Canadian Content Round 11 – How did our Canadians do in MLS this week? - 24th Minute

As an extension to Canadian Soccer News’ MLS Week in Review, further details regarding the performances of the Canadian players who saw the pitch in MLS this week.

Russell Teibert, Maxim Tissot, and a combined third to Doneil Henry and Nana Attakora claim the top three spots, with Dwayne De Rosario and Will Johnson earning special mention for their goals this round.

It was busy week in MLS, midweek matches and a full slate of weekend fixtures, meant many players – Canadians included – had double duty this round.

Find out what they did to deserve recognition, as well as who else earned their keep this weekend.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

Russell Teibert

Russell Teibert’s Vancouver ended a long winless run with a 3-1 victory over Los Angeles on Saturday – their first over one of the premier clubs in MLS.

It was in large part thanks to Teibert’s thirteen-minute brace that the Whitecaps took the match after the first hour had passed largely without incident.

In the 63rd minute, Nigel Reo-Coker charged up-field and dished out to his buddy, Teibert, on the right.

Teibert cut in-field on rookie full-back Greg Cochrane – a player with whom he battled all night, retreating slightly towards the top of the box and unleashed a left-footed strike before Marcelo Sarvas’ pressure could dissuade him – or block the shot.

His dipping drive found its way through the crowd and past LA keeper, Carlo Cudicini, nestling into the far-netting for his first professional goal. His face, as he celebrated, was the definition of incredulous joy, running to the bench to celebrate with Carl Robinson, apparently.

Then in the 76th, brimming with confidence, he struck again.

Receiving the ball from a short Y.P. Lee layoff, Teibert moved in-field – again from the right – and played a nice straight ball down the side of the box for the curling run of Gershon Koffie approaching the end-line, dragging the LA centre-backs deep. Spotting the opening space – and not tracked by the other LA defenders - Teibert surged into the box to receive a lay-off from Koffie to one-time a similar left-footed strike to nearly the same spot, past Cudicini for his second.

Thus began the shirts-off party, for which he was booked.

Of course, it nearly wasn’t meant to be, as the Niagara Falls-native began the match on the bench and was only introduced when Daigo Kobayashi left the match after fourteen minutes.

His raw numbers from the night do not do justice to his import on the match – four recoveries, one each of clearances and interceptions, while completing sixteen of 24 passes – aside from the two goals from two shots on target, with a further attempt blocked.

Some have heralded this as his breakout performance – that, of course, remains to be seen – but after a total of 520 league minutes through his first two seasons with the club (2011 and 2012) his potential has only begun to show in the past month and a half, featuring in all but one of Vancouver’s last six league matches, starting four.

Being Mother’s Day weekend,

and his post-match interview, having been named Man of the Match – both in situ and at Big Site (MLSsoccer.com), is definitely worth a watch.

Maxim Tissot

Maxim Tissot’s start for Montreal on Saturday – his first, in their 3-2 win over Salt Lake, was not as flashy as Teibert’s – as a left-back, it was never likely to be – but having played a mere two minutes in the league thus far and been on the bench in New York, he showed himself well after announcing his presences in both legs of Montreal’s Voyageurs Cup series against Toronto.

He was strong in defense – outmuscling Sebastien Velasquez, forcing a turnover and quickly transitioning up-field with a hopeful long ball that was collected by Felipe who lifted it over the back-line to Marco Di Vaio in the box.

And adventurous getting forward – without over-committing – making a nice overlapping run to cross for Felipe in the middle, but the Brazilian touched his finish wide.

Though he did at times struggle with the fluid attack of Salt Lake – facing the tough decision of whether to allow Javier Morales space to shoot on goal or force the veteran to pass over to rookie Devon Sandoval wide open on the right. He chose wisely, stepping to the more-dangerous Morales, forcing the pass, which Sandoval chunked off-target, negating the chance.

He was partially at fault for Salt Lake’s go-ahead goal,

– Garcia flicked the service on to the back-post where it was eventually turned in by Kyle Beckerman.

