MLS Week in Review – Round 13 - 24th Minute

The thirteenth round of MLS play concluded late Sunday night with Robbie Keane and the LA Galaxy dismantling the Seattle Sounders – with a brief substitute appearance from man of the hour, Robbie Rogers.

Nine matches provided 27 goals – three from the spot – including a back-and-forth eight-goal thriller in Montreal; the usual late drama – with seven goals after the 75th minute and three in second half stoppage-time – and the now-standard flurry of bookings – 30 yellows and a lone red, to Seattle’s Shalrie Joseph who had been itching for a fight all match – resulting in a trio draws and a sole away win – Portland in DC – perhaps signaling a return to normalcy as the summer kicks off in earnest.

Try as they might, the referees are incapable of staying away from the limelight of examination and criticism.

[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

At times it was a bizarre; Sunday saw a penalty kick given, then rightly rethought in Kansas City, a harsh decision in New York that nearly turned the tide in the afternoon’s second match and then a woeful call in LA’s finale, from everyone’s favourite arbiter of justice, Baldomero Toledo.

They will be dealt with later; before the results, the goal of the round nominees:

Working the ball into wide positions and sending crosses into the box may be an inexact science and often a wasteful practice, but each week MLS sees an abundance of goals made from the flanks.

The throw-ins – as with Quincy Amarikwa’s acrobatic finish after a Jalil Anibaba throw was headed towards goal by Austin Berry; the swinging cross – Diego Fagundez’s wonderful back-post volley after Chris Tierney picked him out; the twinkle-toed stepper – as in Andres Romero’s schooling of Sheanon Williams on the left before finding Marco Di Vaio at the back-side; and then there is Antoine Hoppenot’s miss-hit cross turned laser beam to the top corner of the Montreal goal – to name but a few.

Is it simply that the marking is no good – a consequence of more money spent on attacking talent that defensive ones?

Regardless, all of those goals were worthy candidates, though each overshadowed by a single touch from one of those moneyed attacking figures mentioned…

Thierry Henry.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

New York had spent the entire match probing the Columbus back-line, one that often plays far higher than it should and currently shorn of both starters, Chad Marshall and Glauber - to injury and yellow card accumulation respectively.

Tim Cahill, on his own side of half, sent a long curling ball from the right into the center for Henry, clearing the leap of Kevan George and falling nicely into the path of the French striker.

Not bothering to take a touch, Henry waited for the ball to settle and bounce just right before simply giving it a slight lift with an opened right-foot, looping a finish over the helpless – and painfully aware of it – Andy Gruenebaum in the Columbus goal.

It was vaguely reminiscent of

in a 1-0 win over New England last season.

Results in Brief

DC 0 – Portland 2

Portland continued their unbeaten ways – and undefeated record on the road – with a healthy two-goal victory at struggling DC.

Ben Olsen attempted to shake up his lineup by omitting Dwayne De Rosario in favour of Carlos Ruiz – a move not appreciated by the talismanic attacker, as will be investigated in the CanCon round-up – but it mattered not.

Rodney Wallace grabbed the first against his former club - his fourth of the season, a new career high - after Frederic Piquionne collected a throw-in and turned nicely in-field before playing out to Wallace on the left. His left-footed strike, high into the net, beat Bill Hamid at the short-side in the 21st minute.

Darlington Nagbe added a second in the 57th nudging Brandon McDonald away from a looping Ryan Johnson ball over the back-line and freeing himself up to sweep a right-footed finish through Hamid.

The win extends Caleb Porter’s side’s unbeaten run to eleven matches and sees Olsen’s United stretch their winless run to ten matches, a new franchise worst – they were shutout for the seventh time this season (twelve matches).

Montreal 5 – Philadelphia 3

The meeting of the two highest goal-scorers in the league, provided a back-and-forth eight-goal thriller, with Marco Di Vaio’s first half hat-trick stealing the show – and tying atop the Golden Boot Chart - Jack McInerney’s ninth goal of the season.

It took just two minutes for the floodgates to open when Di Vaio stepped in front of Felipe to slice an Andrew Wenger right-sided cut-back towards the far-side from the near-post. McInerney responded three minutes later after a poor Jeb Brovsky clearance fell to Michael Farfan who squared to the young striker.

Di Vaio rounded out his trio with a pair separated by four-minutes. In the 28th minute, Justin Mapp found his slashing run with a ball over the top for a chest-control and lift over Zac MacMath before his third came from Romero’s good work on the left, ending a play Di Vaio began himself, with a fine ball to the back-post for the Italian to finish.

