MLS Week in Review – Round 09 - 24th Minute

The ninth round of MLS play took place over this past weekend with nine matches spread over the two days (seven on Saturday and two on Sunday) resulting in four away wins, some surprising, some not, and not a single draw.

Goals aplenty as thirty were scored throughout, including four from the spot. In fact, there could have been more as a further three penalty kicks were wasted – two saved and one horribly sent wide.

And nearly an equal number of yellow cards were shown, 29, as well as a trio of reds - one accumulative to Columbus’ Wil Trapp and two straights, each well-deserved.

It was a round that will be remembered for centre-backs playing a pivotal role in the action – both for repeated missteps and heroic interventions (and more than a few goals of their own); as well as dramatic turns of damnation and redemption, or vice-versa in one case, as players marked themselves the villain, only to make amends in short order (or vice-versa).

There were come-from behind wins – and failed attempts at such, snake-bitten players getting in strikes, goalkeepers saving penalties – and one player getting it all wrong, dastardly own-goals, and unselfish setups from two of the league’s best assist providers.

Before the results, the goals of the round:[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

This weekend’s trio – who doesn’t love a trio – features a bevy of beauties for one’s viewing pleasure.

In chronological order, up first, is Colorado’s fit-again (if only momentarily) Vicente Sanchez and this lovely touch:

Was that intentional? Looked like it; he claimed so afterwards.

Up next another touch of South American flair as Portland’s Gaston Fernandez pulls this out of his hat in the opening minute of their match against DC:

Not too shabby at all.

And finally, enough of that Latin flair, how about some good old-fashioned English blood and thunder, provided by Giles Barnes on this hammer-blow against Chivas:

A round of applause for that pass from Oscar Boniek Garcia as well.

On to the results…

Results in Brief

Toronto 1 – New England 2

The round kicked off with an early match on Saturday, Toronto FC hosting New England, bossing the play after taking the lead through a deflected Jackson strike, only for two mistakes from Doneil Henry to prove costly in the end.

Jackson would give the home side the lead after just six minutes, collecting a ball from Gilberto on the right and sending a hopeful drive towards goal. The well-struck shot would deflect off the boot of AJ Soares, attempting to block the effort, and catch New England keeper, Bobby Shuttleworth, moving to his right, unable to recover as he could only watch the ball beat him at the near-post.

TFC would have several chances to pad their lead, dominating possession throughout the match – most notably Gilberto sending a low shot just wide of the post – before another misstep from a centre-back would change the tide.

Henry played a weak ball through the middle that was easily intercepted by Lee Nguyen, who immediately fed Patrick Mullins, making just his second career MLS start, between the centre-backs. Mullins cut onto his left-foot and blasted a high shot past Brazilian keeper, Julio Cesar to level the match at one in the 24th minute – hmm, sounds familiar.

Toronto would continue to direct their energy forward, but could not craft any definitive chances and Mullins would make them pay in the 82nd, when, following a bizarrely retaken corner kick from the Revolution, rookie midfielder Steve Neumann clipped the half-cleared ball back into the box. Justin Morrow’s poor header fell to Mullins at the top of the area and his shot caught the arm of Henry, as he slid in with a desperate block.

Nguyen, who was very impressive throughout, converted his fourth goal of the season (and third from the spot) with a calm finish, eyeing Cesar to his right before going to the keeper’s left with his right-foot.

Ryan Nelsen piled on the attacking substitutes and Toronto’s best chance to level fell to the foot of fit-again Jermain Defoe, who set his effort wide in the dying minutes.

With the 1-2 loss, Toronto falls to a third-straight defeat, while New England’s unbeaten run stretches to four matches, three of them wins.

Nelsen was left perplexed at the decision to reward New England’s mistake of a corner kick with another chance, but must question his decision to bring so many players fresh off of injury back into the starting lineup and leave them out there the entire match.

Jay Heaps’ surprise selection of Mullins as the starter was justly rewarded, with the first-year forward bringing home a fine souvenir, the ball from his first professional goal, one blasted past the Brazilian National Team keeper.

