Portland Timbers v LA Galaxy - as it happened

1. Portland Timbers 2-2 LA Galaxy
2. Alan Gordon cancels out Adi's late goal
3. Adi scored two - first put Portland ahead
4. Zardes equalised for LA Galaxy
5. Earlier, New York City beat New England 2-0
6. David Villa scored New York's first home goal
7. New England captain Jose Goncalves sent off
8. Patrick Mullins added second from Villa pass

On that note, I'm going to call it a night. Thank you for keeping me company this evening, and for all your comments. Let's do this again soon, yes?

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James Starritt: It is really great to see you covering MLS and doing it so well!!

Aw, thanks James. Your cheque's in the post. (Not really - I haven't the budget for that kind of thing. And I suspect it contravenes all sorts of BBC guidelines.)

A draw was probably about right, though. LA Galaxy the stronger side - and no doubt that will be reflected in their final league position - but Portland deserve great credit for the way in which they took on the champions.

FULL-TIME

Crikey. What a finish that was.

GOAL

What an incredible finish. LA Galaxy, with barely the time to find an equaliser, get one as substitute Alan Gordon loops in a header from a corner.

GOAL

Get the chainsaw out - Portland are back in front. Darlington Nagbe gets down the right and crosses for Fanendo Adi to scramble in his second. But wait...

Portland's mascot Timber Joey - who I told you all about in the first half (see 41 mins) - revs up the chainsaw again in an attempt to inspire the Timbers to a victory.

Tense closing minutes, these. Both teams feel they can win it. Stefan Ishizaki breaks forward down the right to win a corner for LA Galaxy, but they can't do anything with it.

A nervy moment for LA Galaxy keeper Brian Rowe, who deals unconvincingly with a cross, punching the ball up into the air with absolutely no idea where it's going. It lands on the top of his net. Galaxy deal with the resulting Portland corner much more easily.

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Katy: Timbers Army is fantastic. Great atmosphere. Passionate about soccer. Yet still family friendly. RCTID!

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AP

What's stopping LA Galaxy from winning this game? Portland defender Nat Borchers' beard. Look at it. You could smother an entire forward line with that.

LA Galaxy substitute Mika Vayrynen can have no complaints about going into the book for catching Portland midfielder Jack Jewsbury around the back of the head with his forearm. You could call it a robust challenge, if you're polite.

Last 15 minutes. If I were a betting man, and I'm not, I would go for LA Galaxy to sneak this. The match is being played largely in Portland's half.

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Daniel Woodley: Can Landon Donovan come out of retirement please? I miss him. LA miss him. American soccer misses him.

Brent Marrow: I have a feeling that Frank Lampard wishes he was playing in MLS now.

Phil Woods: La Galaxé justifying the inclusion of a team from Quebec in MLS.

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Text us on 81111

Tim, Newcastle: Loving these MLS games. Cracking crowds and decent footy. Looks like the game has truly arrived stateside.

CHANCE!

Robbie Keane, drifting out to the right touchline, works the ball into space for Stefan Ishizaki, but the Swede's shot is comfortable for keeper Kwarasey.

Back to the game: Portland have perhaps been guilty of trying to sit on their lead. Galaxy certainly getting on top now. It's nicely set up for the final 20 minutes.

Text us on 81111

Alex Ross, via text: Timbers Army fans are amazing, atmosphere is exceptional, team plays like that care and you can stand and drink $4 beers on the terraces. All for less than the price of a pie and a pint at a Premier League game. As a Fulham season ticket holder for 14 years, going to Timbers games for a year was a breath of fresh air.

A heartfelt appeal works

My appeal at 58 mins has worked! The mystery texter has sent us a name!

GOAL

LA Galaxy have had a very good few minutes of pressure, and it brings reward. Jose Villarreal gets away down the left again, and Gyasi Zardes - who has missed a couple of decent chances in this second half - gets his boot in front of keeper Adam Larsen Kwarasey to touch in.

LA Galaxy left winger Jose Villarreal is a bit too quick for Portland full-back Alvas Powell, and gets away down the flank, but he can't deliver a telling cross. Nat Borchers gets it away.

Portland zipping the ball about very confidently at the back, and defending superbly. LA Galaxy try to break down the left with Robbie Rogers, but Nat Borchers and Liam Ridgewell are doing a fine job for the Timbers.