Antoine Hoppenot drew Philly back within one after 69 minutes when his miss-hit cross sailed over Troy Perkins in goal, but Wenger reinstated the two-goal five minutes later, timing his leap perfectly to head a left-sided Felipe corner kick at the near-post.

Sebastien Le Toux again drew the Union nearer in the 85th with a low shot from the arc, but rookie Blake Smith capped the night in the fourth minute of stoppage-time after Patrice Bernier played him into space down the left where the youngster finished coolly – his first MLS goal.

Marco Schallibaum’s Montreal remain unbeaten at home, reasserting their potential as contenders for the Eastern crown – in second place with matches in hand; while John Hackworth’s Philadelphia stumble again when faced with superior opposition, having yet to beat a team ranked higher than themselves.

New England 2 – Toronto 0

Diego Fagundez’s rapid ascent continued as the eighteen year-old striker scored his third goal in as many games – and fourth in his last six – against a wilting Toronto FC in the outskirts of Boston.

Chris Tierney curled a delicious ball to the back-post, where the striker adroitly finished with a right-footed volley back across the keeper to open the scoring in the 23rd minute.

Toronto could muster little by way of rhythm as New England sauntered to their seventh clean-sheet and Juan Agudelo, recently acquired from Chivas, scored his first for his new club – and fourth of the season – in the 93rd minute after a dashing bit of flickery from Sair Sene on the left found him at the near-post to double the lead.

Ryan Nelsen’s TFC have now lost five straight and are winless in ten - having finally lost by more than a single goal; Jay Heaps’ Revolution have won consecutive matches for the first time this season and look to climb up the East, having made up ground on the chasing pack, leaving the cellar-dwellers in the rearview.

Dallas 1 – San Jose 0

Dallas rebounded from their big loss in Seattle last weekend with a solid home win over San Jose to continue their unbeaten form at the dutifully named FC Dallas Stadium.

Injuries have riddled the Dallas back-line, but first-round draft-pick, Walker Zimmerman, making his first start, performed well and even had a hand in creating their goal - it was his headed clearance that found David Ferreira, who skirted the challenge of Sam Cronin as he broke up field.

Ferreira dished out to Fabian Castillo charging down the right, he cut in on Jason Hernandez and sent a low left-footed shot past Jon Busch in goal to the far-bottom corner for the lone goal of the match in the 33rd minute.

San Jose, as is their wont, pushed at the death, piling on the strikers – with four on the pitch by the end – but could not find an equalizer.

For Schellas Hyndman’s Dallas, it was a league-leading seventh home win of the season – Montreal has the next most with five – as they continue their surprise lead atop the league and the West; Frank Yallop’s Quakes meanwhile, with only one win in their last nine, are languishing near the base of the table, a few more poor results away from losing touch with playoff contention, a year removed from the Supporter’s Shield.

Colorado 2 – Chivas 0

The Colorado Rapids continued their surprising form – unbeaten in five – with a two-goal win over the floundering Chivas.

Atiba Harris scored his second of the season – a sliding finish on a low Chris Klute cross from the left-side eleven minutes in, as did Nathan Sturgis – in consecutive matches no less, with a deft touch at the near-post to a Deshorn Brown cut-back on the right after Brian Mullan had laid the rookie speedster towards the right end-line with twelve minutes remaining.

Oscar Pareja should be delighted, both in how his team survived a horrid rash of injuries and with the returning numbers to the training pitch, while Chivas’ El Chelis must confront a sixth loss in their last seven matches; the magic of his previously unknown style having faded under the harsh examination of game-film and a revolving eleven.

Salt Lake 1 – Chicago 1

Alvaro Saborio scored what looked destined to be the game-winner in the 78th minute upon his return to action - having missed five matches with a quad concern, but Quincy Amarikwa leveled six minutes later with contorted finish.

Saborio replaced Robbie Findley after 62 minutes grabbing had his fourth goal of the campaign after Sebastian Velasquez played Ned Grabavoy down the left and last-weekend’s two-goal hero swung an inviting ball towards the penalty spot.

Saborio rose highest powering his header back towards the near-post area, but Amarikwa spoiled Salt Lake’s march up the table – it would have been their fifth win in their last seven matches – when a right-sided Jalil Anibaba throw-in was directed goal-ward by Austin Berry where the substitute striker pounced, raising his right leg to dizzying heights to level the match at ones.

The draw snapped Frank Klopas and Chicago’s losing streak at three and a goal-less run at 361 minutes and raised the ire of Salt Lake boss, Jason Kreis, who is not a fan of long-throws.

