Four delicacies for one’s viewing pleasure this round, each special in its own right.
In chronological order, up first is Toronto FC’s Brazilian designated player,
His petulance before hand was entirely justified – one must wonder if that is exactly what he needed to kick-start his season – a nagging hip flexor injury may have other ideas, however.
Free-kicks a little too static? How about this half-field run and finish from Philadelphia’s
What a run and what a hit – seems when he is not throwing himself about recklessly, the man can play some ball.
Not to be outdone, Chivas’ Mexican sensation,
Simply unstoppable – appears that somebody has been getting ideas from watching the World Cup.
And finally, as if those three were not enough, what to make of this from Montreal’s
Not sure he knew exactly what would happen there, but the audacity to try was well rewarded with a goal of the year candidate.
But, which one is best?
Keep an eye out for some other weekend gems – Dillon Powers’ roll-and-spin move on Russell Teibert was immaculate, as was Andy Dorman’s pass to set up Sair Sene’s strike
On to the results:
Midweek Result in a Sentence
MLS returned with an uneventful scoreless draw between the two Canadian sides, who never really got out of first gear. The two did exchange cracks off the woodwork, as Maxim Tissot struck wood in the 73rd minute and Jordan Harvey did likewise in the 77th.
Results in Brief
The first of Friday night’s action saw New York play host to Toronto. Given Red Bull’s propensity for slow starts, TFC came out of the gates flying, taking the match to their Eastern Conference rivals, but it was New York who would strike first when Thierry Henry found left-back Ambroise Oyongo streaking down the flank.
He cut back onto his right-foot around the attentions of Dominic Oduro – making his first league start for his new side – and sent a cross towards the penalty spot where Peguy Luyindula beat Doneil Henry to the ball, angling his header towards the far-side of goal in the 36th minute.
TFC would draw level in the 55th when Jonathan Osorio laid a ball down the right for Oduro, who picked out the run of Jermain Defoe with a near-post ball, allowing predatory finisher to dart in front of Jamison Olave and clip a right-footed finish across a helpless Luis Robles.
Toronto would take the lead seventeen minutes on from a free-kick, but not until after a flaring of tempers saw Defoe and Gilberto exchange words as the two battled over the right to take the set-piece. Gilberto won out in the end and was sure to make an impact, smashing a right-footed blast in off the underside of the bar after a twinkle-toed run-up.
The duo was all smiles after the Brazilian’s wonder-strike.
But, as was so often the case in the past, Toronto could not protect that lead, conceding a 93rd minute equalizer to Bradley Wright-Phillips after Tim Cahill entered the fray, flicking on a long ball from centre-back Matt Miazga to the left-post, where the deadly Englishman finished his twelfth goal of the season with a left-footer than squeezed under a moving Joe Bendik.
The 2-2 draw was a fair result on the night, extending both side’s undefeated streaks – to three for New York and to five for TFC, though their winning run was halted at two. As they had entered the match, the two remain separated by a mere point, sitting in fourth and fifth place in the East, though Red Bull has played four matches more.
Friday’s other match pitted two foes well familiar with each other, having met just four days earlier in the US Open Cup – Portland won that match in Kansas City, 1-3.
The Timbers looked to reprise that success when Fanendo Adi nodded in a Darlington Nagbe cross after fourteen minutes, but the big striker had drifted offside by the thinnest of margins. Ten minutes later the visitors would snatch the lead from a long throw, when Seth Sinovic, stepping up to the touchlines in place of the absent Matt Besler, launched a toss from the right-side.
His delivery bounced off the outstretched leg of Kevin Ellis in the middle and fell kindly to Lawrence Olum, who had drifted towards the near-post, away from his marker Pa Modou Kah. The Kenyan international Olum, pounced on the loose ball, smashing a low right-footer across Donovan Ricketts and into the Portland goal.
The Timbers nearly made amends before half-time, but Nagbe’s looping header drifted fractions wide of the top corner.
With the second half, though the match opened up to a lively back-and-forth affair, neither side could find further breakthrough. Frustration set in for a raucous close that saw both sides have a penalty shout waived away, while three yellow cards were flashed in consecutive minutes.
With the 0-1 win, Kansas City, who are still struggling for numbers with injuries and international duty, continued their rebound from that five-match winless run that blighted their May, picking up a second-straight win – and a modicum of revenge for getting bounced from the US Open Cup.