But undaunted, soon found redemption, when, three minutes on, he helped create Di Vaio’s equalizer.

Tissot started the play with a throw-in from the left-flank; he received a return touch from Blake Smith and continued his run in-field towards goal. Confronted with space, he continued to approach the box before laying a ball into the feet of the well-positioned Andrew Wenger.

Wenger held off a challenge and touched the pass into the path of Di Vaio, who finished confidently tying the match at two.

The Gatineau-native would complete 31 of his 42 passes on the day, adding six recoveries, four clearances, and two interceptions, while conceding one foul – on Garcia – for which he was booked.

Doneil Henry

Doneil Henry, sporting a bandage for much of the match after a clash of heads with Attakora, put in a brave performance for his struggling Toronto FC, who once again capitulated late, falling 2-1 at San Jose to the Earthquakes.

Making his first league start of the season – and only second appearance – the Brampton-native showed just how dominant he can be in the air, battling with rookie forward Adam Jahn all night at one end of the pitch and with Attakora at the other.

He got the better of Nana on the Toronto goal, winning a flicked-header on a Darren O’Dea lofted free-kick, sending it on to Justin Braun who finished to open the scoring, picking up his second career assist.

Recalling his glorious strike in the Voyageurs Cup against Montreal, he later had one of his two shots blocked by Attakora, from the scramble that ensued after another O’Dea free-kick.

Completing 17 of 22 passes on the night and adding a whopping fifteen clearances, seven interceptions, and three recoveries, he also blocked two shots – including an important last-ditch challenge on Chris Wondolowski in the box.

His five corners conceded is indicative of how panicked TFC were at times.

Doneil made an intelligent, strategic handball to hold up a counter – Matias Laba was oddly booked for that one – and was later shown a yellow for delaying a Jahn throw-in, basketball-style, which led to a minor scuffle.

Nana Attakora

Nana Attakora was on the opposite side of the pitch that evening, but was equally as impressive in the air – winning seven headers and two headed-shots, though both were off-target.

His passing wasn’t great – completing 27 of 42 – often struggling when attempting to switch the play with longer, raking, cross-field balls, as San Jose tends to do.

But it was his clipped service into the box that led to the Joe Bendik-O’Dea collision that saw both require treatment after laying prone on the pitch.

The North York-native made six recoveries, four clearances, and three interceptions; won three tackles, conceding one foul and winning another.

The aforementioned clash of heads between Attakora and Henry forced Nana to miss San Jose 4-0 drubbing in Seattle on Saturday, as he was held out with concussion-like symptoms – perhaps part of the reason why the Quakes were so dominated by the Sounders, with Nana’s run of five-straight starts interrupting his partnership with Victor Bernardez.

As will be discussed, many other Canadian players put in performances that warranted this third spot, but there was something about seeing both Attakora – playing left-sided centre-back - and Henry – right-sided - on the pitch at the same time that warmed the heart of the Canadian soccer fan.

In time, with the rawness of youth polished, this could be a future centre-back pairing for the national team – or at least, important members of the pool. One hopes they exchanged jerseys after the match as a token of good will after a hearty battle.

Nobody will win an aerial challenge against this duo and goals will be scored for Canada from set-pieces – a valuable weapon in the wiles of CONCACAF. With Dejan Jakovic, perhaps a slightly more cultured – and experienced - defender in the fold as well, this trio will provide a solid foundation for the rest of the team.

Will Johnson

Will Johnson completed his tenth and eleventh matches – having played every minute - for Portland with the Timbers taking points from a midweek road match in Dallas (1-1) and winning their Sunday affair at home against Chivas (3-0).

The Toronto-born Johnson scored his fourth goal in the final moments against Chivas, setting a new career-high – after collecting a short corner kick on the left, he found the space to walk in across the top of the box and hammer a right-footed curler low to the far-bottom-corner past Patrick McLain in goal.

Goal-scoring aside, Will has looked a little less-explosive these past few weeks; no real surprise given a more defensive outlook to his role in the team.