Vancouver 3 – San Jose 2

Some hours later, come evening, the round resumed with a match steeped in history, as both Vancouver and San Jose, former NASL sides, celebrated the long heritage of their clubs with a 40th Anniversary match that featured nostalgic pre-match festivities and fancy dress.

The Whitecaps, who were forced to rely on late goals to salvage points against Salt Lake and Los Angeles in recent weeks, came out of the gates like a shot, notching three goals within the first twenty minutes of play.

Kekuta Manneh tallied the first after ten minutes, collecting a ball from Pedro Morales on the left, cutting inside across the top of the box to find space for a right-footed drive. He beat Jon Busch, but not the near-post; somewhat fortuitously the rebound fell to him and his stabbed rebound neatly kissed in off the opposite-post to open the floodgates.

Nine minutes on it was the other of Vancouver’s starting speedsters who punished San Jose. Darren Mattocks flared out wide left, one-on-one with Victor Bernardez, moved inside across the centre-back before cutting back to the outside and was tripped up by an errant leg in the process, prompting the referee to point to the spot.

Morales would coolly convert the chance, eyeing Bush to his left and finishing to the right.

Directly from the restart, the Chilean would add his second of the match after Manneh charged up the left-channel through midfield. He played in to Morales, who drifted further to the right as he got the ball out of his feet and hit an unstoppable right-footed shot across the keeper from outside the box to treble Vancouver’s lead.

The Earthquakes, who lost the dynamic Yannick Djalo to injury just fourteen minutes into his first start, would draw one back before half-time with a penalty kick of their own. Jay DeMerit aggressively barged into the back of Alan Gordon in an unwinnable aerial challenge and Chris Wondolowski – who loves scoring against the Whitecaps – struck from the spot.

The second half was largely uneventful, with the result more-or-less already decided; San Jose would attempt to comeback but fall short in the end.

Wondolowski added his second of the match in the 91st minute after a JJ Koval header into the box was hooked away by DeMerit, falling to the deadly striker for a low right-footed finish that eluded David Ousted, who either saw it late, or could not react to a slight deflection off DeMerit, leaving precious few minutes to search for an equalizer.

Of note was Kenny Miller’s entrance in the 57th minute, replacing Manneh, in what turned out to be his final appearance for the Whitecaps, the club and player ‘mutually decide’ to part ways.

Carl Robinson, who stressed the need for his side to not fall into a hole off the bat, will have appreciated the bombastic start, but now must deal with the latest problem of falling asleep once firmly in the lead, tempering his elation at their first win of the season over Western Conference opposition.

Mark Watson, a Vancouver native and former 86er/Whitecap himself, while be very disappointed in losing Djalo and succumbing to the early pressure in his homecoming after San Jose finally found their first win last weekend.

Chicago 2 – Salt Lake 3

The evening rumbled on as Chicago took a two-goal lead through Mike Magee and Juan Luis Anangono in the opening half-hour, only to see their first win of the season crumble, as Salt Lake found three in the final twenty minutes courtesy a Joao Plata brace either side of a Alvaro Saborio strike.

In a contest between one of the two winless sides in MLS and the sole unbeaten team, it was those down on their luck would took the initiative.

Magee opened the scoring for Chicago in the 22nd minute, pouncing on the rebound from a fierce Harrison Shipp left-footed drive that Nick Rimando clawed off the goal-line. The rebound however, fell straight to last season’s Golden Boot winner, who notched his second of the season, right-footing past a helpless, prone keeper.

Anangono, Chicago’s much-maligned designated player, was given the start in place of the suspended Quincy Amarikwa. He wasted one glorious chance on the volley from a Magee ball over the back-line before getting on the end of another excellent left-sided delivery from Shipp with a hanging leap and downward header into the bottom left-corner of the goal in the 30th minute.

Salt Lake would emerge from half-time in an awkward position – having only previously trailed for five minutes this season – but with a hunger that must be satisfied. They have been haunted by an inability to finish off matches this season, dropping points on four occasions when late goals against turned wins into losses, but this time it was they who would do the haunting.

As the clock ticked down, Salt Lake would slowly ratchet up the pressure, tightening the proverbial noose around a luckless Chicago side.