A heartfelt appeal

Just had a brilliant text through about Portland Timbers on 81111 - really interesting and insightful. I'd love to be able to use it, but I can't because the texter forgot to put their name on it. If that was you, can you text us your name, please?

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Conor McEvoy: MLS fascinating to follow at the moment, more and more quality players arriving and great atmosphere in the grounds.

James Hyde: Gyasi Zardes' hair is a perfect hybrid between Abel Xavier and Rudi Voller. Superb.

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Getty Images

I'm a big fan of Gyasi Zardes' hairstyle, by the way. That's got to be worth a goal.

CHANCE!

Bruce Arena's side are creating a few more openings now, though. Gyasi Zardes controls a long pass, possibly with an arm, but fires over from 15 yards. The Californian should have done better with that.

Crikey. Robbie Keane makes a complete hash of a shot as the ball is played to him by Robbie Rogers 20 yards from goal. The LA Galaxy captain slices the shot so wildly that it flies towards the corner flag, then spins back into play. Horrible.

Portland Timbers finished sixth in the Western Conference last season, four places below LA Galaxy, and missed out on the end-of-season play-offs, so this would be an impressive result if they could see this one out. Galaxy will surely put them under some added pressure at some point, though.

It's the home side starting the second half with a bit of zip, as Rodney Wallace drives wide after the ball is cut back to him from the left.

KICK-OFF

Yes, there have been some excellent crowds in the opening couple of weeks of the MLS season, Mark.

LA Galaxy captain Robbie Keane gathered his players in a huddle on the pitch before the second half started. He senses, I suspect, that they need to step it up a bit.

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Mark Simons: Enjoying MLS. Work with some Americans and they keep going on about how "soccer" is exploding over there, and clearly it is!

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If you've just joined our MLS live text commentary, you missed an eventful match earlier as New York City beat New England Revolution 2-0 at Yankee Stadium.

David Villa gave City an 18th-minute lead, but Revolution missed a king-size family bucketful of chances before half-time. The visitors' hopes of getting back into the game, though, were hampered when captain Jose Goncalves was sent off for a professional foul on Khiry Shelton.

City grew in confidence, and secured victory on their MLS home debut when Villa set up former Revolution striker Patrick Mullins to tap home the second. We've got a full report up on the BBC Sport website.

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Glad to get a couple of tweets through, by the way. I know it's well past bedtime in the UK, but if any of you want to chuck in your thoughts on today's MLS action, please do.

HALF-TIME

A very solid first half from Portland Timbers, that. They dealt with the pressure LA Galaxy put on them, and broke away to score with a lovely counter-attack, finished by Fanendo Adi. Perhaps LA Galaxy left-back Robbie Rogers should be criticised for playing Adi onside, but it was a stylish finish.

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Tom Chance: Us Brits can't complain about MLS matches being dictated by TV, what with our new-fangled 14:15 and 16:05 Premier League starts.

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HALF-TIME

Anyway, the sun's come out now. LA Galaxy are pressing and probing, but Portland are holding them off. Stefan Ishizaki gets down the right and plays in a terrific low ball looking for Robbie Keane and Gyasi Zardes, but Nat Borchers makes an excellent interception. Borchers has had a very good first half.

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Daniel Fore: Been really, really impressed with the MLS crowds. Not just the size of them, but they really have an impressive atmosphere!

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TIMBER!

I should explain a little more about Timber Joey, perhaps. Joey Webber, the mascot in question, follows in a tradition that dates back to Portland's North American Socer League days in the late 1970s.

That tradition was started by Jim Serrill, who asked the owners in 1978 if he could bring a chainsaw to games. Incredibly, the owners - a timber company - said yes.

A so a ritual was born in which, after each Timbers goal, Serrill - known as Timber Jim - would saw a section off a giant "victory log" behind the goal. Serrill retired in 2008, to be replaced by Webber.

CHANCE!

A chance at the other end, as Juninho plays Robbie Keane through, but Nat Borches makes a terrific challenge to deny the LA Galaxy captain.

Getty Images

That goal has delighted Portland's mascot Timber Joey, who likes to celebrate by taking a chainsaw to a giant log.

GOAL

Now that's more like it. Portland play the ball all along the ground in a swift counter attack and go from one end to the other in seconds. It's Rodney Wallace who plays the final pass to Fanendo Adi. The former Nigeria Under-23 striker is played onside by left-back Robbie Rogers, and steers a shot past keeper Brian Rowe into the far corner.

