Up first, from Friday night’s match,
In a similar vein, Columbus’
And finally, what about
Honourable mentions: Jeff Larentowicz’ powerful header in Chicago; the diagonal build-up on Joao Plata’s strike for Salt Lake
On to the matches:
Midweek Results in a Sentence
The Union won their first home match since March 15th, a span of eight games, on goals from Conor Casey, Fred, and Sebastien Le Toux with Bradley Wright-Phillips responding for the visiting Red Bull, once more set up by Thierry Henry, who tallied his league-leading tenth assist.
CJ Sapong put the visitors ahead before half-time, only an Igor Juliao own-goal to level the score after Aurelien Collin was dismissed harshly, setting the stage for a dramatic stoppage-time winner from Benny Feilhaber, continuing Kansas City’s four-game road winning streak and condemning Columbus to a seventh-consecutive winless outing.
Canadian rivals exchanged goals at the start of the second half, with Darren Mattocks putting the visitors ahead, only for Jermain Defoe to level from the spot after Nigel Reo-Coker fouled Jackson in the Whitecaps box.
The Galaxy found sweet revenge for last season’s 5-0 drubbing in New England, on a goal from Stefan Ishizaki and braces from Robbie Keane and Gyasi Zardes; Lee Nguyen would provide consolation from the penalty spot in a match that saw two red cards, one each to AJ Soares and Dan Gargan.
Results in Brief
The weekend kicked off early with a Friday night Western Conference clash between Portland and Colorado. Hosts Portland had not won a home match in five, were currently mired in a four-game winless run all told, and at risk of falling adrift of the playoff race, while Colorado were hoping to take advantage of their opponent and continue their unbeaten run of three matches.
Considering they had not scored in their last three visits, the evening began well for the travelling side with Deshorn Brown giving them the lead after sixteen minutes from an almighty goalmouth scramble. Dillon Powers’ left-sided, in-swinging corner kick was met at the edge of the six yard box by Drew Moor, but Donovan Ricketts was on hand to block his effort, the rebound was bobbled by Fanendo Adi, who could not clear, allowing Brown to force it over the line. Diego Valeri would hook it out of the goal and the scramble continued, but the linesman deemed the ball to have entered the goal and Colorado were in front.
The lead stood for the remainder of the first half and Portland coach Caleb Porter went to his bench on the hour mark, bringing on Diego Valeri and Max Urruti – his substitutions paid near immediate dividends.
Urruti would level the match in the 72nd minute on a sweeping move that saw Valeri flick a Gaston Fernandez ball to Darlington Nagbe, who in turn played in-field to Will Johnson. The captain spotted Jack Jewsbury in acres of space down the right and fed him a ball towards the end-line, which Jewsbury pulled-back to the near-post for Urruti to lift over the sprawling Clint Irwin.
Five minutes later the other addition, Valeri, would decide the match with a right-footed blast from 25 yards after the interplay of Diego Chara and Nagbe found him in space above the Rapids area. Chris Klute was slow to press, allowing Valeri to rifle a bending strike into the top right-corner, away from Irwin in goal.
The 2-1 win, their first since the start of June reinvigourated the Timbers, snapping their winless spell, while they welcomed recently-signed designated player, Liam Ridgewell to the fold. Pablo Mastroeni’s Rapids, who entered on the back of a pair of draws, have now won just one match in their last six games.
Normally MLS prefers to save the headline fixture for later in the evening – perhaps an indication of the relative strength of the Western Conference – but Saturday began with the marquee match of the round, when the combined winners of the last three MLS Cups met in the early evening.
Each riding two-game winning streaks and long unbeaten runs – five in the case of KC and eight for LA – this match was set to be an entertaining one.
And Benny Feilhaber wasted no time getting off the mark, following up his sumptuous midweek stoppage-time winner with a devastating free-kick inside the opening ten minutes. Granted a look at goal from just outside the area to the left of the arc, three Sporting players stood over the ball, but it was Feilhaber who hit, after a minor hesitation. His right-footed effort cleared the wall and curled into the top left-corner of the goal, leaving Galaxy keeper, Jaime Penedo absolutely no chance.
