There are worse things to be plagued by than late-match drama, but in a turn that hints at a new level of parity in Major League Soccer, Saturday's slate provided another set of late, game-changing goals.

Our normal co-pilot Graham Parker highlighted the phenomenon before, but on Saturday the plague reached delightfully epidemic proportions. Across an exhausting nine-match day, seven goals were scored after the 75th minute, six of them changing the way points were distributed.



The most dramatic result may have been in Columbus, but thanks to a beguiling decision from referee Juan Guzman, the Crew-DC United rematch gets its own section below. Besides, the extent to which Héctor Jiménez's late winner beats out the two late goals at BC Place is debatable. With Kekuta Manneh's 86th-minute goal pulling back the lead Robbie Keane gave LA in the 77th, the Whitecaps were able to take a point from the visiting Galaxy, even if Bruce Arena's side continued to impress with its new midfield diamond.

In Dallas (Blas Pérez, 88), Salt Lake (Ned Grabovoy, 78), and Los Angeles (Obafemi Martins, 81), late goals broke prolonged standoffs, allowing the Western Conference's best to turn one point into three.

More broadly, however, it's worth considering whether this is part of a larger trend. In theory, if parity truly is on the rise, closer games would increase the probability of dramatic goals. If equality means teams are more likely to stay within one goal over 75 minutes, late scores have a better chance of changing outcomes, even if those goals are not necessarily more frequent.

It's a phenomenon that would also be reflected in the standings. If play is more even, there are going to be more draws, something we have indeed seen through the season's first seven weeks. Less than a fifth of the way through the season, MLS's draw rate has increased dramatically, from 22.6% in last year's 646 games to 40.3% in 124 matches this year.

In an era where the financial divide between haves and have nots is more than a whispered concern, it's an unexpected and potentially encouraging change. It certainly hasn't hurt the product on the field. Still, we're only seven weeks into the season. If the draws and late goals are pouring in come July, we can consider whether stereotyped parity of MLS is starting to manifest itself in a different form.

No place for Law 12 in Columbus

While it may have been the most dramatic of Saturday's goals, Héctor Jiménez's late equalizer was also the day's most controversial, and not because of anything related to the actual goal. From Wil Trapp's forced turnover, to the ensuing diagonal out wide, to Jiménez's cut on to his right foot, Columbus's 90th-minute goal was well executed if uncontested, and it gave an Andrew Dykstra little chance to secure DC United's third-straight win.

Instead, the controversy came 17 minutes earlier, with referee Guzman turning his back on the obvious goalscoring opportunity guidelines to leave Giancarlo González on the field.

González may be in his first season in MLS, but he has been capped 31 times by the Costa Rican national team and the 26-year-old defender knows the rules. He knows pulling down an opponent in that situation is going to be a red card, just as he knows, down 1-0 in the 73rd-minute, it's probably a decent sacrifice to make. Columbus had a better chance of claiming a point down one and playing 10-on-11 than down two playing at even strength.

Thanks to Guzman's generosity, however, González's choice turned out to be a false one. Inexplicably, given Fifa's guidelines, González was only shown yellow, even though Eddie Johnson's position, direction, and control met all the "DOGSO" criteria:

The distance between the offense and the goal



The likelihood of keeping or gaining control of the ball



The direction of the play



The location and number of defenders



The offence that denies an opponent an obvious goalscoring opportunity may be an offense that incurs a direct or an indirect free kick

The criteria are not included to explain a situation we can judge without Law 12 in hand. They are included to highlight the inanity of Guzman's choice, an indiscretion exasperated by Jiménez's equalizer. Losing Bernardo Añor to a dangerous play foul later in the half, the Crew were playing 10-on-11 when Jiménez scored. Playing 9-in-11? They probably don't draw the game.



These are not the types of decisions the Professional Soccer Referees Association needs, coming off a labor dispute. If MLS and the Professional Referee Organization's implicit contention was that PSRA was not worth what the union was demanding, the referees have failed to prove otherwise. Between this, Houston defender Kofie Sarkodie's second yellow card for time wasting (during a 0-0 in Philadelphia, mind you), and Ricardo Salazar's red card of David Horst three weeks ago, MLS's referees are still in preseason form.

Seattle's stars living up to their price tags

Chivas USA goalkeeper Dan Kennedy, middle, reacts as Seattle forward Obafemi Martins celebrates. Photo: Chris Carlson/AP Photograph: Chris Carlson/AP

Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins are providing a glimpse of MLS's future, a time when paying $8.4m per season for a pair of strikers won't lead sections of review posts. For now, at a time when most teams' entire rosters earn well less their combined salaries, Dempsey and Martins have embarked on a run of late-match form that has let Seattle take seven points from their last three games, all on the road.

Thanks to Martins' 81st-minute winner on Saturday, Seattle recorded a fourth win of the season, a 2-1 victory at Chivas USA that left Sigi Schmid's team second in the Western Conference.

It's a standing that's built on the back of a 4-4 result two weeks ago in Portland, when a Dempsey hat-trick helped the pair end the day with three goals and two assists. Last week in Dallas, they (well, Dempsey) had two goals; Saturday in Carson brought another goal and two assists. Between them they lead the league in goals (Dempsey, six) and assists (Martins, four), and they have had a part in seven of Seattle's last eight goals.

