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Kansas City, Kan. • Gerso Fernandes scored three second-half goals in 13 minutes, Tim Melia had his seventh shutout and Sporting Kansas City beat the Seattle Sounders 3-0 on Wednesday night for sole possession of first place in the Western Conference.

Kansas City is undefeated in 15 straight home games. Seattle lost its third straight.

Fernandes is the first Sporting KC player with a hat trick since Birahim Diop in 2010. In the 56th minute, Fernandes had a deflected corner kick fall to his feet and he slotted it inside the near post.

Two minutes later, Fernandes one-touched a shot off the post and he put it home after blocking a clearance attempt. In the 69th, Graham Zusi found space along the edge of the 18-yard box and found an open Fernandes at the penalty spot.

Fire 3, Rapids 0 • In Bridgeview, Ill., Nemanja Nikolic scored two goals, Michael de Leeuw had two assists and Chicago beat Colorado for its fourth straight home victory.

Nikolic had his ninth and 10th goals of the season to break a tie with Houston's Eric Torres for the MLS lead. The Fire are unbeaten in their last nine at home and hold a 21-8 scoring advantage during that span.

Union 2, Dynamo 0 • In Chester, Pa., Fabrice-Jean Picault and Ilsinho scored, Chris Pontius had two assists and Philadelphia beat Houston for its third straight win.

Philadelphia is unbeaten in five straight, with four straight shutouts by goalkeeper Andre Blake. Houston dropped to 0-4 on the road with just two goals, both coming in its first match against Portland. —

MLS standings

EASTERN CONFERENCE

W L T Pts GF GA

Toronto FC 7 1 4 25 20 11

Columbus 6 5 1 19 19 17

Orlando City 6 3 1 19 13 13

Chicago 5 3 3 18 20 15

NYCFC 5 4 2 17 19 13

New York 5 6 1 16 12 18

Philadelphia 3 4 4 13 17 14

New England 3 4 4 13 18 16

Atlanta United 3 4 3 12 20 15

D.C. United 3 5 2 11 9 18

Montreal 2 4 4 10 14 17

WESTERN CONFERENCE

W L T Pts GF GA

Sporting K.C. 6 2 4 22 16 7

FC Dallas 5 0 4 19 14 6

Houston 6 4 1 19 21 16

Portland 5 3 3 18 21 16

San Jose 4 4 3 15 12 13

Vancouver 4 5 1 13 13 16

Los Angeles 3 5 2 11 13 16

Minnesota 3 6 2 11 17 28

Real Salt Lake 3 7 2 11 11 23

Seattle 2 5 4 10 15 19

Colorado 2 7 1 7 8 15

Wednesday

Philadelphia 2, Houston 0

Chicago 3, Colorado 0

Sporting Kansas City 3, Seattle 0

Real Salt Lake 2, New York City FC 1

Orlando City at San Jose, late

Friday

Toronto FC at New York, 5:30 p.m.

Saturday

Portland at Montreal, 1 p.m.

Chicago at D.C. United, 2 p.m.

Real Salt Lake at Seattle, 3 p.m.

Colorado at Philadelphia, 5 p.m.

Houston at Atlanta United FC, 5 p.m.

Sporting Kansas City at Vancouver, 5 p.m.

San Jose at FC Dallas, 6 p.m.

Sunday

Columbus at New England, 12:30 p.m.

Los Angeles at Minnesota United, 3 p.m.

New York City FC at Orlando City, 5 p.m.