It could have been so different.

Chicago had a chance to add a third goal in the 63rd minute when Magee’s chip hit the crossbar and he looked destined to nod in the rebound, only for a crucial bump from Tony Beltran to spoil his balance – Magee was shown a yellow card for handball, his protestations indicative that he thought a penalty more appropriate.

Salt Lake would get the first back in the 72nd minute from the red-hot Plata, when Javier Morales picked out the tiny Ecuadorean on the edge of the area on the left side of the box, in space to turn and squeeze a low right-footed drive in at the near-post.

Chicago would be stung again by a refereeing decision in the 80th minute, when Anangono and Chris Schuler raced after a long ball – the Salt Lake defender took down the attacker with a sliding challenge and could have seen red on another occasion as the last man denying a goal-scoring opportunity.

Ten minutes later, in the final minute of regulation, Salt Lake equalized when Ned Grabavoy played a ball down the outside left for Abdoulie Mansally to cross into the middle. Centre-back Bakary Soumare appeared to have it covered, but missed his clearing header, ducking under the ball, which hit left-back Greg Cochrane in the chest and fell perfectly for Saborio to roof into the net before Sean Johnson could collect the bouncing ball.

And in the third minute of stoppage-time the comeback was complete with Plata notching his second of the night – and fifth of the season – with a back-post move to get on the end of a Saborio cross from the left.

Frank Yallop was outraged at his team’s woeful defending when protecting a lead – amateurish was too kind a word (more on that shortly), while Jeff Cassar continues to oversee the Salt Lake transition with the calm-demeanour of a man who was handpicked for the job; not as easy a task as it may sound.

Colorado 1 – Los Angeles 0

Meanwhile a little further west, Pablo Mastroeni was showing some of his admirers, just what his Colorado team was capable of, with a little help from Vicente Sanchez’ touch of class and heroic defending – and a little bit of luck - from Drew Moor.

Prior to the match, LA’s Bruce Arena and Landon Donovan showered praise on their friend and former teammate, Mastroeni, who played under and with the duo during his time with the national team and spent much of last season with the Galaxy prior to retiring, as he begins his adventure into the coaching ranks.

Despite those niceties, it was LA who should have taken the lead as early as the second minute, when Landon Donovan collected a headed pass from Rob Friend wide on the right side of the box, only for Clint Irwin to deny his tight-angled drive. The rebound fell to Stefan Ishizaki with a gaping cage to aim for, but Moor stood firm, clearing the attempt off the line.

Donovan has yet to score this season, still one-goal away from taking sole possession of the all-time goals lead in MLS – that would prove to be his best chance of the match, though he would later drag a slow-roller through the goalmouth that needed only a strong wind or miss-cut blade of grass to tuck it in..

That opening salvo evaded, Colorado looked to respond; pouncing on the frailties of the LA back-line – Deshorn Brown nearly got on the end of a Sanchez cross just a minute later, stretching but not reaching, the goalmouth ball. Sixteen minutes later, Leonardo whiffed on another dangerous cross that was again inches beyond the reach of the ever-dangerous Brown.

In the 20th minute, the Galaxy would not be so lucky, as a half-cleared corner kick was put forward by Nick LaBrocca to Marc Burch on the left and his cross arced to the back-post. The savvy Sanchez shouted for Dillon Serna to leave it, ducking under the delivery, and the Uruguayan Sanchez collected wide right.

From a tight angle, Sanchez delicately sent a left-footed chip back across the goalmouth – it looked initially to be a cross – but curled preciously in, kicking off the upper post and settling in the net for the game’s only goal.

Moor, who made that crucial early block, nearly leveled the match for the Galaxy moments into the second half, when he slid to cut out a Robbie Keane goalmouth ball, only for his clearance to bank, mercifully off his own goal-post and out for a corner kick under severe pressure.

And it was Moor, again nearly turning villain, who gifted the Galaxy a glorious final chance to level in the 62nd minute, appearing to catch Friend with a high-boot as the big man strode into the box – whether contact was made or not is debatable, but either way, the referee pointed to the spot.

