Tesho Akindele
Akindele made his seventh-straight start for Dallas in their 2-1 win over Philadelphia on Friday – it was his eighth start and eleventh appearance of the season.
Paired up top with Panamanian striker Blas Perez, Akindele was a force from the off, testing Union keeper, Zac MacMath with a low right-footed after streaking down the right within five minutes of kickoff. Two minutes later he strafed a right-footer from above the arc over the top right-corner of the goal.
Having honed his accuracy, Akindele made no mistake in the 26th minute when Perez chipped a ball over the back-line,
Displaying both sides of his forward game, Akindele probed the back-line with tireless runs, while exhibiting his strength with his back to goal, combining well after some good hold-up play. He got his signals crossed on one play, not reading Perez’ intention to knock down a cross for him, continuing his run rather than pausing, but that sort of thing happens all the time – their understanding will grow with matches; perhaps Perez will even pass on some knowledge of CONCACAF chicanery.
But they got it right, more-or-less, on the game-winning own goal, Akindele cutting in from the right and playing into the feet of Perez, who laid a return ball into the box – Philadelphia defender Fabinho would cut it out, but the intent was there.
And that it bounced into the Union goal off the knee of Sheanon Williams was a bonus.
Post-match the Calgary, Alberta-native commented on scoring, "It felt great. As a striker you’ve got to believe in yourself. If you don’t believe in yourself, you’re not going to score. I had confidence in myself and it paid off" before noting the added thrill of finally getting on the score-sheet at home, in front of a rambunctious Independence Day crowd to boot, "It’s fantastic. I had a goal and assist away, so finally a home crowd you get to celebrate with some noise. When you’re away, nobody’s cheering for you so it’s a lot better to score here."
His manager, Oscar Pareja, commended him on the turnaround from a disappointing, miss-filled match in Columbus, "Sometimes we don't notice how a rookie can come back from a performance like he had at Columbus. He knows that those [chances] are normally back of the net. He didn't lose confidence. Today he looked in my eyes and said 'I'll get those goals back.' That shows character and we trust him and he's showing us that we were not wrong."
Will Johnson
Johnson continued his ever-presence for Portland in their 2-2 draw at Los Angeles on Friday, having started each of the eighteen league matches the Timbers have played this season.
On the road, Johnson tends to sit deeper than at home, a trend particularly important against the Galaxy with Robbie Keane dropping off the front line and Landon Donovan darting in from the flanks – each into the exact area of the pitch that the Timbers captain patrols.
His defensive contributions were numerous – racking up seven recoveries, four clearances (all from within his own box), three interceptions, and winning a triumvirate of tackles; most entertaining of the bunch was holding off Dan Gargan and eluding his pressure to hit a crucial relief ball early in the match.
His first real offense contribution came as the tight match began to open on the hour mark, driving a fierce free-kick from some 25 yards – his effort was straight at Jaime Penedo, who parried, but could not hold the effort, spilling a dangerous rebound before smothering.
LA took the lead shortly thereafter and Portland responded, before taking the lead in the 70th minute on a play started by a lovely bit of vision from Johnson, making eye contact with left-back, Jorge Villafana then placing a gorgeous, threaded ball into his path.
The cross would be cut out, falling to Diego Valeri, before Villafana pounced on the rebound to notch their second of the night.
The Toronto-born midfielder committed a pair of fouls – most notably, piggybacking Marcelo Sarvas on one occasion, though he escaped a booking.
He commented on the match afterwards, “It’s a good performance by us; one point at the end of the day I think is probably a fair result. Obviously we’re disappointed that we didn’t close out the game. But the point keeps us in the race, and it doesn’t allow the Galaxy to get three points out of us so it’s more important on that front for me. We wanted to do in the second half what we did in the first half. We thought we kept a good shape, we attacked and we created chances. We limited them to just a couple of chances where they hit the post in the first half so coming out of half time we wanted to do the same thing.
“We knew they were going to push numbers and get a little more aggressive seeing how they’re home and had a big crowd and obviously they wanted to win the game. We knew that we were going to get chances on the counter, so we just wanted to be patient, keep a good shape, stay organized, work hard, make sure to limit their chances, and then when we got a chance we hit them on the break and we were fortunate to do that twice. But like I said, I think it’s probably a fair result.”
Patrice Bernier
Bernier made his fifth-straight start for Montreal in their 1-0 loss at Chivas on Saturday night – it was his tenth start and fifteenth appearance of the season.
Bernier was again central to Montreal’s game, dropping deep to pick up the ball from the centre-backs and building attacks from the base of midfield.
He barely made his way into the final third – only three of his many passes came in that section of the pitch.
One pass was intercepted by Eric Avila, leading to a potentially dangerous Chivas break that came to naught, another long ball forward picked out Justin Mapp, but his cross to the back-post was headed away.