Portland, who are now winless in two, succumbed once more to their Achilles’ heel – conceding first, which they have done in twelve of their seventeen matches, prompting some interesting rhetoric from Caleb Porter – more on that below in the Overheard segment.
Saturday’s schedule got underway with a tasty clash between the two clubs at the top of their respective conferences – with the East’s leaders DC United entertaining the West’s Seattle at RFK Stadium in the American capital.
Somewhat dampening the affair, both sides were without key players, as Fabian Espindola, the catalyst for much of DC’s success, picked up a knee-knock that will see him miss four-to-six weeks, while Seattle not only missed Clint Dempsey and DeAndre Yedlin, who are with the Americans in Brazil, but also Obafemi Martins, who collected a red card prior to the break in Chicago.
Regardless of the oppressive Eastern seaboard conditions, the two engaged in a lively contest, without properly threatening the other’s goal. That is until Seattle recycled a cleared Gonzalo Pineda corner kick back to the Mexican veteran on the right side.
Pineda, who has been a gem of an addition this season, picked up his head and spotted Chad Barrett unmarked in the middle, to ping a lovely cross towards the edge of the six for the journeyman MLS striker, who helped it on to the far-side of goal for the game’s lone strike.
As the oppressive humidity began to wear on the players, DC could not find a way back in to the match, continuing their fruitless streak against the Sounders – who, with the 0-1 win, have now taken points in their last four meetings, while not conceding to United in nearly four hundred minutes. They did have chances: Eddie Johnson, making his first – and only appearance of the season – against his former employer was visibly frustrated at not being able to make a clean connection with a Sean Franklin cross in the 82nd minute and in the final minute of regulation rookie Steve Birnbaum saw his free header drift wide of the target.
The Sounders, who have built a ten-point gap atop the league with 35 points from sixteen matches, continue to roll on, winning a third-straight match and stretching their current unbeaten run to five matches.
Up next was an all-Eastern affair between New England and Philadelphia, one that featured a debut of sorts, as interim manager, Jim Curtain, who replaced the departed John Hackworth, took the reins for his first MLS match.
With the start of May, the Revolution were the form team of the league, in the midst of a five-match winning streak and seven-match unbeaten run, but with the close of the month, two losses revealed that this is much growth to be undertaken by the young, exciting side.
That down-turn continued, as a mistake gave Philadelphia the breakthrough three minutes before the half-time whistle. Union keeper Zac MacMath launched a long ball up the field that stalwart centre-back, Jose Goncalves, would have easily dealt with in happier times. Instead the veteran Portuguese allowed the ball to bounce – a cardinal sin – then could only watch in horror as Sebastien Le Toux intercepted his back-header, touching past Brad Knighton.
Further hesitation again proved costly in the 69th minute, when Danny Cruz collected the ball deep in his own half and was allow a free fifty-yard run towards the Revolution goal. The prime culprit was AJ Soares, who backed off and backed off, as Cruz cut to the top of the arc to bury a right-footed dipping shot into the bottom right-corner of the New England goal, doubling Philadelphia’s advantage.
Sair Sene would pull one back for the hosts after Andy Dorman split open the Philadelphia defenses with a ball down the right-side of the box for Kelyn Rowe. Rowe deftly squared a pass through the goalmouth for Sene to tap into the open goal with his left-boot in the 73rd minute.
But Le Toux, who has found his scoring boots in recent matches aided by a return to the forward line, responded with his second of the game five minutes later, receiving a return ball from Andrew Wenger and placing a low, right-footer into the bottom left-corner of the net – it was his sixth goal in their last five matches, all competitions.
With the 1-3 win, Curtain collects his first MLS win, adding it to a pair of Open Cup victories during the break and Philadelphia begin to turn around their opening half struggles by collecting points in their last two, leapfrogging struggling Houston in the standings.
The loss was a third-straight for Jay Heaps’ revolution, who must seek to redress their defensive worries, as the seven goals conceded in the losing spell has now dwarfed the six they conceded in their recent unbeaten run.
As that match wound down, midway across the continent, the next one was getting underway, as Colorado welcomed Vancouver to the lofty confines of Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
The Rapids wasted little time in testing their guests, just three-days removed from a midweek match against Montreal; it was Dillon Powers who fired a warning shot after seventeen minutes, pouncing on a loose ball in the Whitecaps box, though his thunderous right-footer could only set the crossbar a-trembling.
Three minutes later, Powers would not be denied, deftly letting a deflected, right-sided Marvell Wynne cross run across his body as he turned away from Russell Teibert high at the near-post and smashed a low, left-footer to the far-side of goal.