Portland seem to have decided that their best bet is to lump the ball up towards striker Fanendo Adi and see if he can rough up the LA Galaxy defence. The referee is having none of it, though, and awards a free-kick against the 6ft 4in Nigerian.

Dan Gargan breaks forward from right-back on another LA Galaxy counter-attack, but cannot find Robbie Keane with the pass, and Portland's defence manage to clear. It's been a cagey opening quarter, but I suspect the conditions are playing a part in that.

CHANCE!

The first opportunity of note, and it goes to the champions. Robbie Rogers plays a nicely-judged pass in behind the Portland defence, and Gyasi Zardes gets in to fire into the side netting from a tight angle.

It's wet and windy at Providence Park, which probably isn't helping the players. Portland midfielder Jack Jewsbury gets the home fans on their feet, though, with a 25-yard shot that Brian Rowe holds comfortably enough.

Portland Timbers coach Caleb Porter, by the way, led the MLS side who beat Bayern Munich 2-1 in last year's All-Star Game at Providence Park.

Bayern coach Pep Guardiola was so upset by what he perceived as the MLS side's rough tactics, he refused to shake Porter's hand at full-time.

La Galaxy have shown little attacking threat so far - Robbie Keane has hardly been in the game. Rodney Wallace has had a couple of decent runs for Portland, without creating anything to seriously trouble Galaxy keeper Brian Rowe.

Getty Images

Solid start from Portland Timbers, who have a winger called Rodney Wallace. For anyone wondering, though, this chap is a Costa Rica international, and not the guy who won the league with Leeds United in 1992.

You know how train companies in the UK get fined if a certain percentage of their services run late? I'm all in favour of a similar sort of sanction being brought in for Major League Soccer games.

KICK-OFF

The good news is that we're finally under way.

LA Galaxy are captained by Robbie Keane, who retains that honour despite being fined by the league for a provocative goal celebration after he scored in last weekend's 2-0 win over Chicago Fire. Left-back Robbie Rogers had a spell at Leeds United a couple of years ago.

Perhaps the most familiar faces in the Portland Timbers line-up, at least for a UK audience, will be centre-back Liam Ridgewell - once of Birmingham, Aston Villa and West Brom, and more recently Wigan - and goalkeeper Adam Larsen Kwarasey, who played for Ghana at last summer's World Cup.

But the players are with us, we've just had a hearty rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner, and the pre-match handshake, and we're ready to go. At last.

This match was supposed to kick off at 23:00 GMT, by the way. I'm not entirely sure why it still hasn't started when it's nearly 23:15 GMT. My finger of suspicion is pointing at US television schedulers.

TEAM NEWS

Portland Timbers XI: Kwarasey; Powell, Borchers, Ridgewell, Villafana; Chara, Jewsbury; Asprilla, Nagbe, Johnson; Adi.

LA Galaxy XI: Rowe; Gargan, Gonzalez, Leonardo, Rogers; Ishizaki, Juninho, Husidic, Villarreal; Keane, Zardes.

Anyway, no time to reflect on that, as we're straight in to our second live text commentary game. It's LA Galaxy, last season's MLS Cup winners, away to Portland Timbers. Let's bring you some team news.

Major League Soccer history is made. New York City's first competitive home game ends in victory, and in the end, they deserved it.

But it was an odd game. New England had umpteen chances to score before half-time - as it is, they have lost their opening two games of the season without scoring. They will hope for improvements in their next two games, at home to Montreal Impact and San Jose Earthquakes, who both finished bottom of their respective sections last season.

FULL-TIME

CLOSE!

One last shot in anger from New England. Diego Fagundez strikes from 25 yards and the ball whizzes past keeper Josh Saunders' post. I suspect the keeper had it covered, though.

Three minutes of stoppage time. New York City pressing for a third goal.

It's hard not to feel a twinge of sympathy for New England coach Jay Heaps, whose side haven't played all that badly. But they didn't score when they were well on top in the first half, and their hopes of pulling back into the game were hit by the sending off of their captain Jose Goncalves.

New York City are looking comfortable now, but it wasn't that way for an awful long time in this game. The fact that they've got the job done, though, will please coach Jason Kreis immensely.

GOAL

Well, well, well. New England had to commit men forward in search of an equaliser, and they are caught out on the break in painful style.