His passing is as tidy as ever – 42 of 48 in Dallas and 31 of 39 against Chivas – though he played a few poor ones – he was bailed out by a Diego Chara after committing a turnover in midfield with a poor ball – and missed the occasional tackle – a sliding effort on Michel led to a good chance for Dallas with Blas Perez’s header striking the post.

In Dallas he had his hands full tracking the movement up-field of David Ferreira and those back into the midfield of Perez, as well as tangling with Eric Hassli and Kenny Cooper on occasion; Chivas – and their confusing midfield muddle of a formation – was a whole different challenge.

He failed to track the run of Je-Vaughan Watson from midfield, on the play that eventually led to the Dallas penalty kick, but more often than not Will is clogging up the middle, identifying danger, and trekking out to double up on attackers and snuff out trouble.

Nothing of particular note in his stats – won three tackles, lost one; six recoveries, five clearance, five interceptions, winning three fouls and conceding an equal number in Dallas, while winning two tackles, conceding one foul, while making four recoveries, one clearance, and one block against Chivas – other than a further indication of his defensive-minded midfield roaming, overseeing the match rather than really getting stuck in.

Dwayne De Rosario

Dwayne De Rosario, making his four and fifth straight starts for DC, finally grabbed his first goal of the season against Dallas on Saturday, on a free kick from the left of the arc.

The dead-ball was touched slightly inward by Kyle Porter then stopped by Nick DeLeon before De Rosario smashed it low past the wall into the far-bottom corner of the goal with his right-foot.

It was the 101st goal of his MLS career, ending the long wait for another after reaching his century in August of last season.

Playing his usual in-between role as a second striker/attacking midfield, the Scarborough-native started to come to life this round after a slow build to match sharpness.

Against Houston midweek – when his side fell at home 0-4 – Dwayne let loose a left-footer from some twenty yards that took a slight deflection, causing Tally Hall some trouble after making space for the shot with a nice move to the inside.

He also played a clever ball over the top for striker-partner Rafael, but the chance came to nothing, and later threaded another ball down the left for the Brazilian, though Corey Ashe was out quickly to cut it out.

He completed 43 of 54 passes, had three shots blocked and two off-target – including a free-kick he sent over the bar; made six recoveries, one clearance and one interception, winning two fouls and conceding possession only thirteen times – which is pretty good for him.

On the weekend in Dallas, he was slightly more withdrawn, behind Casey Townsend.

Prior to scoring, he was involved in a nice short free-kick routine on the left that made space for a shot – it deflected off Perez, but Chris Seitz was alert to retreat to the short-side and save the attempt.

He made a nice surging run and threaded a ball to Marcos Sanchez that led to another deflected shot – continuing the theme of becoming more and more lively as the season progresses.

He was constantly barking at the referee and was later booked for a tangle with Jair Benitez – earning a Yellowtail yellow card – his first caution of the season.

Completing 27 of 40 passes, De Rosario had two shot on target, won four fouls, had four of seven dribbles successful, and committed an offside – the winning of fouls, dribbling, and being offside are more akin to what one expects from an in-form De Ro, and he is slowly getting there with a struggling team.

As one of the leaders at DC, their struggles have troubled him.

Adding this after another defeat, “I’m always going to play to win. I don’t care if we’re 0-25. I’m playing to win. It’s tough. It’s a tough one to swallow, especially when you come out here and you fight back in it.

You give up a goal and we could have easily put our heads down, especially from recent results. But, we bounced back. The way we played… We were unlucky to hit the post, but we showed some resilience and that’s a plus going forward. We have two big games at home so it’s a must, must, must win.”

Kyle Porter

Kyle Porter also made his fourth and fifth consecutive starts for United in round eleven.

He had a nice early battle with Houston’s Andrew Driver that earned him praise from the commentators – Driver was later booked for grabbing a hold of Porter’s leg, comically holding it aloft to prevent him from heading towards goal.

The Toronto-native continued to man corner kicks, picking out Rafael with a right-sided out-swinger that the striker could not keep down and on target.

He earned a dangerous free-kick at the edge of the box – that may have been a penalty – when Brian Ching leaned in causing him to whiff on a shot.

