since its return from MLS Is Back.

Saturday's goal by Haris Medunjanin at Red Bull Arena handed the second-year side three points over the New York Red Bulls.

Now Jaap Stam and Co. have to figure out how to score when not playing at Red Bull Arena. Brandon Vazquez's goal against NYCFC also occurred at the frequently used venue.

20. Nashville SC (Previous Ranking: 18)

Nashville's four-game unbeaten run ended at the hands of the best team in the league, but there is nothing wrong with the expansion side conceding two goals to the Columbus Crew in a defeat.

Columbus is the much better team, and it showed throughout the match at Mapfre Stadium.

Gary Smith's squad will attempt to start a new unbeaten run Wednesday at Nissan Stadium versus D.C.

19. New York Red Bulls (Previous Ranking: 16)

You can't lose to FC Cincinnati if you are a team looking to make a push up the standings, but that is exactly what happened to the Red Bulls on Saturday night in their home arena.

If anything, you could make the argument they at least lost on a spectacular goal, which Haris Medunjanin put in from a corner kick.

The Red Bulls have not responded well to the Chris Armas firing, and it is hard to figure out where their spark will come from in the next few weeks.

18. Vancouver Whitecaps (Previous Ranking: 23)

All it takes is one week to reverse the course of a team's season with the expanded playoffs in place.

The Whitecaps took care of 10-man Montreal and then went on the road to beat Real Salt Lake on Saturday. Vancouver was a man up at Rio Tinto Stadium as well, but its opening goal occurred 10 minutes prior to Kyle Beckerman's second yellow.

Instead of faltering when RSL equalized in the 81st minute, the Caps responded three minutes later through Lucas Cavallini.

The six points from the last two games nudged the Whitecaps over the L.A. Galaxy into seventh place in the West.

17. Colorado Rapids (Previous Ranking: 20)

Vancouver's leap in the standings was made possible by Colorado's road win over the L.A. Galaxy.

Cole Bassett and Jonathan Lewis picked up a goal each at Dignity Health Sports Park, and Keegan Rosenberry delivered one of the best defensive performances of the weekend as the Rapids held the home side to four shots on goal.

Rosenberry had six tackles, four interceptions and four clearances and was one of Colorado's most active players on the ball with 92 touches.

Before Saturday, the Rapids quietly put in a decent run of form with one win and three draws in Phase 1 to put them in a Western Conference playoff position.

16. Inter Miami (Previous Ranking: 19)

Inter Miami's win over Atlanta was nice, but the expansion club has done that before.

The most interesting part of their week was finalizing the acquisition of Gonzalo Higuain.

Higuain and Blaise Matuidi marked the first of what many hope will be an influx of world-class players to the club with David Beckham as its face.

15. Los Angeles FC (Previous Ranking: 11)

It feels weird to say we are getting used to seeing LAFC lose to the best teams in the West.

The Black and Gold fell to Seattle for the second time since returning from Florida and dropped beneath the red line into ninth place. Bob Bradley's team has as much talent as any squad in the league, but it just is not showing in the results.

The good news is LAFC gets a reprieve from its tough schedule this week with Vancouver and San Jose visiting. Sunday's meeting with San Jose could be the ultimate let-out-your-frustration game with the way the Quakes have been conceding.

14. New England Revolution (Previous Ranking: 15)

New England has not done anything impressive over the last few weeks, but it also has not committed major mistakes to affect its playoff position.

The Revolution played New York City FC to a scoreless draw, which is a positive result given how the club is playing.

Bruce Arena's side is treading water in the middle of the East, but it could be a surprise team in the playoffs because of his managerial experience and the chemistry between the new attacking pieces who should come by then.

But for now, the Revs are a middle-of-the-pack team.

13. FC Dallas (Previous Ranking: 17)

FC Dallas finally discovering their shooting boots is one of the top storylines to come out of the West in the last few weeks.

Luchi Gonzalez's side fired three goals past Sporting Kansas City in a five-goal shootout to increase its recent scoring spree to nine in three outings.

All of this has been done while Zdenek Ondrasek, who was supposed to be one of their top attacking options, was transferred back to Europe.

The loss of Ondrasek will be aided by the form of Franco Jara, who has four goals in the last three games.

12. Minnesota United (Previous Ranking: 13)

Minnesota United blew a two-goal lead to the Houston Dynamo on Saturday but still came away with a draw.

Though the Loons dropped two points, it was a positive development to not begin another losing streak after they fell in three straight games in Phase 1.

Minnesota has yet to rediscover its form from MLS Is Back, and it may be hard to find that Wednesday as it faces the red-hot Crew.

11. Real Salt Lake (Previous Ranking: 10)

RSL showed some fight by scoring down a man against Vancouver, but it conceded three minutes later to waste that hard work.

The defeat was the second in a row for the Claret and Cobalt, who are teetering on the brink of a massive drop from their position.

RSL will try to resurrect its form against the Galaxy and Minnesota in the coming week, but those are not exactly the easiest opponents.