Perhaps Donovan, resting so close to the history books, should have taken the kick, but Keane was the designated taker and so he stepped to the spot, only to send a poor attempt whistling wide of the right-post. Irwin appeared to have it covered, but either way, one would expect a man of his finishing class to test the keeper in that situation.

Mastroeni would hail the quality of Sanchez, who left at half-time with an apparent knee injury, post-match, as his side responded to last weekend’s disappointing result in Seattle with the full three points.

Arena, on the other hand, blasted his side’s lack of effort and finesse, claiming the match was there to be had, if only they had executed better. He will be well aware that the stop-start nature of their season thus far will likely have played a role in the lack of sharpness, but needs to put out a message in warning.

Seattle 2 – Philadelphia 1

Themes, like streaks, have a way of continuing to pop up; throughout matches, weekends, or seasons –many of those same threads that adorned much of this round reappeared when Seattle came from behind to win over Philadelphia on a late goal from centre-back Chad Marshall after Brad Evans had made amends for his own goal by setting up Obafemi Martins’ equalizer.

Not to mention Osvaldo Alonso wasting a chance from the penalty spot – though Zac MacMath’s fine save deserves much of the credit (that last one is more foreshadow than recollection).

Evans, who was making his first start since leaving the match against Toronto in Round Two, was unfortunate to see a Cristian Maidana free-kick sent to the penalty spot flick off his head and beat Stefan Frei in the thirteenth minute to open the scoring on a rainy night in Seattle – not the best way to reintroduce oneself to the team.

Undaunted by the set-back and riding a three-match winning streak, Seattle took the match to the visitors, earning a penalty kick in the 39th minute when Amobi Okugo stuck out a chicken-wing as he went to ground on Gonzalo Pineda. The veteran Mexican walked around the challenge of the young defender, who in desperation put his elbow into the ball in full view of the official, who duly pointed to the spot.

Alonso would step to the task, blasting a right-footer to the keeper’s left, but MacMath read it well, got down quickly and touched it onto the post to make his third-straight save in such situations this season.

Philadelphia may have padded their lead, were it not for the immense contributions of defensive stalwart Marshall, who has looked more like the league’s best defender of four season ago since reuniting with Sigi Schmid – he quelled an early run from Andrew Wenger like swatting at a fly, blocked a pair of Sebastien Le Toux chances in quick succession before the half-time whistle, and then put in several more after Martins had leveled the match in the 61st minute.

Clint Dempsey may have been held off the score-sheet, but his strike partner, Martins, scoring in a third-straight match, would not be; it was Evans who made amends for that early own-goal by nodding a poor Aaron Wheeler clearance into space behind the Philly back-line for the Nigerian striker to pounce.

Martins touched away from pressure with his knee and swatted a left-footer past MacMath to square things up in the second half.

And in the 84th minute it was the dominant Marshall who got on the end of a right-sided, in-swinging corner kick from Marco Pappa, rising in front of Edu and Okugo to direct a powerful header across the face of goal to the far-side.

The 2-1 win sees Schmid’s Seattle pick up a fourth-win on the trot, surging into sole possession of the top spot in both the West and the league. For John Hackworth and Philadelphia, who are now winless through eight, it comes as no surprise that another late goal – the fifth they have conceded in the final quarter-hour of a match – is their downfall, soiling another result.

Portland 3 – DC 2

The drama continued nearby in the Pacific Northwest, as Portland, who had waited all-season for their first win, finally got one thanks to a 94th minute strike from Maxi Urruti, after twice relinquishing leads to DC.

It took just 34 seconds for the Timbers to get on the goal sheet. They may have struggled to combine much this season, with five of their nine goals unassisted (very much unlike them) – but on this night the attack finally clicked.

Darlington Nagbe pressed a turnover out of DC left-back Cristian, skipped over the challenge of Jeff Parke and played up to Diego Valeri further ahead on the right. He sent an early ball between the centre-backs and keeper for Gaston Fernandez, who deftly avoided the lunging challenge of Bill Hamid with a neat hop, then volleyed over his own shoulder with his back to goal, avoiding the attentions of Bobby Boswell and the sliding block of Chris Korb to trickle over the line. Quite the way to start a match.