Kansas City would double their lead on the hour, when a left-sided in-swinging Graham Zusi corner kick sailed to the back-post. Penedo would get fingertips to it, pushing it wide, but Aurelien Collin collected and sent a cross back towards the left-post. Jacob Peterson rose to meet it, forcing another fingertip intervention from Penedo, who touched the header onto the bar, only for Lawrence Olum to head in from mere yards when the rebound eventually fell inside the six yard box.
Though KC got the first two goals, Los Angeles, fresh off that five-goal mauling of New England came to life in the second half, finally getting their breakthrough in the 79th minute when homegrown debutant, Bradford Jamieson (the Fourth or IV) inserted himself into a build-up.
A broken short-corner was cleared to Baggio Husidic, who headed forward, Jamieson (earning an assist in his debut), flicked it on neatly into the path of Robbie Keane, streaking down the right-side of the box. The Irishman, who ended a long (by his standards) five-match goal-less run midweek, made no mistake, touching a right-footer past a sliding Andy Gruenebaum.
Sporting would hold on for the 2-1 win, stretching their winning streak to three and unbeaten to six – the perfect way to celebrate the announcement of long-term, designated-player deals for World Cup stars, Graham Zusi and Matt Besler. Though their unbeaten run has come to an end, the Galaxy have used this streak to force themselves squarely into playoff consideration, sitting in fourth place with game in hand on all their rivals.
While the opening gambit was a silky affair, this one was anything but, as New York and San Jose combined for eight yellow cards in their Saturday meeting.
Even the goals were scrappy with Bradley Wright-Phillips continuing his impressive form, this time from the penalty spot after Steven Lenhart was called for an atrocious handball, stretching to flick away a Thierry Henry corner kick.
With his seventeenth goal of the season, all bar one coming in the last baker’s dozen matches, Wright-Phillips is on a tear, coolly slotting his right-footer more-or-less down the middle having drawn Jon Busch into committing early to his right in the 33rd minute.
With the second half the tension gradually rose – six of those bookings came in steady procession after the 64th minute – before Lenhart would find redemption for his error, registering his first of the season in the 85th minute with a cracking right-footer inside the New York box. Atiba Harris drove a ball into the area from the right that fell to Lenhart in a pocket of space above the penalty spot. His first cushioned touch was heavy, nearly giving Jamison Olave and Dax McCarty time to step up and close him down, respectively, but the striker reacted quickest, whipping the bouncing ball under Luis Robles to the bottom right-side of the goal.
That it was his first goal of the season is symptomatic of what has ailed the Earthquakes this season – they have just seventeen goals for through as many matches, compared to two-plus per match in their Supporters Shield winning season. Could this be the spark they need to claw out of the basement?
The 1-1 draw was fair enough, allowing New York to bounce back from the midweek defeat in Philadelphia and San Jose to halt a four-match losing skid.
With Columbus winless in seven matches and Montreal yet to win on their travels, observers were correct to assume not much would come from their Saturday night encounter. Instead, viewers were treated to a clinic of finishing.
Marco Di Vaio nabbed the first in the 35th minute after Justin Mapp intercepted a telegraphed pass from Bernardo Anor up the attacking right. Mapp played up to Di Vaio on the edge of the Crew area, who twisted up returning World Cup-star, Giancarlo Gonzalez, as he worked his way down the right-side of the box and expertly beat keeper, Steve Clark, with a low right-footer to the far-side of goal.
Anor atoned for his error in the 56th minute on a sweeping move that began when right-back Chad Barson moved in-field to find Tony Tchani. The midfielder moved the ball on to Anor, who had drifted in-field from his wide position to hit a screaming left-footer into the bottom right-corner of the goal from above the arc, past Evan Bush - making his first MLS start of the season in place of Troy Perkins.
The Venezuelan, who only seems to score in bunches, completed his second brace of the season in the 75th minute with a glorious finish: A long Heath Pearce clearance was headed forward by Gonzalez to be nodded down and back to Anor on the attacking edge of the centre-circle by Aaron Schoenfeld. Anor was allowed to turn and run at goal, side-stepping weak pressure from Felipe. Continuing unobstructed, he lifted his head to hit a right-footed screamer from some 25 yards, sailing into the top left-corner of the goal.