If that's not sufficiently intimidating, consider the timing of their contributions. In Portland, Dempsey scored twice in the last five minutes to salvage a draw. In Dallas, it was an 85th-minute goal that gave the Sounders full points. At StubHub, Martins scored nine minutes from time to secure full points. Since Dempsey returned from suspension, he and Martins have dominated the last 10 minutes, giving the impression they are capable of turning it on whenever they choose.

This may just be a hot streak but given the players' pedigrees, any regression could prove minimal. Just as Michael Bradley has shown in Toronto's midfield, there is an entirely new level that MLS imports are capable of achieving, one that provides an encouraging glimpse of the league's future. Commissioner Don Garber's desire to be one of the world's top leagues within the next 10 years may be dismissed by some, but the league's new talents have put the product on the right track.

Whether teams without Seattle or Toronto's pocketbooks can keep up will be one of the issues that defines MLS 3.0. For now, the vast monies Seattle fans have given their owners are paying off.

Toronto's talent proving a challenge for Nelsen

The big stars Toronto imported this offseason – Bradley, the still-injured Jermain Defoe and Brazilian striker Gilberto – have paid off in terms of credibility, but results have started to wane. Thanks in part to Defoe's absence, the team has now lost as many as its won, with a 2-1 loss in Frisco giving the franchise the first losing streak of its new, free-spending era.

The game began as most Reds games do, with Toronto taking the lead, but by halftime Óscar Pareja's team had pulled Issey Nakajima-Farran's opener back, converting a 37th-minute corner through Matt Hedges. Dominating position as Toronto receded into Ryan Nelsen's trademark bunker, Dallas broke through two minutes from time, when the mayhem after an 88th-minute restart ended with Pérez's game-winning goal.

After the match, Nelsen described his team as "running on fumes”, an ailment compounded by the coach's overly risk-averse approach. Holding only 40% of the ball during Saturday's loss, Toronto were left in a position to be run into the ground, a situation that's become commonplace under it second-year boss.

Through seven rounds, TFC are last in the league in possession, by a mile (39.3%, with 18th-placed San Jose at 45.8%). Last season, with a team that had less talent but was chasing more goals, Toronto held 46.3% of the ball. Whereas much current thought holds that possession gives your team their best chance to rest, Nelsen forgoes that opportunity to conserve his troops.

This isn't how it should be, particularly with a team that have imported goal scorers like Defoe and Gilberto. Even Jackson and a temporarily renewed Dwayne De Rosario give the team options it didn't have a year ago, options that the skill of Bradley, Kyle Bekker and Jonathan Osario can leverage. Instead of scoring the first goal (as they've done four times) and relying on Bradley to sit deep and destroy, Nelsen should be leveraging the millions Tim Leiweke and Tim Bezbatchenko have spent. Toronto shouldn't let themselves fall prey to the league's new parity.

And then there were four (winless teams)

Sporting KC forward Dom Dwyer attempts a header against the Montreal Impact. Photograph: Jasen Vinlove/USA Today Sports Photograph: Jasen Vinlove/USA Today Sports

The ranks of the unbeaten were reduced to four when New York downed Philadelphia midweek. Unfortunately for fans in Chicago, Montreal, Portland and San Jose, the same could not be said for their teams. Instead, the teams that are close to a breakthrough remain on the doorstep. The one that is adrift continues to float away.

Montreal, who sat top this time last year, are completely rudderless, a situation that has persisted since Marco Schällibaum started tinkering with a winning formula. Trying to inject a second striker to complement Marco DiVaio, the coach undermined the Impact's identity, a failing that was still evident in the last 20 minutes at Sporting Park on Saturday. Three late Kansas City goals sent Montreal to a demoralizing 4-0 loss.

A similar, deflated feeling is starting to emerge around San Jose, though that ignores the reality of the Earthquakes' schedule. Including Saturday's often mind-numbing 0-0 in Colorado (the teams combined for one shot on target), San Jose's last five opponents have a combined six losses in 31 games. A style that often lacks inspiration feeds fan discontent, but draws against Sporting Kansas City and Real Salt Lake hint this is actually a competitive side.

Chicago and Portland's situations are a bit more complicated. As the Fire showed in a 1-1 draw with New England, a side revamped by Frank Yallop can outplay a number of teams, with Harry Shipp's first-half through ball from Quincy Amarikwa showing new potential going forward. Later in the half, however, Patrick Nyarko's innocent but careless trip of Kevin Alston showed the team's other side. Another defensive mistake (and, another stoppage-time penalty they did not convert) sent Chicago to a sixth straight draw.

Given the quality of Chicago's play, they're destined to break through soon –a description that could also apply to Portland after their performance in Salt Lake. Against an RSL team undefeated in its last 11 against the Timbers, Caleb Porter's side created the game's better chances. Thanks to another set of remarkable saves from Nick Rimando, however, that effort went for naught, with a now characteristic defensive breakdown allowing Ned Grabavoy to win the game in the 78th minute.

Five months after the teams met in the Western Conference finals, the 1-0 result kept Real Salt Lake undefeated and Portland winless.