A sign of Montreal’s inability to connect ball in the 36th minute, when Bernier lifted a ball behind the Chivas back-line only for neither of his strikers to make the run, the ball trickling harmlessly to Dan Kennedy. It was a disjointed performance to be sure.
The Brossard, Quebec-native exited the match in the 80th minute, replaced by Callum Mallace.
Karl Ouimette
Ouimette returned to Montreal’s starting eleven after a one-match absence, taking up the left-back position for his ninth appearance of the season, all bar one from the start.
Faced with one of the trickier customers in MLS, in the form of Marvin Chavez, Ouimette did well to contain the Honduran’s threat. Despite Chivas focusing their attack on his flank and having to deal with both Chavez and Mauro Rosales, the Terrebonne, Quebec-native was only really exposed on one occasion, when Chavez twisted him up at the corner of the area and whisked a low shot inches wide of the far-post.
He would block one cross with his face and pick up a yellow card in the 70th minute for pulling down Rosales – it was his third booking of the season.
Ouimette would make way for Maxim Tissot in the 80th minute after putting in a shift against two testing opponents, unfortunate for him, his side could not keep the sheet clean.
Jonathan Osorio
Osorio was the only Canadian to feature in either of Toronto’s two matches this round, making his ninth start in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw at Chicago and joining from the bench in Saturday’s 1-2 loss to DC – the two appearances bring his injury-affected season total to ten, all but one from the start.
Before TFC were reduced to ten men, Osorio was very lively against the Fire, nearly forcing his way past Bakary Soumare on one play and drawing a foul out of Jeff Larentowicz, who hacked him down rather than get turned.
After Luke Moore saw his red, Osorio was forced to sit deeper, looking for long passes rather than playing short and bursting forward. The Toronto, Ontario-native was done by Quincy Amarikwa on one run – he was
Osorio was one of many who took great umbrage at the dismissal of Moore, arguing with the official throughout the remainder of the match – he would be on the receiving end of a stern talking too after kicking the ball away in disgust – he would be replaced by Bradley Orr in the 87th minute.
His weekend match began on the bench, before replacing Michael Bradley in the 61st minute, after TFC had tied up the match at ones. They would fall behind shortly and Osorio was tasked with dropping deep to spur attacks in search of the equalizer.
Moments after his introduction he took a heavy clattering from Eddie Johnson, earning a foul
His best pass of the final twenty minutes came in the 81st, when he lifted a ball over the DC back-line, picking out the run of Justin Morrow down the left, but his effort was blocked by the retreating Conor Doyle.
Rob Friend
Friend made his third-straight appearance from the bench in LA’s draw against Portland – it was his tenth appearance of the season and sixth from the bench.
With the Galaxy down a goal, the Rosetown, Saskatchewan-native was brought on, replacing AJ DeLaGarza in the 82nd minute, to provide a physical presence and sizeable target up front for his side.
He immediately caused a nuisance for the Portland defenders, battling for space with the fragile back-line. It was concern over his threat that could see said to have backed off the Portland defenders, thus creating the space for Baggio Husidic to hit the equalizing ball into the middle, leveling the match in the 86th minute.
Maxim Tissot
Tissot was on the bench for Montreal’s match in LA against Chivas USA, entering the fray in the 80th minute to replace fellow Canadian, Karl Ouimette at left-back – it was the defender’s fourth-straight appearance and eighth of season, half of which have come as a substitute.
The Gatineau, Quebec-native was one of the defenders
Russell Teibert
Teibert entered Vancouver’s 1-0 win over Seattle on Saturday in the 86th minute, replacing goal-scorer Sebastian Fernandez, his fifth-straight appearance for the Whitecaps, to close out the match – it was his fifth appearance from the bench and fourteenth of the season.
Shoring up the left-side of the pitch, the Niagara Falls, Ontario-native still managed to get forward on one occasion with a strong run from a throw-in, hitting a cross into the middle, but nobody was on hand to receive.
The Rest
Doneil Henry, Kyle Bekker and Dwayne De Rosario were unused subs in both Toronto’s matches, while Ashtone Morgan was on the bench in Chicago on Wednesday, but absent back home against DC come Saturday.
Kofi Opare, Nana Attakora, and Wandrille Lefevre were on the bench for their sides, LA, DC, and Montreal, respectively.
In a retelling of a story Canadian fans have heard far too often, Vancouver's Marco Bustos has accepted a call-up to the Chilean U20 side. He will not be capped-tied and if it’s for experience, then so be it – but, one may feel compelled to hold their breath; Canada needs all the talent it has.
All video and quotes courtesy of MLSsoccer.com
Each week James takes a look at the contributions of Canadians in the league and the league as a whole.
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