MLS Week in Review – Round 14 - 24th Minute

The fourteenth round of MLS was played over the weekend - its nine matches provided 26 goals – two from the spot and a trio of own-goals, saw 31 bookings and four red cards – two straight and two accumulative – resulting in three draws and three away wins to cap off a busy week of both domestic and international action nicely.

With national team games, the Voyageurs Cup finale, the US Open Cup and the sacking – by mutual consent of course - of Chivas USA’s bombastic El Chelis, one could be forgiven for missing some of the action, but fret not, this review will help with anything that may have slipped through the cracks.

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The surprise of the round has to be New England’s 5-0 drubbing of defending champions, Los Angeles Galaxy, days removed from their shock exit of the Open Cup, away to NASL side, Carolina RailHawks, 2-0 at WakeMed Soccer Park.

Bruce Arena decided not to make the trip, staying with the first-team and sending the usual reserve staff headed by Curt Onalfo - and a largely reserve side – to the cup fixture.

Arena had complained vociferously about his side being one of the few forced – by the drawing of lots and flipping of coins – to travel across the continent for the match and may secretly be alright with having fallen at the first hurdle for the second-straight season – another loss to those same RailHawks in Cary, North Carolina last May.

LA has been inconsistent to say the least this season, alternating resounding wins with crushing losses. Shorn of Robbie Keane and Omar Gonzalez, both away on national team duty, they were always likely to struggle, but in truth, the story of this latest debacle is Jay Heaps’ revolution in New England.

Before the results, the goal of the round:

Plenty of contenders spread around the league: Jonathan Osorio and Kenny Miller’s headers were both delightful convergences of crossing and movement; Jordan Harvey’s left-footed volley screamed into the back of goal – atoning ever-so slightly for his poor miss at the death against Montreal in the Voyageurs Cup; Houston’s Warren Creavalle has quietly become quite the goal-scorer, tallying his third of the season with a leaping redirection against Columbus and Lamar Neagle’s ball to free Obafemi Martins for the opener against Chivas was simply wonderful.

Speaking of Chivas, Mario de Luna’s spectacular own-goal, a disastrous crossing of wires between himself and keeper, Dan Kennedy, was worthy of note – though declaring it goal of the weekend would be cruel to long-suffering Ameri-Goats fans.

In the end it comes down to two sides, Salt Lake and New England.

All three of the Lakers goals were wonderful passages of movement and interplay, Ned Grabavoy’s in particular, brought about by a perfectly executed dummy from Joao Plata – who has really found a home in the mountains – was a close second.

But top billing goes to the Revs, and their starlet, Diego Fagundez.

Starting deep on the right, Fagundez receives the ball on the touch-line near half, skips past one defender on the outside before moving in-field.

Skipping past nibbles from various LA defenders, he eludes several half-tackles before pausing, just long enough to freeze the back-line and play-in Juan Agudelo on the left.

The pass is slightly over-hit, forcing Agudelo into the corner. For most teams the play would fizzle out there, but not this spritely New England side.

Agudelo chases it down, plays back to Fagundez – now stationed on the left touch-line. He heads towards goal, plays a nice, slightly delayed one-two with Kelyn Rowe, receiving the return pass goal-side of Meyer to calmly stroke a right-footed finish past Carlo Cudicini in goal.

Lovely

Results in Brief

Toronto 1 – Philadelphia 1

It appeared the curse was to end, but Jack McInerney made TFC pay once more with a second stoppage-time equalizer against Toronto – having down the same in the previous meeting under similar circumstances - sparing Philadelphia blushes and handing the home side another bitter conclusion.

Toronto began brightly, moving the ball well if rarely threatening the goal. A scuffle between Doneil Henry and Zac MacMath led to Henry’s dismissal shortly before half-time when he was shown a second yellow card for lunging in on Danny Cruz at the top of the Toronto box.

Down a man, TFC took the lead when Jeremy Hall laid a ball down the right for Jeremy Brockie to swing into the middle where it was met by Jonathan Osorio with a resounding header.

The pressure mounted as the clock ticked down. An odd, pre-planned substitution saw the return of Danny Koevermans, but robbed Toronto of their high-pressing first defender. McInerney made them pay, back-pedaling to find space where a half-cleared Sheanon Williams long throw fell on the left for a low shot to the bottom far-corner.