The 2-1 win was the Crew’s first in eight matches, and their first at home since the end of May, drawing them back level for the final playoff spot in the East – a three-way tie with New England and Philadelphia, while condemning the Impact to a third-straight loss and a thirteenth winless on the road, leaving many questions hanging over the clubs failure to push on from last season’s playoff appearance.
The round continued with another all-Eastern affair, pitting Chicago and Philadelphia against one another in a duel for crucial in-conference points. Long winless spells have marred both club’s campaigns – Philadelphia enduring a nine-match run and Chicago eight and six-match slogs – but both had hoped those misfortunes were squarely in the rearview.
After an uneventful first half, Chicago took the lead from a Harrison Shipp corner kick in the 60th minute, the excellent rookie curling his right-sided, out-swinging delivery to the penalty spot where Jeff Larentowicz had escaped his marker, Maurice Edu, for a free-header, guiding his finish into the top left-corner of the Philadelphia goal.
The Fire had ended their recent six-match winless run by dint of a last-minute Sean Johnson penalty save on New England’s Chris Tierney in the 84th minute last weekend and the keeper was called upon again to preserve the win, in the 91st minute this time, when Gonzalo Segares was harshly called for a handball.
Sebastien Le Toux, whose shot had struck the upper arm of the defender, took the attempt himself and just managed to squeeze his right-footed attempt past Johnson, who read his intentions, correctly diving to his right, but coming up short on this occasion.
It was the fifth goal in his last six matches from the Frenchman, who continued his perfection from the spot for the Union – twelve from twelve all-time – to earn his interim manager, Jim Curtain, a point against his former club from his playing days.
The draw sees both sides continue their unbeaten runs, but does little to impact their positions on the table, each currently on the outside looking in.
Up next was the third of four cross-conference encounters with in-form Dallas hosting a sputtering New England.
Dallas was the hottest team in the league through the five rounds, taking an early lead in the standings only for an eight-match winless run to curtail their early advantage. New England too were once darling of the league, riding a five-match winning streak to the upper echelons of consideration, only to come crashing back to earth with six-straight losses.
While the visitors were still reeling from the five-goal hurting laid on them by LA, Dallas had not played a league match in over two weeks and looked the fresher of the sides by far. That attitude and energy paid off in the 29th minute when Andres Escobar took on a pair of New England defenders after Tesho Akindele’s blast caromed off the crossbar – keeper Bobby Shuttleworth may have employed in fingertips in a save.
Either way, Escobar collected the rebound on the left-corner of the box, before working past Darius Barnes on the outside with some South American-trickery and driving towards goal. Andrew Farrell made a last-ditch block attempt, only to set the right-footed shot kick up off his trailing leg to lift over Shuttleworth and hand Dallas the lead.
Having scored a mere three goals through six losses, New England could not threaten the Dallas net, and Akindele, who was a constant threat, sealed the result in the first minute of stoppage-time. Moises Hernandez forced a turnover at his left-back position and played up the touchline to Michel, who checked back and in-field to Victor Ulloa. The homegrown midfielder in turn found Akindele streaking into space down the right-channel. One-on-one with Farrell, their duel embodied the current spirits of their clubs – Akindele, full of running and confidence, and Farrell, weary and forlorn.
With the slightest of effort, Akindele blew past the defender on the outside and beat Shuttleworth with a strong right-footer to the short-side – the lack of attention to detail has been costly for the Revs during this woe-some spell.
The 2-0 win, stretching their unbeaten run to five matches and their home winning-streak to three, was enough for Dallas to leap from fifth to second in the congested West – a place they would retain with other results falling their way – though they are a full nine points arrears of league-leading Seattle. New England fall to a seventh-consecutive defeat, though given the muddled East, they shockingly still hold onto fifth spot with 23 points from nineteen matches.
A week removed from their six-goal thriller, Houston and Toronto again combined for four first-half goals, though this time the second half devolved with a lack of rhythm.