David Villa gets clear down the left, and crosses low for Patrick Mullins - just introduced as a substitute - to turn in from close range. It's a sweet moment for Mullins, who used to play for New England.

Sorry. I'm not a fan of the hipster beard look. And I'm not just saying that because I can't grow one without getting terribly itchy.

It's all in the 'tache

AP

So eventful has this match been, I have barely had time to dwell on, and praise, New York City left-back Jeb Brovsky's magnificent Alice band and twirly moustache combo.

Is this the fashion statement that will replace the hipster beard, I ask myself? Because it's about bloomin' time something did.

CLOSE!

Adam Nemec pounces on more New England defensive confusion and, for a second, it looks as through he has lashed a shot in off the underside of the bar.

It is, though, an optical illusion. The Yankee Stadium has the kind of old-fashioned goal frames rarely seen in English football since the 1980s, and the ball has actually hit the side netting and cannoned back into play off the back stanchion.

CHANCE!

New England coach Jay Heaps has a real problem now. His response is to ask Charlie Davies - only just on as a replacement in attack for the luckless Juan Agudelo - to play as a lone striker.

But the visitors are struggling to stay in the game. New York City's Ned Gravaboy gets clear of centre-back Andrew Farrell for a shot that Bobby Shuttleworth beats out, and for a few seconds after that, it's panic in the New England penalty area. Somehow, they see off the danger without conceding.

CHANCE!

Another chance for Khiry Shelton comes pretty much straight away as he is played through, but the shot is tame and straight at keeper Bobby Shuttleworth.

RED CARD - Jose Goncalves

A dramatic start for Khiry Shelton, just on for New York City as a substitute. The striker races clear on to a through ball with dreams of a goal at the Yankee Stadium.

There's a tangle with New England captain Jose Goncalves, chasing back, and the referee judges it a professional foul, sending off the former Hearts defender. David Villa whizzes the resulting free-kick just over the bar.

New York City chasing a second goal here. Mix Diskerud feeds Ned Grabavoy down the left to float over a cross that David Villa meets with a neat volley. Bobby Shuttleworth should save it and does - but it looks good for the cameras.

Tierney takes the resulting free-kick himself, and the delivery is disappointing. Adam Nemec, back defending for New York, clears comfortably. New England try to build again, but the ball ends up running out for a goal kick.

New York City have got more of a grip in midfield in this second half. Chris Tierney, New England's left-back, is not getting the same opportunities to deliver the dangerous crosses he produced repeatedly in the opening 45 minutes.

Josh Williams has his own ideas for dealing with Tierney, catching the full-back with a very late challenge. It's a booking for Williams, who has no complaints.

CLOSE!

New York City looking much sharper now. Ned Grabavoy plays a neat pass to feed in Sebastian Velasquez down the left, and the Colombian's cross is deflected just over the bar.

The visitors don't deal with the corner, and New York left-back Jeb Brovsky's 25-yard drive is just outside the post.

CHANCE!

David Villa again has a clear sight of goal. Adam Nemec is given far too much space to play in the former Spain striker, who eludes New England captain Jose Goncalves easily, but fires against keeper Bobby Shuttleworth's legs. New York City starting the second half as brightly as they started the first. Can they sustain it this time?

CHANCE!

Maybe Jason Kreis's half-time team talk has worked some magic for New York City. Adam Nemec plays a smart diagonal ball in to David Villa, whose touch is a little heavy, allowing New England keeper Bobby Shuttleworth to advance and block with his legs.

New England forward Kelyn Rowe is left on the deck by a crunching - but fair - challenge by New York City midfielder Mix Diskerud. No harm done, though, and Rowe is soon back on his feet.

KICK-OFF

And away we go.

The players are back with us at the Yankee Stadium. New England are getting themselves into a group huddle before the second half gets under way. I thought teams only did that before kick-off?

Three other MLS games have taken place on Sunday (UK time): Former Wigan Athletic wing-back Roger Espinoza scored for Sporting Kansas City but couldn't prevent a 3-1 defeat away to FC Dallas - the only team so far to have won their opening two matches.

Alvaro Saborio - who had a brief spell at Bristol City five years ago - scored a late penalty to give Real Salt Lake a 3-3 draw at home to Philadelphia Union.