Ryan Nelsen’s charges are now winless in eleven league fixtures, though they snapped a five-match losing slide, but should take some heart from the performance, if not the result. John Hackworth’s Union will gladly take the point and brace for another midweek fixture in the midst of a busy spell.

New York 1 – Vancouver 2

The Whitecaps rebounded from a disappointing midweek draw at home against Montreal - that saw them once more finish second in the chase to be Canada’s top club – picking up their first road win of the season and handing New York their first loss in nearly two months.

Right-back, Greg Klazura, making his first start of the season, was unlucky to see a left-sided Jonny Steele cross rebound off his outstretched boot and nestle past Brad Knighton in the Vancouver goal to open the scoring shortly after half-time.

But the Whitecaps stormed back, with left-back Jordan Harvey erasing the advantage with a thunderous volley after a poor Eric Alexander clearance seven minutes later, and fit-again Kenny Miller capped off the night with a brilliant bit of movement to elude Kosuke Kimura and get on the end of a Russell Teibert right-sided cross in the 83rd minute.

The questionable dismissal of centre-back Jamison Olave for a soft second booking made the task somewhat easier, though the ball played into space for Teibert by the oft-criticized Jun Marques Davidson was worthy of a winner and Russell and Miller ensued it was so.

Martin Rennie, reportedly under pressure for having failed to secure the Canadian Championship, will rightly be proud of the response from his side, while Mike Petke’s New York have some time to lick their wounds with an international break before returning for an Open Cup fixture scheduled for June 12th.

Columbus 1 – Houston 1

Columbus returned from a successful away trip – four of six points – but needed a 69th minute penalty kick from Federico Higuain to prevent a third successive loss in front of the home fans.

Warren Creavalle opened the scoring for Houston with a flying redirection of a Kofi Sarkodie right-sided cross in the 31st minute.

Higuain responded, beginning the play that led to the equalizer by threading a ball through the legs of a defender to Matias Sanchez, who found homegrown full-back on the right-side of the box. The rookie, playing in his first match, was tripped up by Andrew Driver and Higuain did not mess around, smashing his spot kick high into the goal down the middle.

Robert Warzycha’s Crew lost midfielder Eddie Gaven to a season-ending knee injury after a reportedly innocuous challenge midweek, but continue their domination of Houston, who have not won in the series since 2008. Dominic Kinnear’s Dynamo meanwhile are mired in a four-match winless streak since seeing their long home unbeaten run rudely ended by Kansas City.

Kansas City 1 – Montreal 2

The feud between these two clubs continues to elevate to new heights. One may recall on their last visit to Sporting Park, Montreal coach, Marco Schallibaum was ejected for splashing water – whether advertently or not – on the fourth official.

Schallibaum was again shown to the stands, while his side endured a weak penalty call and a red card to Alessandro Nesta – he responded after a bit of conniving nastiness from Claudio Bieler, who stamped (if lightly) on his hands as the Italian veteran lay on the ground.

Bieler, who battled with Nesta all night, earned the penalty in first half stoppage-time when a hand from the sagacious centre-back on his shoulder was enough to drag the striker down just inside the box – he duly dispatched it himself.

Sanna Nyassi responded two minutes into the second frame with a scorching half-volley from the top of the box after a failed clearance – by Bieler - before Collen Warner made good use of another defending fail six minutes later, when Ike Opara missed his hoof and Warner adroitly slotted the scrambled play across Jimmy Nielsen for the winner.

CORRECTION: It wasn't Opara - he was out of position - Peterson Joseph was the one who flubbed the clearance. Apologies.

Peter Vermes’ fury, as will be expanded upon shortly, knows no bounds, more so given his side is now winless in three and failed to make up any ground on New York, while letting Montreal inch further ahead at the top of the East. Schallibaum’s Impact are lurching from strength to strength with an impressive away record trailing their unbeaten home form only slightly.

Colorado 2 – Dallas 2

A furious ten minute spell from the 56th onward saw all four goals scored, with Colorado twice taking the lead only for Dallas to respond in kind.

Atiba Harris scored his third and fourth of the season – a header from a long Marvell Wynne right-sided throw-in and a right-footer on the end of a hopeful headed pass from Chris Klute at the right-post – but Blas Perez answered both times, taking his tally up to five on the season – a pair of right-footed shots from increasing distances; first, after a Michel ball was cleared by Harris but hit Wynne and fell to the Dallas striker at the top of the box and then collecting a long Jackson ball on his chest before placing a second attempt low into the bottom left-corner of the goal.