Winless in seven after last week’s loss, the Dynamo were gifted the opener in the eleventh minute when Bradley Orr and Joe Bendik got their wires crossed on a simple Giles Barnes header forward. Bendik rushed out to collect only for his defender to touch back for a clearance; Will Bruin astutely maintained a semblance of pressure and was on hand to latch onto the calamity and right-foot into the open net.
TFC would respond seven minutes later following some tidy passing up the right: Jonathan Osorio played out wide to Dominic Oduro who hit an early cross through the top of the box that was cushioned by Justin Morrow towards Gilberto in the middle.
The Brazilian’s first touch could not corral the effort, but given such space in the heart of the Houston area, he pounced with the second, blasting a low right-footer to the left-side of goal, beyond the reach of Tally Hall.
Barnes, who was instrumental in both Houston goals last weekend, would reinstate the lead in the 26th minute, collecting a poke forward from Ricardo Clark behind Michael Bradley on the left and surging towards goal. With space to run, Barnes angled to the right before hitting a low right-footed effort to the bottom left-corner of the goal, curling away from Bendik, perfectly inside the post.
Toronto wasted a chance to equalize from the spot in the 28th minute after Luke Moore was felled by Corey Ashe – Bradley’s right-footer beat Hall, but not the post - but as with their last meeting, TFC would draw level before the half-time whistle, courtesy some continued strong work from Moore. The Englishman, who was near anonymous with Chivas, has been a revelation since joining TFC, registering three goals and collecting his first assist this night, after Bradley squeezed a ball into space down the left.
Moore chased it down, beating AJ Cochran in a footrace before taking on the defender, getting to the end-line and driving a cross through the goalmouth which Oduro turned in with his midsection from inside the near-post.
Though Houston came out in the second half with intent and Toronto wilted in swampy heat and in the midst of a tough stretch of matches, neither side could find anything more than a few yellow cards, as the match got a little heated at times, most notably Jermain Defoe and David Horst squaring up, head to chest.
Though the 2-2 draw satisfied no one, continuing Houston’s winless run to eight and Toronto’s unbeaten run to three (though they have just one win in their last six), it was likely the fair result.
Saturday night’s action culminated in a hard-fought draw between the Western Conference sides.
It took 73 minutes of grappling for Vancouver to find the breakthrough and they were fortunate to do so, as a controversial refereeing decision gifted them a chance from the spot after Nat Borchers expertly tackled the ball off the foot of Darren Mattocks, only for the official to point to the spot.
Salt Lake protested vehemently, but Mattocks, who scored midweek in Toronto, confidently right-footed past Nick Rimando with the keeper going the other way – it was the first penalty kick to beat Rimando this season, having saved the previous three he had faced.
The protestations continued afterwards, drawing a crowd, and the hosts would have their revenge eight minutes later from a lovely sweeping move that began when Chris Wingert cut out a hopeful Carlyle Mitchell clearance on the right, chesting it forward towards Javier Morales, who turned towards goal and found Luke Mulholland in space above the back-four.
He, in turn, laid off to Kyle Beckerman who spotted Joao Plata wide open on the left with Steven Beitashour caught narrow. Plata angled his touch into the area and lashed a low, left-footer across David Ousted before the Vancouver right-back could recover, for his eighth goal of the season and second in the last three matches.
The feistiness continued through the remainder of the match, though neither side could find a winner, despite there being some seven minutes of stoppage-time.
Though disgruntled with the how, the single point allowed Salt Lake to keep pace with Dallas, tied for second in the West, despite winning just once in their last eight matches, while Vancouver collect a second-straight draw away from home against difficult opposition and sit in a three-way time for the final spot in the conference.
Sunday’s lone fixture saw two of the form teams in the league take to the pitch for a contest that few would have predicted to be worth the spotlight at the end of last season.
DC were historically bad in 2013, while Chivas have been a shambles for the last four seasons, but this year each has found some solid footing, with United entering on the back of two-straight wins, firmly ensconced in second-place in the East and Chivas winners of their last four and unbeaten in five, riding the hot boots of Cubo Torres.