10. Sporting Kansas City (Previous Ranking: 9)

Sporting KC joined RSL in the cluster of Western Conference teams from last week's top 10 that fell over the weekend.

Peter Vermes' squad used a Johnny Russell brace to rally against FC Dallas, but it could not hold on for a point, as it allowed an 86th-minute game-winner to Ryan Hollingshead.

The loss combined with Seattle's win over LAFC dropped Sporting KC from the top spot in the West, but there is only one point between them and the Sounders.

9. LA Galaxy (Previous Ranking: 7)

It would not be MLS without one of the hottest teams in the league unexpectedly getting shut out at home.

The Galaxy's six-game unbeaten run ended at the hands of the Rapids, who seemed to have a susceptible defense after they conceded 20 goals in 11 games.

The Galaxy have been held scoreless in each of their last two games, and the 0-0 draw with San Jose looks worse every time the Quakes are gashed by another Western Conference contender.

8. Houston Dynamo (Previous Ranking: 8)

Houston is about to enter the post-Alberth Elis era.

On Monday, the Honduran forward who scored 34 goals in four seasons made the move to Boavista in Portugal, the same club that landed Reggie Cannon from FC Dallas.

The Dynamo are not starving for attacking options with Elis off to Europe, but more pressure is now on Mauro Manotas, Christian Ramirez and Darwin Quintero to create scoring opportunities.

Quintero turned in a massive performance against his former club Minnesota on Saturday by scoring once and putting four of his six shots on target.

7. Portland Timbers (Previous Ranking: 12)

Portland outscored San Jose 7-2 in their two meetings in the last week.

The six-goal output Saturday gave us a glimpse at the Timbers attack we thought would rush through opposing defenses from the start of Phase 1.

Prior to Saturday's Phase 2 opener, Portland had a single victory after its MLS Is Back triumph and eclipsed the two-goal mark on one occasion.

The blowout win could do wonders for the team's confidence as it approaches a week of Cascadia Cup matches against Seattle and Vancouver.

6. Toronto FC (Previous Ranking: 6)

Toronto FC went into the weekend with the league's longest layoff of 10 days. That was caused by the unique scheduling of the Canadian teams in Phase 1, which called for the three teams to play each other.

The Reds did not have the best weekend performance, but they still managed to get a point on the road at Audi Field.

The quality of Greg Vanney's team will be tested in the next week, as it has to face fellow contenders for the East's No. 1 seed in NYCFC and Columbus.

Previous Ranking: 3

NYCFC was the only team in last week's top five to not win over the weekend.

The Pigeons played to a scoreless draw with the Revolution at Gillette Stadium and were outshot 14-8, with just four of those attempts on target.

It was far from the sharpest attacking performance, but NYCFC did enough on the defensive side of the ball to pick up a point.

All eyes will be on Ronny Deila's club Wednesday as it faces off with Toronto FC in a battle of the conference's fourth- and fifth-place teams at Red Bull Arena.

Previous Ranking: 5

Orlando City moved its unbeaten run to six games by way of a 4-1 win over Chicago. 

Chris Mueller and Nani recorded a goal and an assist apiece in the club's best attacking performance since the start of Phase 1, and Junior Urso and Benji Michel chipped in a goal each in the final 12 minutes to finish the club's sixth win of regular-season play.

Since Columbus and Philadelphia are playing so well, Orlando has not been able to gain ground on the duo, which has left it in third place in the East.

Previous Ranking: 4

The Sounders are the class of the West, which may be the more difficult conference of the two.

Seattle dispatched LAFC 3-0 on Friday night to become the second team in the West to eclipse the 20-point mark.

Since the West appears to have a deeper roster of quality teams, the Sounders' chase of the Supporters' Shield could come up short while the Crew and Union trounce the weaker sides in the East.

Brian Schmetzer's side faces two more difficult tasks in the upcoming week: at Portland and the L.A. Galaxy.

Previous Ranking: 2

Philadelphia has not played the most difficult schedule, but it has found a way to win the games it is supposed to.

On Sunday, the Union had at least one homegrown player contribute to each of their four goals versus 10-man Montreal at Red Bull Arena.

Jim Curtin's side has won five of its last six matches, though all those victories occurred against teams below fifth place in the East. The schedule remains favorable in the coming week with a road trip to FC Cincinnati and a home clash with Inter Miami.

Previous Ranking: 1

Columbus has played a slightly more difficult schedule than the Union because it has faced New York City FC since the restart.

The Crew breezed through Nashville with goals from Pedro Santos and Gyasi Zardes to extend their unbeaten streak to five games.

The title credentials of Caleb Porter's team will be tested more than Philadelphia's in the coming week when it faces Minnesota and Toronto FC. Philadelphia plays FC Cincinnati and Inter Miami.

If the Crew extend their winning ways, they will become the first 30-point team in MLS and further enforce the thinking that they are the favorites to capture the MLS Cup and Supporters' Shield.

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.

Statistics obtained from MLSSoccer.com and WhoScored.com.