DC, however, have found a confidence of their own through their five-match unbeaten run and Davy Arnaud showed what such positive effort can add, when his hopeful strike from distance took a nasty deflection off Diego Chara and knuckled, looping beyond the reach of a scrambling Donovan Ricketts into the right-side of the Portland goal in the 21st minute.

Mamadou Danso, more commonly known as Futty, would reinstate Portland’s lead in the 38th minute, showing a surprisingly good touch – for a centre-back – on the end of a Valeri corner kick, sweeping a first-time right-footed finish into the near-post neatly.

Portland, like Chicago, could not find that crucial third goal to seal up the victory – Steve Zakuani was denied a fierce strike by a bandaged Bill Hamid, who did very well to get down and Nagbe twisted through a crowd, but could not wrap his foot around the shot, finding only the side netting with Will Johnson screaming for a pull-back in the middle.

In the 78th minute, it appeared as though Danso would turn from winner to goat, when he went up with Christian for a right-sided corner kick from Fabian Espindola, only to see (or more appropriately, not see) as the ball deflected off his head and into his own net to tie the match at twos.

But his blushes were sparred in the 94th minute, when Urruti knocked in the game-winner in stoppage-time after a recycled corner kick came back to Valeri on the right and his cross that was redirected on goal by Urruti. Hamid would deny the initial attempt (or maybe it was the post, either way) the rebound returned to the Argentine forward, for a low right-footer that found the back of the net.

Finally, in their ninth match of the season, Portland earned their first win, much to the delight of Caleb Porter and his charges – that out of the way, they can now focus on climbing the table. For DC, their unbeaten run may have ended, but putting in such a shift at a place as difficult to play as that, will only serve to reinforce the desire that has seen them surge from laughing stock to double-digit points in a little over a month.

Chivas 1 – Houston 4

The final match of Saturday night saw Chivas take the lead from Erick Torres at the penalty spot, only for four unanswered Houston goals and a red card to sour their already miserable existence.

This season has not been kind to Los Ameri-Goats, no matter how much better organized or lively they may appear, they always find a way of shooting themselves in the foot – whether red cards, suspensions, injuries, penalties, or all of the above.

The match began brightly for the hosts, when Brad Davis clipped the heels of Carlos Alvarez as he worked into the box, forcing the referee to point to the spot in the 7th minute. Torres would again coolly convert the chance – he is a perfect three-from-three this season – eyeing Tally Hall to his right before slotting to the keeper’s left, the other way.

But Davis would make amends in short order, latching onto a loose ball behind the Chivas back-line in the 12th minute with a darting run, stepping around their retreating pressure and placing a low left-footer across the keeper, Tim Melia - in for the suspended Dan Kennedy, and in.

Twenty minutes later Giles Barnes brought on more pain, when his thunderous right-footer, after a lovely pass from Oscar Boniek Garcia, bulged the old onion bag – quiet literally, Tommy – ending his goal-less drought in spectacular fashion.

And before the half-time whistles could bring mercy, Will Bruin had added a third, getting on the end of a Corey Ashe cross from the left, neatly collecting and finishing on the turn in one fluid motion in front of Carlos Bocanegra in the second minute of first-half stoppage-time.

The second half went from bad to worse for the hosts who saw their goalkeeper dismissed - for the second-straight match - when a weak back-pass from Bobby Burling allowed Bruin to race in on Melia, who brought down the forward as he rounded – drawing a red card and conceding a penalty kick, which Barnes calmly dispatched in the 69th minute.

With the defeat, Wilmer Cabrera and his Chivas USA have not tasted victory in eight matches, dating back to opening day, while falling to a third-straight defeat. Were it not for the seven goals of Torres, who knows what this peculiar season would hold for them – and his future, as property of big Chivas, remains unclear.

Dominic Kinnear and Houston on the other hand, brush off the stench of a six-match winless run, though their propensity for four-goal score-lines – two wins with and two losses by (either feast or famine) – is an unsettling conundrum.

