MLS Week in Review – Round 2 - 24th Minute

The second weekend of MLS fixtures has come and gone, eight matches spread over the two days and still, nary a nil-nil in sight.

As per usual, before the results, the Canadian Soccer News ‘Goal of the Round’.

Now, most folks go in for the glamourous bits of individual talent or a laser-beam from distance and there were some beauties this weekend - Daigo Kobayashi’s blast from range; Hassoun Camara’s big-man bicycle kick; and Jamie’s Smith’s swerving rocket, to name a few.

Or perhaps a brilliant bit of teamwork strikes the fancy – Chivas’ three-man passing break and Philadelphia’s movement and interplay between Jack McInerney and Antoine Hoppenot, come to mind.

In the spirit of something a little different – last weekend’s nominee, Josh Williams, didn’t even crack the top five in the league’s award – homage to the cross.

There is no sight as sweet as a well-hit cross laying bare the inadequacies of the defense, one need look no further than Ben Zemanski’s service on Portland’s goal against Montreal.

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Diego Chara spotted Zemanski in space on the right, picked out his teammate spraying the ball wide. Zemanski then pinged an inch-perfect delivery to the back-post where Ryan Johnson was on hand, having got goal-side of Camara, for a sliding finish to set up a possible comeback.

It was the first goal Montreal’s stoic road defending had allowed this season. Sometimes it takes only a single well-craft ball to ruin a night’s worth of hard-work.

San Jose’s late equalizer was similarly pleasing; fret not, all the other goals mentioned are contained within the embedded highlights below.

Results in Brief

Toronto 2 – Kansas City 1

Toronto FC ended all talk of zero-and early with a victory over Sporting KC. A Robert Earnshaw brace – first, stealing onto a weak pass from Matt Besler, then a second from the spot after debutant John Bostock had won a penalty – was enough to earn Ryan Nelsen his first win with the club and their first since July of last season.

A late consolation goal from designated player Claudio Bieler – spawned by a quickly taken free-kick from Jimmy Nielsen, flicked on by CJ Sapong to cut open the Toronto back-line - led to a nervy final twenty minutes, but TFC held strong to upset Peter Vermes’ charges; one of the sides, projected to be top in the East.

DC United 1 – Salt Lake 0

A cagey affair pitting two former-players-turned-coaches – and snappily dressed ones at that – Ben Olsen and Jason Kreis, was decided by a single goal.

Much-maligned work-horse Lionard Pajoy reacted quickest when Nick Rimando clawed away a half-cleared corner kick that was lofted goal-ward by John Thorrington to pounce onto the rebound with a diving header into the unguarded goal.

Howls of offside rang out, but Sebastian Velasquez was slow to push out the line, keeping Pajoy onside and continuing both United’s unbeaten run at home – which now stands at nineteen – and their dominance over Salt Lake at RFK – who are yet to win in eight visits to the venerable old ground.

Chicago 0 – New England 1

New England, the final team to start 2013 after a bye week in round one, got off to a solid start, extending Chicago’s miserable opening and stealing a vital three points on the road.

First-overall draft pick Andrew Farrell was impressive on debut at right-back, but it was last year’s rookie sensation Kelyn Rowe that created the game’s lone goal by heading down a poorly cleared corner kick atop the left-side of the box to Juan Toja before receiving the return ball and lifting a beautiful cross to the back-post for a diving Jerry Bengtson to force over the line.

Matt Reis earned the nod in goal for the Revolution, put in a strong performance, and for a spell, ended the controversy as to who would be Jay Heaps’ number one. Frank Klopas’ Chicago falls to a second straight loss and have yet to score a goal.

Vancouver 2 – Columbus 1

Vancouver made it two wins from two home matches with a strong performance against Columbus. Daigo Kobayashi opened his account in style with a right-footed blast from some thirty-five-plus yards that nestled gracefully in the top left corner of the goal inside of six minutes.

Jairo Arrieta drew the Crew level seconds into the second half through a nice bit of interplay with Ben Speas down the right, beating Joe Cannon to the short-side, but Kenny Miller, in need of a goal, took advantage of a poor pass from goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum to Glauber, dispossessed the centre-back and raced in on goal to score his first of the season.

Eric Hurtado had a goal inconclusively ruled offside, but Martin Rennie’s side weathered the late pressure and head into a bye week with six points, while Robert Warzycha’s crew will lament defensive miscues and wasteful finishing.

Portland 1 – Montreal 2

Montreal also made it two wins from two matches, however impressively, did so away from home and in the Pacific Northwest no less.

Another strong defensive performance aided by right-back Hassoun Camara’s bicycle kick and a silky counterattack – Patrice Bernier laid debutant Andres Romero down the right and Felipe finished his cut-back at the near-post – out maneuvered Portland, who fail to win in two matches at home.

Ryan Johnson grabbed a consolation – and CSN Goal of the Round honours – to set up a tense ending, but coach Caleb Porter will be disappointed his side was out-matched tactically by Marco Schallibaum’s defense-first blockade.

Colorado 1 – Philadelphia 2

Pushed back a day to Sunday after a blizzard swept through the area, Colorado’s home opener ended much as their season opener had, with a disappointing defeat.

Oscar Pareja’s side saw captain, Pablo Mastroeni, forced off after eight minutes – with an apparent hamstring injury – and despite bossing possession, another goalkeeping misstep proved costly in the end.

Amobi Okugo capitalized on a hesitant Matt Pickens and some slack marking from Marvell Wynne to head in a Sebastien Le Toux corner kick before Jamie Smith leveled the affair with a beautiful left-footed strike. Jack McInerney put John Hackworth’s Philadelphia back in front, finishing off a wonderful individual effort from Antoine Hoppenot, who reprised his role as super-sub by fending off a Hendry Thomas challenge and laying in his teammate for the game-winner.