The home team had won the last two meetings between the club and this night proved no different, as DC racked up three goals before Los Ameri-goats could reply.
The first came in the 25th minute after Oswaldo Minda shoved Chris Rolfe to the ground in the corner of the penalty area, prompting the referee to point to the spot – Eddie Johnson finished with aplomb, blasting his right-footer to the top left-corner; Dan Kennedy would get the slightest touch, diving to his right, but could not prevent the ball crossing the line.
Perry Kitchen added the second in the 59th after a wonderful knock down from Johnson, deadening a long Rolfe free-kick from the right at the back-post for the defensive midfielder to left-foot from the penalty spot to the right-side of goal.
And Luis Silva added the third in the 70th minute, blowing past Carlos Bocanegra on a ball down the left-side of the box from Chris Korb, before opening up his body to right-foot across Kennedy to the far-side of goal and revealing a shirt message that saw him booked for excessive celebration.
Torres, who had goals in Chivas’ last five matches, continued his pace, converting a consolation strike from the penalty spot after Steve Birnbaum shoved Mauro Rosales to the ground inside the DC box. Torres’ bizarre run up should probably have forced a retake, but with the result already decided the referee opted to let it stand and DC protested only mildly.
The 3-1 win was DC’s third-straight, allowing them to keep Kansas City within their grasp – one point behind the leaders with a game in hand, while the loss ends the visitors winning and unbeaten runs.
CanCon
The extended Canadian Content review will be posted midday tomorrow (Tuesday).
After a few dry rounds, the Canadians returned to the pitch in force this week, collecting ten starts and three substitute appearances – top performances from Tesho Akindele, Russell Teibert, and Will Johnson will feature, as well as the first appearance of the season from Sam Adekugbe.
Overheard
Frank Yallop was nonplussed at the penalty call that cost his side two points, “I just saw it. One of the worst calls I’ve ever seen, to be honest. His arm was against his body, it hits Gonzo [segares] in the arm on his chest, not away from his body. I just don’t understand how he can call that. I really don’t. Especially that, I gotta tell my guys, ‘nice try, unlucky,’ and what do I say next? I’ve nothing to say to them, because they gave everything they had, I thought we were excellent tonight.”
Gonzalo Segares was a touch more diplomatic, with some bite on the back-end, “We all make mistakes and today the referee made one - we are all humans. I don’t need to see a replay to know that’s not a PK. Hopefully the referee union will look at it and there will be a suspension for the ref, and we’ll move on. It’s tough to swallow, but we’ve got an important game on Wednesday against San Jose in which we’ve got to go there and get three points.”
He continued, “I really don’t know why he called it because I think he hesitated a lot and I don’t think he had a clear view. If he had a clear view he would have seen that hit me right on the arm that was tucked in to my chest.”
The Fire website put up a gif of the play in question – full clip below.
See It Live
Luis Silva welcomes Kaka to the league with an
What was
Controversy
Aurelien Collin’s midweek red card for an aerial challenge with Adam Bedell was rescinded by the Independent Review Panel, allowing him to play come the weekend.
Some thought Nigel Reo-Coker’s foul on Jackson did not warrant a penalty kick.
AJ Soares saw red for catching Juninho in LA – Soares walks the line, but did it warrant a sending off?
Dan Gargan was sent off that same match for denying a goal-scoring opportunity.
Then there was the Gonzalo Segares handball – a highly debatable decision.
But was Nat Borchers being penalized for an excellent tackle the worst of the lot?
Upcoming Fixtures
A rare treat upcoming this week, due in part because of a littering of midseason friendless against various sides on the docket, as the round of eight matches are spread over six days, starting on Wednesday and ending on Monday – six straight days of MLS soccer culminating in a delicious Monday night clash between Seattle and Los Angeles
Wednesday: San Jose-Chicago. Thursday: Salt Lake-Montreal. Friday: Colorado-Chivas. Saturday: Toronto-Kansas City; New England-Columbus. Sunday: Vancouver-Dallas; Montreal-Portland. Monday: Seattle-Los Angeles.
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