Vancouver struggled to connect in the mountain air and before long Colorado had doubled their advantage – this time from the penalty spot in the 37th minute, after Nigel Reo-Coker foolishly bodied Deshorn Brown to the ground inside the box. The fit-again Vicente Sanchez would convert, driving his left-footer into the bottom right-corner, leaving David Ousted no chance at saving.
Sanchez would nearly add a second three minutes later, with an audacious, acrobatic overhead attempt, but Ousted was equal to the challenge.
The second half slowed dramatically with Colorado bossing the play around a tired Vancouver side. The Whitecaps would force at least one good save out of Clint Irwin, who got down low to deny Johnny Leveron from the top of the box in the 83rd minute, but it was not to be.
The 2-0 win was Colorado’s second over Vancouver – having come from behind earlier in the season on a stunning brace from Jose Mari – extending their unbeaten home form to four matches; it also disappointly ended Vancouver’s MLS club-record unbeaten run at eight matches.
The first of two West Coast nightcaps was the headliner of the evening: a California Clasico in front of some fifty-thousand fans at Stanford Stadium.
When these two meet, there tend to be some fireworks, but this match, though far from a damp squib, did not live up to that billing, as both were without key pieces and focused on staying compact at the back, thus limiting the chances of the opposition.
Steven Lenhart menaced the young LA centre-back pairing of Kofi Opare and Tommy Meyer, but could not find purchase; San Jose’s best chance of the game came from Jason Hernandez, who squirreled his free header off target.
The Galaxy, who played a patient match, finally found a breakthrough in the 61st minute with some lovely buildup that saw Robbie Keane drift out wide to the right, from whence he picked out the sneaky run of Marcelo Sarvas with a curling ball. The Costa Rican, elated at his nation’s success in Brazil, wisely laid off the ball to Gyasi Zardes lurking above the penalty spot for a side-footer into the top-right side of the goal.
Startled, San Jose nearly conceded another eleven minutes later, when Stefan Ishizaki cut in from the right, only for his blistering shot to carom off the far-post. The rebound fell kindly to Opare, but both his follow up attempts were blocked – first by Busch, then by a prone teammate, Zardes.
As in their wont, the Earthquakes ensured a thrilling ending – Lenhart saw a header in the 88th minute tipped over the bar by Jaime Penedo and Keane nearly added a second for LA, rounding Busch only to have Ty Harden block on the line in the 92nd.
With the 0-1 win, LA continue their slow march up the table, stretching their current unbeaten run to five matches – aside from TFC, LA has played the fewest matches in the league after a series of bye-weeks early; they may currently sit below the red line, but their points per game has them one of the top sides in MLS.
For San Jose, who were without Chris Wondolowski, Shea Salinas, Victor Bernardez, and Clarence Goodson, it was a solid outing that lacked the finish provided by those missing starters. Slim consolation can be found in the fact that their last three losses (against Seattle, Toronto, and LA, some of the classiest teams in the league) have all been by a single goal; evidence that they are not far off of success.
Meanwhile back in Los Angeles, an entirely different outcome was brewing.
Expansion cousins from the 2005 class, Salt Lake and Chivas have seen their shared history diverge in recent years – with Salt Lake soaring to the top of the league, renowned for their style and Chivas, after a few strong seasons, crashing and burning.
On paper, this night could only end one way; luckily for Los Ameri-Goats, matches seldom go as they should.
The evening turned after just nine minutes when Salt Lake midfielder Luke Mulholland threw himself recklessly into a challenge in the centre-circle, clattering into Martin Rivero, catching him on the knee with his studs, leaving the referee little choice but to show the only red card of the weekend.
It was not particularly malicious, but nevertheless Mulholland was off and Salt Lake were down to ten men.
Chivas looked to make that advantage count and nearly did so seven minutes later when Leandro Barrera rounded Jeff Attinella, in for Nick Rimando – away on national team duty, but the Chivas attacker was deemed offside. Despite Chivas bossing the action, Salt Lake did not give up, and nearly took the lead themselves in the 26th when Joao Plata was ruled to have drifted off – he finished anyways, but it did not count.
Nine minutes later, Chivas would find their breakthrough when left-back Tony Lochhead intercepted a pass and strolled up his flank before hitting a curling ball towards Cubo Torres, who had drifted behind Chris Schuler into the space vacated by Abdoulie Mansally.