And it was his left-sided in-swinging corner that was met by De Rosario at the back-post for DC’s best chance of the game. Dwayne placed his header down and back against the grain only to see Kofi Sarkodie block it on the line once and then again on the follow up at the other post on the rebound.

Porter completed twenty of 34 passes against Houston, winning two fouls, three tackles and contributing one each of clearances, recoveries, and interceptions.

Against Dallas, he sprung Townsend with a nice ball behind the back-line – the striker could only hit the post – and was soundly dispossessed – one of twenty – by Michel leading to a Jackson blast just wide; completing 21 of 35 passes – two key; winning five tackles and adding eight recoveries, two clearances, and an interception on the night.

Dejan Jakovic

Dejan Jakovic’s week did not begin well.

His side was rocked early and often by Houston – Jakovic himself was made to

, when he tried to step to Will Bruin, only to be shirked easily, it was

that Bill Hamid turned over to Bruin for Houston’s second, and he was the man marking – to use the term loosely - Bruin

Though he was helpless - caught in two minds, whether to play the shot or the pass - to have any impact on

with numbers bearing down on him in the box after centre-back partner Brandon McDonald had committed early with a failed diving challenge.

It was a bad night for DC, but Jakovic still completed 24 of 30 passes, making eight clearances, six recoveries, five interceptions and one block.

Against Dallas it was equally tough, though the result was slightly better.

As with Will Johnson, the rotational nature of the Dallas attack, the way they stretch in the middle and use pace out wide, was troublesome and his duel with Panamanian Perez was of particular interest to CONCACAF watchers.

He was

on the play that led to Dallas’ opening goal.

He committed a dangerous giveaway when a clearance bounced off Jackson straight to Perez, Jakovic scrambled back, but Perez played back out to Jackson whose low shot strafed wide.

The Croatian-born defender completed 21 of 27 passes, made five interceptions, four recoveries, two clearances and won a single foul.

DC has admittedly been struggling, but it a measure of Ben Olsen’s faith in his Canadian contingent that despite those troubles all three have been constants of late in the starting eleven and remained in an altered lineup for their second match of the week.

Patrice Bernier

Patrice Bernier returned to the starting lineup for both Montreal matches – in New York and home to Salt Lake – after a brief hiatus to attend to Voyageurs Cup duty.

Against Red Bull he manned the defensive midfielder role, shielding the back-four and dealing with the central duo of Tim Cahill and Juninho, as well as being aware of the machinations of Thierry Henry and Fabian Espindola – once the Argentine replaced the injured Peguy Luyindula after 25 minutes.

He was

, starting the break that led to New York’s first goal on the night, but other than that put in another stoic performance.

He completed 70 of 78 passes – his completed passes matrix is a pleasure to look at – made nine recoveries and a single each of clearances and interceptions.

Against Salt Lake, as the more defensive of a central pairing in a 4-4-2 alongside Felipe, he held down the middle of the park against the quick passing Salt Lake midfield, tangling with Morales, in particular, on several occasions.

He was dropping very deep to start attacks, sent a nice curling ball to Wenger – his header went over – and had a right-footed free-kick from close at a tight-angle that he couldn’t keep on target.

The Brossard-native complete 40 of 52 passes – a staggeringly low number for him – and conceded possession seventeen times – staggeringly high; an indication of the Salt Lake pressure in the midfield.

In keeping with his more defensive deployment this season, he made seven tackles and an equal number of interceptions, two clearances and fifteen recoveries, while committing only a single foul.

Jonathan Osorio

Jonathan Osorio had another brief cameo appearance for Toronto – his ninth – coming on for Justin Braun in the 77th minute with his side looking to protect a point in San Jose.

He was solid on the ball, as usual, completing seven of eight passes, but conceded possession twice, while making two recoveries and an interception.

The Rest

Karl Ouimette and Wandrille Lefevre were on the bench for Montreal in New York, while Lefevre remained there for the match against Salt Lake.

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Canadian Content Round 11 – How did our Canadians do in MLS this week?

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