Oscar Pareja’s Rapids stretch their unbeaten run to six matches, and got some good injury news this week, with players returning to training and fears of a serious injury to Martin Rivero allayed, while Schellas Hyndman’s Dallas has seen their lead atop the league and the West dwindle to a mere two and four points respectively after three draws and a loss in their last six matches.

Salt Lake 3 – San Jose 0

Matches last 90 minutes, but Salt Lake needed only 38 to assert their dominance over a struggling San Jose side.

Javier Morales opened the scoring in the 16th minute, pouncing on a Robbie Findley rebound after playing the speedy American down the right for a shot. The two were again involved in the second 17 minutes later with Findley finding Morales wide right and the Argentine sending a low ball into the box, which was cleverly dummied by Joao Plata to an unmarked Ned Grabavoy who dinked his finish high into the net.

Findley himself added a third in the 38th collecting a blocked Plata cut-back on the right-side of the box and curling a right-footer into the far side-netting.

Jason Kreis’ Salt Lake has surged up the table in recent weeks – four wins in their last six – and now sit within four points of the previously unreachable Dallas; Frank Yallop’s San Jose were shutout for the third time in their last four matches, have just one win in their last eleven fixtures, and sit above only Chivas at the bottom of the Western Conference on fifteen points from as many games.

Chivas 0 – Seattle 2

A coaching change and a switch to a back-four were not enough to see Chivas end their long losing and winless streaks as they fell once more to Seattle.

Obafemi Martins scored his fourth for the club, when a deft Lamar Neagle touch played him down the left-channel where he finished expertly over Dan Kennedy. Mario de Luna’s bizarre own-goal doubled the lead and the Ameri-goats rarely threatened.

It was not all smooth sailing for Sigi Schmid’s Sounders, they lost Oswaldo Alonso to a leg injury after a mere 21 minutes and Martins was shown a harsh red card when referee Ricardo Salazar deemed his attempt to disentangle himself from Carlos Alvarez as a kick to the face and dismissed him posthaste.

Interim Chivas boss, director of soccer, Francisco Palencia - keeping the seat warm for the incoming Jose Luis Real - could not halt a fifth-consecutive loss that extends their current winless run to eight matches, nor inspire the side to a goal, falling to a seventh shutout of the season – they have only scored three goals since their last win at the end of March.

New England 5 – Los Angeles 0

A rampant Revolution ran roughshod over the Galaxy, stripped of two of their brightest stars, in the surprise result of the round, on goals from five different scorers: Sair Sene, Lee Nguyen, Chad Barrett, Diego Fagundez and Kelyn Rowe – the latter two each adding a pair of assists, handed LA their worst loss since 2002.

Sene opened the scoring in the 33rd minute cutting in from the right and playing a one-two with Fagundez before placing a low left-footed shot in off the inside of the far-post. Nguyen controversially doubled the lead in the 71st after some confusion over a referee’s decision allowed Fagundez to catch LA napping with a quick free kick to Nguyen, who caught Galaxy keeper, Carlo Cudicini off-balance at the short-side.

Fagundez, for a fourth consecutive match, scored himself in the 87th, nabbing goal of the round honours, before Barrett – a right-footer after Rowe found him unmarked on the left – and Rowe – bending a right-footer around a defender to the near-post after moving in from the right and receiving a neat lay-off from Barrett – added goals in the 91st and 94th minutes respectively piling onto the Galaxy’s misery.

Jay Heaps’s New England has now scored ten goals in their last two matches – a 1-5 win at Rochester midweek in the US Open Cup – and fourteen in their last four, including a three-game winning streak in the league to leap into playoff contention in the East. Bruce Arena’s LA have yet to find the level of consistency normally associated with champions.

Chicago 2 – DC 0

Recently-acquired striker Mike Magee made it two goals in two matches for Chicago. Having joined the club in exchange for the rights to Robbie Rogers last Friday, Magee debuted in the Open Cup and scored, then doubled his contribution with a late clincher on Sunday evening.

Chicago took the lead early with a stroke of fortune, when Jeff Larentowicz touched on a Joel Lindpere free-kick, which nicked off Nick DeLeon and looped high into the top, left-corner of the goal.