Dallas 0 – New York 1

Sunday kicked off with kicked off with a tight affair in Dallas, as the home side fell by a single goal from Bradley Wright-Phillips to New York, despite going down a man early, as Je-Vaughan Watson was dismissed from the field of play.

Just ten minutes in, the Jamaican saw his second red card of the season – his first was rescinded after the fact; that off-the-ball encounter with Michael Harrington that was undone by Disciplinary Committee – for an unintentional karate kick to a sensitive spot on Tim Cahill’s midsection.

Watson tried to avoid a potentially troublesome challenge with Dax McCarty, but in the process planted his raised studs into the midriff of the innocent bystander Cahill in the tenth minute, reducing Dallas to ten men.

Dallas were already up against it, without Mauro Diaz through injury, as well as Michel and Zach Loyd to suspension, but even in such a state, they put up a good fight against the surging Red Bulls.

Homegrown talent, Danny Garcia was handed the creative reins in place of Diaz, and after a few welcome-to-MLS collisions (from Cahill and Thierry Henry), he found his footing.

Dallas had a good claim for a penalty kick in the 26th minute when Fabian Castillo went over the outstretched leg of McCarty in the New York box, but Castillo was judged to be the offender, shown a contentious yellow card for his troubles.

It was Garcia who would finally see his side given the chance they deserved, earning a penalty kick when Cahill barged him over breaking down the left-side of the area, but Blas Perez had his attempt saved by Luis Robles in the 60th minute.

Robles would deny a fierce lash from Garcia seconds later and eleven minutes on in the 71st minute, New York would finally break the deadlock.

McCarty played a long ball up the right-channel for Henry to chase, getting the better of Walker Zimmerman in a footrace and playing over to Wright-Phillips, who notched his fifth goal in the last three matches, touching a right-footer past Raul Fernandez in the Dallas goal.

The one goal was all that New York needed to extend their unbeaten run to four matches – three wins in that stretch – while picking up their first away win of the season, Mike Petke heralded the unselfish and alert play from his talisman, Henry, seeing and making a pass that many would not have imagined.

For Oscar Pareja and Dallas, the loss, though depleted and down a man, comes as a stark warning, having lost two-straight and three of their last four, after establishing a solid lead atop the table.

Kansas City 2 – Columbus 0

And the final match of the round began with Sporting being presented their championship rings, before crowning the afternoon with a two-goal win on strikes from Jacob Peterson and Claudio Bieler.

Peter Vermes and Gregg Berhalter, former American internationals, have a fair bit in common, most noteworthy being their preferred style of play. Vermes has overseen the transition from Wizards playing on a repurposed baseball diamond to champions, while Berhalter, in two short months, has turned Columbus into a possession-based potential powerhouse, very much in the mold of Vermes’ Sporting.

In this clash of similar styles, it was an early goal from an unexpected source that proved the difference, with Peterson pouncing on a bouncing ball in the box at the left-post with a tidy finish to the short-side.

Matt Besler sprayed a long ball cross-field for Graham Zusi down the right, who in turn fed Chance Myers on the overlap. The full-back then pulled a ball back to the top of the box for Paolo Nagamura, whose shot was blocked by Giancarlo Gonzalez, before the scrambled clearance came to Peterson for the finish.

Columbus had their chances to level, including an excellent header from Bernardo Anor that drew a jaw-dropping save from Eric Kronberg, but could not find the equalizer.

The match devolved into a fractious contest, racking up seven yellow cards and a red – to Wil Trapp in the 80th minute for a second booking – with four in the final twenty minutes or so.

Deep into stoppage-time, the fifth minute to be exact, Kansas City would seal the result when Michael Parkhurst let a chested touch run away from him, allowing Soony Saad to steal onto the bouncing ball.

Parkhurst would recover with a last-ditch tackle, only for Zusi to pick up the loose ball on the left-side of the box and chip a lovely, unselfish cross to Claudio Bieler after drawing Steve Clark well out of goal, leaving the seldom-used striker an easy finish in an un-minded net.

Vermes and his defending champions would set aside the distractions of reflecting on last season’s glory with a strong performance, making amends for the two-goal loss in New England last weekend. For Berhalter and the Crew, their winless run stretches to five matches, though they avoid a fourth successive draw.

