MLS season opener: Montreal Impact earn surprising win at Seattle Sounders

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Seattle • Davy Arnaud caught Seattle goalkeeper Michael Gspurning off his line and scored in the 35th minute, and the Montreal Impact opened the 2013 MLS season with a surprising 1-0 win over the Sounders on Saturday night.

Arnaud and midfielder Felipe connected on a quick counter attack late in the first half after Seattle controlled much of the play. Montreal then withstood the Sounders push for an equalizing goal in the second half to hand Seattle its second loss in a home opener in the five seasons of the franchise.

Arnaud, who scored the first goal in Montreal's history a season ago, got behind Seattle's defense and collected the perfectly measured pass from Felipe.

Arnaud then chipped the shot with the outside of his right foot over Gspurning, who had wandered too far away from the goal.

FC Dallas 1, Colorado 0 • Jackson scored in the 11th minute and FC Dallas held on to beat the Rapids in the teams' season opener in Frisco, Texas.

Colorado, which went 3-13-1 on the road last season en route to missing the playoffs, just two years after defeating Dallas in the 2010 MLS Cup Final, started five newcomers — including four who were making their MLS debuts.

Dallas, also looking to return to the postseason after finishing sixth in the Western Conference last year, improved its all-time home record against the Rapids to 20-6-4. —

Standings

EASTERN CONFERENCE

W L T Pts GF GA

Columbus 1 0 0 3 3 0

Sporting K.C. 1 0 0 3 3 1

Houston 1 0 0 3 2 0

Montreal 1 0 0 3 1 0

Chicago 0 0 0 0 0 0

New England 0 0 0 0 0 0

New York 0 0 0 0 0 0

Toronto FC 0 1 0 0 0 1

Philadelphia 0 1 0 0 1 3

D.C. 0 1 0 0 0 2

WESTERN CONFERENCE

W L T Pts GF GA

Vancouver 1 0 0 3 1 0

FC Dallas 1 0 0 3 1 0

Los Angeles 0 0 0 0 0 0

Portland 0 0 0 0 0 0

Real Salt Lake 0 0 0 0 0 0

San Jose 0 0 0 0 0 0

Colorado 0 1 0 0 0 1

Seattle 0 1 0 0 0 1

Chivas USA 0 1 0 0 0 3

Saturday's Games

Sporting Kansas City 3, Philadelphia 1

Vancouver 1, Toronto FC 0

Houston 2, D.C. United 0

FC Dallas 1, Colorado 0

Columbus 3, Chivas USA 0

Montreal 1, Seattle FC 0

Sunday's Games

Chicago at Los Angeles, 3 p.m.

New York at Portland, 5:30 p.m.

Real Salt Lake at San Jose, 8 p.m.