DC boss, Ben Olsen has tried everything to get his side clicking, starting both Dwayne De Rosario and Carlos Ruiz together in attack a week after some quickly-quashed controversy mused that he thought them too slow to play together – DC had zero shots on target against Chicago. One player, Marcos Sanchez was released midweek and further changes are afoot lest results turn.

Chicago’s Frank Klopas shook up his club with a pair of acquisitions recently – centre-back Bakary Soumare and forward Magee – which have thus far made a difference, the Fire are unbeaten in two matches – a win and a draw. It is their first such streak of the season.

CanCon

As usual the extended look at the Canadian contributions to the league this weekend will be up tomorrow (Tuesday) some time midday.

Overheard

Shep Messing on the New York broadcast said that Kenny Miller has been useless for a year and a half – that’s a bit harsh, he only arrived midseason and has been impressive this year – when not injured of course.

There was some horrible pronunciation this weekend – despite each club including a pronunciation outline in the game guides to avoid such atrocities – Kobaya-shea? Ya-pick-ka-no?

The Chicago Fire game was broadcast in Spanish again, brilliant - GOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLL, del Fire!

See It Live

Blas Perez’s bull-horn celebration with fingers adorned to the side of his head after scoring is something, not sure if a new thing or a continuation of an old one, but surely there is some sort of story there.

The Kansas City-Montreal rivalry deepens.

It began last season when the Impact earned a surprise victory, their first on the road, with a defensive-display at Sporting Park. It elevated when, in their first meeting of this season, Montreal coach, Marco Schallibaum was dismissed for reportedly getting water on the fourth official, and now this later chapter, with various reports of harsh words and clashes between Peter Vermes and the Montreal staff.

Two emotionally charged groups, vying for the top of the Eastern Conference; then next meet on July 27th in Montreal, should be tasty.

It will be interesting to see how the Disciplinary Committee approaches the Nesta red card situation - he was clearly provoked by a – mild – stamp from Bieler, does the Argentine face any retribution from the head office?

Chad Barrett has cut a frustrated figure with his lack of playing time this season, he let that out with his celebration after scoring on Sunday, holding nothing back against his former employers.

Upcoming Fixtures

This next week sees a solitary midweek fixture, followed by a sparse weekend schedule of only four matches due to FIFA dates for World Cup Qualifiers.

Wednesday: Philadelphia-Columbus. Saturday: New England-DC; Chicago-Portland; Salt Lake-Los Angeles; Seattle-Vancouver.

Parting Thoughts

A few questions to ponder and discuss:

Any issues with the red cards dished out this weekend? Warranted or not? Should Henry and MacMath both have been sent off for their initial clash? Did the referee force himself into unbalancing the game harshly with that moment of leniency? Was Nesta’s harsh or should Bieler have gone too? What about Olave’s - a little soft, no? Did the ref forget he had already booked him? Then there is Martins, which is highly debatable? Are any overturned?

Vancouver finally wins on the road and now brace for a tricky away trip to Cascadia rivals, Seattle, on Saturday. Does that win – and the memory of a crushing loss in the Voyageurs Cup – spur them on, or was the win in New York an aberration?

And Montreal, newly-crowned Canadian Champions, can they fight on two fronts with both league and cup commitments? Holding down first in the East, challenging for the Supporter’s Shield and travelling great distances for continental skirmishes in far-flung destinations?

How good was the second leg of the Voyageurs Cup Final? Enjoyable, no?

New England can stretch their run with a home fixture against DC? Just how good is this Fagundez kid and how long before he is overhyped and ruined? That said he is Uruguayan – having attended an youth camp last season - and not American, so he should be fine.

Portland returns from a bye week – and a thorough win in the Open Cup – on Saturday against the reformulated Chicago, did the rest do them good? Or is Chicago – with new centre-back and striker – going to start being relevant?

Aside from the Cascadia match, Salt Lake-LA is the headline fixture in the upcoming truncated weekend, does LA rebound or does Salt Lake make up further ground on Dallas?

With El Chelis gone, any thoughts on his brief tenure in the league? What does the future holds of the black sheep of the MLS flock?

Assuming most readers are Canadians, can one bear to watch any of the CONCACAF Hexagonal qualifying fixtures, or is the back firmly turned with Canada’s elimination?

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 14

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