Torres tracked the flight of the cross hungrily and made no mistake with his first-time volley, smashing a right footer past Attinella to put Chivas in the lead.
With minutes shy of an hour remaining, Chivas had numerous chances to pad their win, but they could not find the final ball with Mauro Rosales, Barrera, Torres, and Carlos Alvarez all wasting solid looks. That profligacy left the door open for Salt Lake, who, despite their disadvantage fought hard to the final whistle, and may have won a penalty kick in the penultimate minute of regulation, when Plata went over Dan Kennedy as the two contested for a ball – no call was forth coming.
As this may well be their final season under the Chivas banner, perhaps it was only proper that the LA-based side got one over on their birth-year relatives; the 1-0 win was their first in five matches, snapping a winless run and picking up their first clean sheet of the season – something worth celebrating to be sure.
For Salt Lake, who stunned the league with that twelve-match unbeaten start, the loss was their third in their last four matches, stretching a winless run to five matches – not to mention a US Open Cup humbling at the hands of NASL side Atlanta.
Originally scheduled to be played on Saturday, but postponed due to inclement weather and the serious injury of a supporter (more on that below), Sunday began with an early afternoon match in Columbus.
Both teams struggled in the heat and humidity of a midday sun, as well as with the jigging of their internal match clocks and the lack of a proper atmosphere (due to the short notice of the rescheduling), causing the match to be played at a snail’s pace.
Despite the conditions, Dallas nearly took the lead when Columbus goalkeeper, Steve Clark swatted at a long throw which fell at the feet of Andres Escobar, whose effort was blocked en route to goal by Michael Parkhurst.
Columbus were limited to shots from range in the first and the visitors should have taken the lead shortly after the half-time restart when Escobar made a strong run up the left, evading several defenders before setting up Tesho Akindele, but his effort struck the post.
Akindele, the cup hero against Houston, nearly made amends eight minutes later, when Je-Vaughan Watson picked him out at the near-post, but the ball bobbled slightly and his touch could only put it over the target.
Clark came up big to deny a strong David Texeira header in the 83rd minute and Jairo Arrieta found Columbus’ best chance a minute later, when Alvaro Rey – making his league debut for his new club – picked out the forward with a chipped pass, but his right-footed effort could only find the out-side netting.
It should come as little surprise that two of the league’s struggling sides – Columbus have just one win in their last twelve and Dallas one in their last ten – should combine for a scoreless draw, their third and second-straight, respectively.
The final match of the round saw two strugglers in the East take to the pitch, with the added dimension of them not liking each other.
Ever since the Impact selected Houston club legend, Brian Ching, in the expansion draft, there has been a lingering tension whenever these two meet, culminating in that horrendous close to last season’s knockout playoff round that saw two Impact players red carded.
Montreal may sit in the basement of the conference, but since winning the Voyageurs Cup, they’ve looked to turn their season around – picking up a draw in Vancouver midweek was a good start. Houston may look a little better off, but a woeful run of four-straight losses has them plummeting.
After a few half chances were exchanged and a few yellow cards issued, Montreal found their breakthrough in the 41st minute when Gorka Larra, their new Spanish midfield, moved the ball wide to Eric Miller on the left. He took on Kofi Sarkodie, cutting in-field to tee up a cross, which was met by Jack McInerney at the edge of the six, helping it on to the far-side of goal.
McInerney, who has been red-hot of late, added his second of the match in the 75th minute in the most outrageous of fashions, somehow contorting his body to get a touch on a Justin Mapp cross that looked out of his reach, looping a finish on to the far-side of goal – miraculous finish. Marco Di Vaio, who was screaming for his teammate to leave it, could only shrug in admiration.
Di Vaio would get his goal four minutes later, after Andres Romero broke in down the left-side of the box – Tally Hall would save his effort, but the rebound would fall straight to the Italian poacher, who touched into the gaping net.
With the 3-0 win, Montreal begin their ascent out of the cellar, leapfrogging over an idle Chicago side, collecting a second-consecutive clean-sheet, and stretching a modest unbeaten run to two matches, while continuing the trend of the home team winning each of the seven all-time meetings between the clubs.
Houston, on the other hand, could not arrest their slide, falling to a fifth-straight loss, losing those matches by a combined score of 13-0 – they have not scored in nearly five hundred minutes of play.
CanCon
As usual, the extended Canadian Content review will be posted tomorrow (Wednesday), late in the afternoon – shame that it was not ready for Canada Day.