Kansas City 1 – Houston 1

One of the more heated rivalries in recent years, precipitated by Houston’s snuffing out of KC’s playoff aspirations in consecutive seasons, ended level with Brad Davis and Kei Kamara exchanging goals.

Davis opened the scoring, shortly after a bizarre incident where referee, Drew Fischer, retracted a penalty he had erroneously awarded to the Dynamo captain. Before the first half could end, Giles Barnes flicked a long ball up to Will Bruin, who expertly turned Ike Opara before threading a pass through his legs to the surging Davis. Brad, spotting Jimmy Nielsen cheating forward, slotted a finish with the outside of his left peg to the short side in first half stoppage time.

Returning from a loan-spell at Norwich City in England, Kamara netted his first for his beloved club, with a low shot from the arc through a tangle of legs and into the bottom right-corner of the goal.

The two had met just two weeks earlier, when KC ended Houston’s long run of home domination and Peter Vermes, no stranger to refereeing bother, will applaud the just result, if bemoaning the initial confusion. Dominic Kinnear without starting centre-back duo Bobby Boswell and Jermaine Taylor – suspended and injured – will be glad to escape with a point, while ending a two-match losing skid.

New York 2 – Columbus 2

Columbus went in search of a high-profile scalp and nearly escaped with all three points – thanks in part to a controversial penalty award, but were caught at the death by Jamison Olave’s third goal of the season.

Dominic Oduro took just two minutes to open the scoring - Olave’s poor header fell to Eddie Gaven, Gaven handed off to the Ghanaian, who outmuscled Marcus Holgersson and cut-back on Olave before poking a sliding finish past Luis Robles in goal.

The collision forced Oduro from the match and Henry’s goal of the round drew the sides level after a half-hour.

Federico Higuain converted the controversial spot kick – Kosuke Kimura barged into Justin Meram after the attacker seemed to have fluffed his shot – beating Robles, who saved his attempt when the two met in Columbus weeks ago, with an old-fashioned blast straight down the middle.

But Olave made amends for his earlier gaff, bringing down a Jonny Steele ball with his right, before smashing a left-footer into the left-side of goal in stoppage-time.

With the draw Mike Petke’s New York extend their unbeaten run to seven matches, but sees them give up ground at the top of the East with a mere two point lead on Montreal – who has four matches in hand; Robert Warzycha’s Columbus, despite scoring two goals, continue to be plagued by a lack of finish and should Oduro’s knock see him absent – he has five of their last eight goals through eight matches – they could be in serious trouble.

Highlights are not yet available, but can be found here.

Los Angeles 4 – Seattle 0

The marquee Western Conference clash between LA and Seattle was over nearly before it began with the Galaxy exploding for a four-goal first half against a Sounders side that must not have heard the opening whistle.

Sean Franklin opened the scoring in the 12th minute, with a simple finish from a squared Robbie Keane ball after a one-two with Marcelo Sarvas played the Irish marksman down the right-side of the box.

Keane then grabbed a first-half hat-trick of his own, matching Di Vaio’s contribution from the day before, to bring his tally up to five on the season.

First from a left-sided Landon Donovan cross that bounced off Omar Gonzalez and fell to Keane at the spot for a calm right-footer, passed into the open right-side of the net. Then with a pair from the spot itself, after referee, Baldomero Toledo, twice pointed there after tackles from the Sounders defense.

The first should never have been – Djimi Traore’s tackle was marvelous – and nearly wasn’t with Michael Gspurning saving the first attempt, only for encroachment to be whistled and the kick retaken – Keane sent the second attempt low to the keeper’s left and in.

The second, after Brad Evans’ last-ditch tackle brought down Juninho, was sent low to the keeper’s right by Keane.

The match, largely fizzled out, came to life for a moment with the introduction of another Robbie, last name, Rogers.

CanCon

As usual, the extended look at Canadian performances this week will be up midday tomorrow (Tuesday) – featuring some harsh words from Dwayne De Rosario, a lovely assist from Patrice Bernier, and continues woes in Toronto.

See It Live

The protracted rights saga of Robbie Rogers was decided quickly late on Friday night, with him heading to hometown LA and Chicago-area native, Mike Magee heading the opposite direction. Rogers promptly made his debut in the from the LA bench in the 77th minute subbing on for Juninho to racous applause.

Sparing the proselytizing about history and equality, it’s worth watching that moment itself.

Referee’s were front and centre again a week removed from the dreadful, phantom offside-call that chalked off Ike Opara’s goal against DC – the goals committee awarded Ethan White’s own-goal to Opara as means of perverted penance - a further trio of controversies blighted Sunday’s fixtures.