Clint Dempsey scored in the first minute for Seattle Sounders, but finished up on the end of a home defeat as San Jose Earthquakes came back to win 3-2. Chris Wondolowski scored twice for the Earthquakes, who saw out the victory despite losing captain Victor Bernandez to a red card.

While we wait for the second half at the Yankee Stadium to get under way, let's catch up with the weekend's other MLS results.

Newcomers Orlando City earned an historic first MLS win on Friday with a 1-0 victory away to Owen Coyle's Houston Dynamo, courtesy of a Tyler Deric own goal.

On Saturday, Vancouver Whitecaps - one of three Canadian teams in the competition - won 1-0 at Chicago Fire, while Colombus Crew beat Toronto FC 2-0.

HALF-TIME

New England Revolution were beaten in the MLS Cup final by LA Galaxy last season, but they've had a bit of a false start this time around.

Jay Heaps' side are still waiting for their first goal of the new season, having lost 3-0 at Seattle Sounders in their opening game.

HALF-TIME

The end of the first half. New York City coach Jason Kreis will, I suspect, be glad of the chance of a team talk to try to sort his side out.

David Villa's well-taken goal gave the home side the lead in the 19th minute, but New England have had so many chances to equalise, it's untrue.

I do not know how New England Revolution have not scored in this game.

CLOSE!

To quote Ray Wilkins: My word. Two chances in quick succession for New England. First Juan Agudelo dives in for a header six yards out, and keeper Josh Saunders somehow keeps it out.

Then Agudelo plays a lovely through ball to Kelyn Rowe, who chips over the advancing Saunders... but the shot goes wide.

CLOSE!

New York City are being over-run in midfield at the moment. Sooner or later, there are going to pay for that.

Chris Tierney, for what seems the millionth time in the half, gets space down the left to deliver a cross for New England, and rolls it in low to Juan Agudelo. The striker, 10 yards out, attempts a back flick into the far corner, but just misses the far post. They've done everything but score in this half, the visitors.

Sine, cosine, tangent

It's very windy in New York. Using the trigonometry skills I acquired while getting my maths A-level (long since forgotten), I would suggest that the corner flags are leaning at an angle of around five degrees.

CLOSE!

How has that not gone in? New England's Kelyn Rowe plays a corner into the near post, Chris Tierney gets a flick on it, and the ball somehow eludes Lee Nguyen, who would have had a tap-in from about five yards had he connected. There are more goals in this one. New York City's lead right now is a precarious one indeed.

CHANCE!

Ooh, and Chris Tierney probably should have equalised there. New York City right-back Josh Williams gets caught dawdling in possession the edge of his own penalty area, and Tierney is in. But he can't get away a clean shot as he is closed down, and the ball rolls harmlessly wide of the near post.

Maybe that goal will settle the New York City nerves. They had been starting to threaten just before David Villa scored, although New England are responding with a good spell of possession.

I've been very impressed so far with New England left-back Chris Tierney. Every time he gets into space down the wing, he delivers a terrific cross. I'd say he's done it four times in the game's opening quarter. If New York don't figure out how to stop him, they're going to have problems.

GOAL

Told you.

A moment of history: New York City's first goal at the Yankee Stadium, and it's beautifully worked. David Villa plays a one-two with midfielder Ned Grabavoy and bursts into the penalty area to slot past Bobby Shuttleworth into the corner.

CLOSE!

I'm going to make a prediction: This match won't end 0-0. New York striker David Villa collects Sebastian Velasquez's pass and gets in down the right past defender Andrew Farrell to roll a cross-shot that Bobby Shuttleworth gets down to push aside. Not really enough power in the shot from Villa, but a good save nonetheless. Entertaining game, this.

CHANCE!

New York certainly playing with plenty of enthusiasm in the opening minutes. If anything they're trying a little too hard to make an impression. They look a bit edgy, and New England are starting to get on top.

Chris Tierney whips in another dangerous cross - this time from the right - and New York keeper Josh Saunders comes haring out to punch. He doesn't really connect that cleanly, and the ball flies up towards Jose Goncalves, who cannot direct his volley, and the ball floats over.

Not only are the chances coming thick and fast in this game, the tackles are flying in too. New England's Juan Agudelo goes in with what one might politely term "a centre-forward's challenge" on New York left-back Jeb Brovsky, and has a yellow card waved in his face as a result.

CHANCE!

New England are looking dangerous themselves, though. Left-back Chris Tierney delivers a delicious outswinging cross, and Kelyn Rowe volleys over at the far post. A tight angle for Rowe, but he should have got the shot on target.