With two Canadian clubs seeing double-game weeks, there were plenty of local lads on the pitch this round, featuring some standout performances from some of the less-heralded names: Maxim Tissot, Kofi Opare, and Tesho Akindele, as well as the usual candidates.
Horrible News
Columbus Fire Department Lt. Stu Tudor was injured prior to the Saturday kickoff between the Crew and FC Dallas when he was struck by lightning, which prompted the match to be moved to Sunday at 2 pm.
Nobody should ever be injured at a sporting event, so send some positive vibes his way.
For more information, check out the Columbus Dispatch. Crew fans held up a banner at the match that read “Get Well Stu”.
Overheard
That one of their fans was injured while attending a match resonated deeply with Columbus, Gregg Berhalter began his post-match comments with class, focusing on the important matter at hand - “First, I want to give our best wishes and thoughts and prayers to Stu Tudor and his family. We are all in his corner and he is one of us. He has been on our mind in the last 24 hours.”
Justin Meram too had the incident on his mind, “You hear something like that, and you don't want to play. There's a fan out there that was coming to watch all of us, and he's a guy who saves lives himself. Here he is, on a Saturday, coming to the game and relaxing and that happens. So I think that [postponing the match] was the right thing to do."
Vancouver’s Carl Robinson was forthright in his assessment of his side’s 0-0 draw against Montreal on Wednesday, "Well it wasn't very enjoyable watching it, was it. I didn't enjoy watching it and I think the players didn't enjoy playing in it. Bad day at the office, I think you'd call it.”
Caleb Porter chastised his team for their repeated poor starts, “We can’t keep relying on ‘Operation Come From Behind,’ And it seems like every second half it’s, ‘Alright, Operation Comeback, we need to score one, score two’. And we’ve pulled out a lot of them, which shows that this team has spirit, shows we have a good attacking group, but we fell short tonight, and you’re going to fall short if you put yourself in that position as many times as we have.”
See It Live
Defoe and Gilberto disagreed over who should take the free-kick, then celebrate with smiles – excellent dramatic swing.
Eddie Johnson really wanted to score against his former side, but could not manage his hang-time right in the 82nd minute – his frustration was palpable – and audible.
Ty Harden’s clearance smacked straight into the face of Khari Stephenson, giving LA a chance, but both Harden and fellow centre-back, Jason Hernandez, recovered well.
Nat Borchers, who became a new father during the break, is sporting an epic amount of facial hair
Controversy
No real controversy this round, as the combination of heat and rust kept most of the matches pretty tame – the one penalty kick was obvious, as was the red card.
Salt Lake thought they earned a penalty, as Joao Plata went over Dan Kennedy as the two challenged for a ball in the 89th minute, but the non-call was fair enough.
US Open Cup
The fourth and fifth rounds of the US Open Cup, played over the break, featured some shocking results: the Red Bulls fell to the Cosmos in the first-ever meeting between the two New York sides, defending champions DC United were tossed by Rochester, and Salt Lake exited at the hands of Atlanta, all in the third round. While the fourth saw the LA Galaxy ousted by Carolina, as had their LA-brethren Chivas the previous round, perennial contenders Sporting KC fell at home to Portland, and an extra-time winner from Tesho Akindele sealed the result for Dallas over their Texas rivals, Houston.
With the field whittled down to the final eight, the quarterfinal matchups are as follows: Philadelphia-New England; Atlanta-Chicago; Carolina-Dallas; Seattle-Portland.
The matches will be played over two days next week, with the first match on 8 July and the other three the following day – be sure to catch the Cascadia match, should be a good one.
Upcoming Fixtures
Back from the break, the action continues thick and fast as a pair of midweek matches make way for a holiday weekend schedule that features five matches on Saturday (July 4th is a big holiday state-side, Independence Day and all – there will be fireworks), three on Saturday, and a lone Sunday fixture.
Wednesday: Chicago-Toronto; San Jose-Chivas. Friday: Houston-New York; Dallas-Philadelphia; Colorado-Columbus; Salt Lake-New England; Los Angeles-Portland. Saturday: Toronto-DC; Vancouver-Seattle; Chivas-Montreal. Sunday: Kansas City-Chicago.
That LA-Portland tie looks to be a good one, while Toronto-DC, that may have been a stinker last season, will feature two of the best sides in the league, to cap off the night, a tasty Pacific Northwest clash between Vancouver and Seattle could get heated.
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