First was the retracted called after Oriol Rosell’s wonderful tackle on Davis in Kansas City – the proper decision was reached eventually; then came a soft call on Kimura – though the late Olave goal lessened its impact, and finally, the woeful decision on Traore’s excellent tackle on Gyasi Zardes, that forced the half-opened floodgates wide in LA.

PRO (the Professional Referee Organization) was created last season to improve the level of officiating in the league and recent events are indicative of a work very much still in progress.

They play a goal-song in LA – terrible – those are a blight on the game and should be outlawed.

Overheard

Salt Lake’s Jason Kreis does not care for long throws, offering this tirade when asked about conceding from one in the final stage of their match against Chicago, he said, “Love it. Great soccer isn't it? Beautiful.”

“I’ll try not to put myself in too much trouble and put myself out there for too much chastisement, but I will.* To me, it’s a foul, and I’ve been saying that for the past two years.* A lot of these throw-ins that we’re seeing now are just fouls in my eyes.* I’ve talked to the refs about it, and don’t get much of a response, but when I grew up, you had to throw the ball in with two hands, not one.* We’re seeing a lot of players do it almost completely with one hand.* I’m tempted, maybe next game, to send out my players and we’re just going to throw the ball in with one hand to see if that gets called against us.* I just think it’s ugly, and if you’re going to throw the ball in, then do it legally.”

New York’s Mike Petke similarly lashed out, directing his displeasure more directly at the officials, he said, “I have my checkbook out and I’m ready for MLS to fine me because it’s not good enough, the referees, it’s not good enough. I watched the replay of the penalty of what I already knew to be not a penalty and it backed it up. [Meram] mis-hits the ball, mis-hits it, and then there’s contact from the side.

“In my estimation, [the referee is] a guy who’s probably getting ready for the Memorial Day weekend who wants to be a part of the show. That’s what it is to me. I could care less what the league fines me or what they say. Those decisions, those type of things, cost jobs and it goes to his partners on the sideline. Hand balls, fouls happen two feet in front of them and they don’t even see it. I’m pissed off.”

KC’s Vermes, no stranger to conversation with and about the referees offered this, saying, “Thank god that the other guys got involved – the assistant referee on the other side, and I believe the fourth official got involved as well.”

“They talked him off the ledge there, because there was absolutely no penalty kick and he was making something up.”

Expect a fine or two - to Petke at least for his holiday weekend jab - but it will be interesting to see if any punishment is bound for KC, whose players swarmed the ref after the penalty was awarded. Swarming was delineated as one of the features of the game that the league mandated would be punished and Sporting – ha – have already been warned after their match in Toronto back in March. A fine headed their way, perhaps?

Upcoming Fixtures

A slew of midweek action as American teams enter into the Third Round of the 100th Edition of the US Open Cup on Tuesday and Wednesday, while Vancouver hosts Montreal in the decider of the Voyageurs Cup, and the Canadian and American national teams take on Costa Rica and Belgium respectively, on Tuesday and Wednesday as well.

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

Parting Thoughts

A few questions to ponder and discuss:

What to make of the league’s efforts to enhance the level of officiating? At times they appear better, but some serious blunders have dented PRO’s image already this season.

Was it better that the right decision was made in KC or should the referee have stuck to his guns? What does it say about swarming the official – and having a strong word with the fourth official – that the call was overturned, ostensibly because of those protestations?

And what was Toledo thinking punishing that Traore tackle? Great tackle or greatest tackle?

An underappreciated tournament, several NASL clubs fell to lower opposition in Round Two of the US Open Cup, will any of the big MLS sides fall to a similar fate?

Highlights include New England and DC taking on USL PRO affiliate clubs, Rochester and Richmond, respectively, as well as a bunch of local fare as the LA Blues host Chivas, Houston hosts FC Tucson, and Columbus-Dayton in an all Ohio duel.

Keep an eye on the Kansas City-Des Moines match; can the PDL side prove a menace to the defending champs?

Did Chicago get fair value for the enforced trade of Robbie Rogers?

Another full slate of matches this weekend, are there any upsets on the cards, or have the tables aligned themselves properly with thirteen rounds in the books?

The league’s twentieth franchise was announced midweek, with New York City FC set to join in 2015 - a partnership between Manchester City and the New York Yankees. Does this spell doom for Red Bull? Should they just get it over with and rebrand as New Jersey? How long before MLS stretches beyond twenty teams with other candidates still waiting in the wings? Should they?

And what, aside from Sky Blue-clad, will this new New York team look like?

Until next weekend.

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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MLS Week in Review – Round 13

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