CanCon

As usual, the extended look at the Canadian performances will be posted tomorrow (Tuesday) midday.

Watch for strong outings from Will Johnson, Rob Friend, Jonathan Osorio and Kyle Bekker, as well as the first MLS sighting of Kofi Opare this season, and a few words on Doneil Henry’s tough afternoon.

Overheard

The head of PRO (the Professional Referee Organization) Peter Walton was asked about the decision to retake the New England corner kick in Toronto, supporting the call by stating, "They did the right thing not allowing that kick to stand if it was taken contrary to the law."

He continued, "The assistant is just pointing to the ball to tell the kicker [Chris Tierney] that the ball is not positioned correctly. And the assistant has very little time to step in even if he thought about stepping in."

Which all sounds rather weak, if technically correct; it certainly seems contrary to the spirit of the rules – rewarding the offending team with a second chance.

There were some similar echoes of disappointment – involving a certain bodily requirement – from both Frank Yallop and Ben Olsen, reflecting on their side’s inability to see out matches.

Yallop - “I haven’t seen the goals again, but obviously it’s piss poor defending. I don’t think we really wanted to win that game because it didn’t show. If we wanted to we would have tried, put our head through the ball, and cleared things, and be good at that stuff but we didn’t. So it’s back to the drawing board for us. I thought we were going somewhere but now we’ve had a total collapse in a game we should have won.”

Olsen - "We pissed that game away.”

It was a rather rainy weekend, which may have played a factor in such word choices.

A quality line from Salt Lake commentator, Brian Dunseth, applauding Nick Rimando’s intervention before Bakary Soumare can get on the end of a Harry Shipp free-kick with the line, “Hands like Steve Bartman” – too soon?

And Glenn Davis on the Houston broadcasts, with the frank “But he’s not going to outrun anybody” when Bofo Bautista latched onto a potentially dangerous break – it was true.

See It Live

Plenty of little tidbits throughout the round:

Drew Moor’s goal-line clearance

Amobi Okugo’s sneaky handball and Zac MacMath’s ensuing save on the penalty kick

Je-Vaughan Watson’s startling red card

Huge save from Kronberg on Anor header

The Ring

yZ8TH#0

Controversy

Plenty of decisions to consider:

That corner kick in Toronto

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23NERevs&src=hash">#NERevs</a> were allowed to retake the corner that led to the Doneil Henry PK b/c the 1st ball was outside the arc. <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23TFC&src=hash">#TFC</a> <a href="http://t.co/C3TFCNWMau">pic.twitter.com/C3TFCNWMau</a></p>— Ben Jata (@Ben_Jata) <a href="

">May 3, 2014</a></blockquote>

The shove on Mike Magee and the ensuing handball – keep an eye out for the Juan Luis Anangono-Chris Schuler tangle in Simon Borg’s Instant Replay – though he’ll probably say it was fine.

Rob Friend wins a penalty kick, but was there contact – does it matter when one gets their foot that high?

Giles Barnes bustled into a challenge on Bobby Burling (again, look for it in the Instant Replay presumably) – strangely, Sorin Stoica restrains himself and his itchy pocket; for a little while at least…

And finally, should Fabian Castillo have been awarded a penalty kick rather than a yellow card?

Upcoming Fixtures

Three midweek fixtures on the docket for this Wednesday, followed by a full slate of nine matches on the weekend – five on Saturday and four on Sunday.

Wednesday: Houston-Columbus; Seattle-Dallas; San Jose-Colorado. Saturday: Montreal-Kansas City; Philadelphia-DC; New York-Chicago; Columbus-Vancouver; San Jose-Dallas. Sunday: Portland-Los Angeles; Colorado-Chivas; New England-Seattle; Houston-Salt Lake.

The Voyageurs Cup proper gets underway this Wednesday as well, with Toronto hosting Vancouver and Edmonton welcoming Montreal.

All video and quotes courtesy of MLSsoccer.com

Each week James takes a look at the league as a whole.

You can follow James on twitter @grawsee or read more of his writing at Partially Obstructed View

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