GREAT SAVE!

Speaking of Bobby Shuttleworth, he's just made a terrific save to deny New York City an opener. David Villa plays Solvakia international Adam Nemec into space, and the New England keeper makes a fine block with his legs.

Mix Diskerud is looking useful for New York City in the early stages. A through ball is just too far ahead of David Villa, and New England keeper Bobby Shuttleworth is off his line to gather.

Can I tell you my favourite fact about Bobby Shuttleworth? He used to play for a team called Kalamazoo Outrage.

KICK OFF

But a mere 11 minutes after the scheduled kick-off time, New York City's first home match is under way. And as renowned comedian Smug Roberts would sing: "Oooh, they've got a corner." Nothing comes of it, though.

Getty Images

No sign of Mr Lampard tonight. He'll arrive in New York once his business at Manchester City is finished.

Star-spangled banner

Before we kick-off, though, we have the US national anthem. Sing along if you know the words.

What time do you kick-off?

You may have noticed that the heading at the top of this post promises a 21:00 GMT kick-off, while the time stamp reads 21:04. MLS matches, as I found out last weekend, don't always kick-off when they supposed to. But the teams are just walking out on to the pitch. So we'll be under way in a few minutes. I hope.

Others to watch for

David Villa didn't score against Orlando last weekend, though. That honour went to Norway-born midfielder Mix Diskerud, who had a couple of seasons with Rosenborg before moving to the US.

New England's midfield tonight includes Andrew Dorman, a Wales international who has played for St Mirren and Crystal Palace, while they are captained by Portuguese defender Jose Goncalves, who had a couple of injury-hit seasons in Scotland with Hearts just under a decade ago.

Villa the danger man

Getty Images

But Mike, I hear you cry. Which players should we be keeping an eye out for tonight?

Well, as the risk of being Captain Obvious, I have to start by pointing you in the direction of New York City striker David Villa, one of the highest-profile MLS signings for 2015.

Villa, who retired from international football after playing for Spain at last summer's World Cup, has arrived in the United States after helping Atletico Madrid win La Liga last season, with a short spell in Australia with Melbourne City bridging the gap.

TEAM NEWS

Here are how the two teams line up.

New York City XI: Saunders; Williams, Hernandez, Wingert, Brovsky; Velasquez, Diskerud, Jacobsen, Grabavoy; Villa, Nemec.

New England Revolution XI: Shuttleworth; Alston, Farrell, Goncalves, Tierney; Kobayashi, Dorman; Rowe, Nguyen, Fagundez; Agueldo.

Firstly, though, the focus is on New York City, one of two newcomers to MLS this season. Coached by former United States international midfielder Jason Kreis, they have been formed as a partnership between Manchester City and the New York Yankees.

Kreis' side began MLS life with a 1-1 draw away to fellow newcomers Orlando City last weekend in front of a phenomenal crowd of 62,500. New York City would have started with a win, but were denied by a last-minute equaliser from, of all people, Kaka. Yes, the Kaka who Manchester City tried to sign in 2009.

You can fill in your own jokes about "bottling it".

Anyway, Keane said that his celebration was motivated by "passion", and that he did not intend to offend LA Galaxy's fans.

Galaxy coach Bruce Arena, for his part, has brushed aside the controversy by saying that Keane will remain as captain for tonight's match away to Portland Timbers. That kicks off at 23:00 GMT.

AP

When the season did get under way, there was a fair bit of drama on opening weekend - a fair bit of it surrounding Robbie Keane.

LA Galaxy's captain - once of Liverpool and Tottenham, among others - scored the decisive goal in a 2-0 win over Chicago Fire, then received a fine over a provocative goal celebration.

I won't go into the details of what he did and said. It's not the sort of thing I should be repeating on Mother's Day.

Welcome to our dedicated live text commentary on Sunday's Major League Soccer action. It's been an eventful start to the season - not least because the season almost didn't start at all.

A new collective bargaining contract was only agreed days before the season kicked off last weekend, so avoiding the threat of a players' strike.

Getty Images

The Yankee Stadium lies in the heart of New York's Bronx district. Traditionally, its focus is baseball - as the home of the New York Yankees. Tonight, it hosts its first Major League Soccer game, as newcomers New York City FC - David Villa and all - host New England Revolution.