Chivas 3 – Dallas 1

El Chelis’ Chivas made amends for their late collapse in round one with an impressive victory over a lacklustre Dallas. David Ferreira gave Schellas Hyndman’s eleven the lead, tiptoeing down the left touch-line, muscling past a falling Joaquin Velazquez to squeeze a tight-angled shot under Dan Kennedy in goal.

But three unanswered replies – Juan Agudelo collecting a long pass from Walter Vilchez before twisting up Matt Hedges, Oswaldo Minda stealing the ball off the boot of George John to break in alone, and Giovani Casillas finishing off a three-man counterattack – were more than enough to earn the Goats their first win and quiet some of their detractors.

San Jose 2 – New York 1

Just as scribes across the continent – and a few beyond – were contemplating laments for the expiration of the Cardiac Kids in San Jose following over one-hundred and seventy minutes of scoreless soccer, they strike again with two goals in the final ten minutes to erase an early New York lead.

Eric Alexander put Mike Petke’s Red Bulls in front when Thierry Henry’s hopeful left-sided cross, skewed off the head of Jason Hernandez into the path of Alexander attacking the back-post for a simple finish, only for rookie Adam Jahn, making his second substitute appearance, scored the first – with a sliding back-post touch from a dangerous left-sided Sam Cronin cross – before winning a penalty for the second when Roy Miller handled his header in the final minute of regulation.

Chris Wondolowski’s attempt from the spot was saved by Luis Robles, but Miller, compounding his nightmare, encroached, giving the golden-boot winner another chance, which he duly finished, sparring Frank Yallop any early season blushes.

Canadian Content

Patrice Bernier put in another complete, tidy match as the one-man shield in front of the Montreal back-four. It was a reserved display, in tune with the Impact’s conservative away performances, though he did pick up the second assist on their second – and eventual game-winning – goal, as described above. And where, one may ask, was Portland’s Diego Valeri, the man who so caught the attention of MLS watchers in Round One? He was in Bernier’s back-pocket all match, as he picked up MLSsoccer.com Man of the Match.

Will Johnson, Bernier’s opponent that night, and put in another solid ninety in the middle of the park for the Timbers. His surging runs through the middle of the park - and occasionally on the overlap – added impetus to the Portland attack. He made a vital clearance after a goal-mouth pile, though it was his pass that was intercepted, leading to Montreal’s second goal. As with last week, he found himself with the ball on his boot in the box as the final minutes of extra time ticked down, but could not swivel cleanly and only got off a weak shot on goal.

Dejan Jakovic too put in another solid ninety in the middle of the DC back-line. He cut out a key pass destined for Kyle Beckerman in the box and made an excellent read of another threatening pass, ending the danger with a scything challenge. Jakovic negated the threat of Alvaro Saborio for much of the match, stifling the attacker so much so that in the later stages, he was forced to switch sides in hope of finding more joy against Brandon McDonald. He committed a couple of possible hand-balls; one in the box, but neither were called, nor warranted a penalty. Ben Olsen called him sharp in his post-match comments.

Ashtone Morgan was again part of a solid Toronto defensive unit – don’t get a chance to use that combination of words too often – managing the full match at left-back. He was again conservative, though he did make a few more forays forward than in Vancouver. Once he delivered a lovely, threatening ball, the other getting it tangled in his feet on the turf and losing possession for a throw-in.

Kyle Porter joined Jakovic on the pitch for DC after fifty-eight minutes replacing Marcos Sanchez in the midfield. He started on the left-side, had a few good battles with Salt Lake right-back Tony Beltran, took a heavy body-check from centre-back Kwame Watson-Siriboe, and even got a weak shot on target, before moving to the centre. He played a slightly over-hit through-ball for Carlos Ruiz, that forced Nick Rimando off his line in a hurry and nearly set up Ruiz for some insurance in the final minute of added time with a clever cut-back, but Rimando stayed big to thwart the chance.

Porter earned praise from Olsen post-match: “it’s a physical league and there [are] times when he [Marcos Sanchez] got caught on the ball that could’ve cost us, but he’ll clean it up and as this team moves along he’ll understand, that in this league, of what he can get away with and what he can’t. Same with [Kyle] Porter. You didn’t see Porter’s true strengths tonight because he’s an offensive guy and he gets after you. But I give him a lot of credit because he dug in there defensively and helped.”

Terry Dunfield again started for Toronto, paired in midfield with Jeremy Hall, as part of a two-man shield in front of the back-four. He was his usual tenacious and effective self before again coming off in the final ten minutes.

Jonathan Osorio made his MLS debut replacing Dunfield in the eighty-second minutes and helping TFC see out the result, while Kyle Bekker – having recovered from a midweek bout of flu – joined with three minutes of regulation remaining.

Emery Welshman, Russell Teibert, and Drew Beckie were all on the bench for their respective sides – Toronto, Vancouver, and Columbus.

Babayele Sodade was officially released – waived - by Seattle on Thursday after having tweeted his goodbye to fans a week earlier.

Wherefore art though Ante Jazic? Not a part of El Chelis’ plans – or three-man back-line - at Chivas, will the Canadian veteran find a new home sometime soon?

See It Live

Sunday’s night cap between San Jose and New York provided some images truly worthy of the occasion.

Victor Bernardez and Fabian Espindola holding hands as they ran away from a battle near the end-line was candid, Ty Harden putting his hands all over Thierry Henry was a touch awkward, and Steven Lenhart’s hipster glasses and now-freshly manicured curly mop-top was.. um, anyways. But Chris Wondolowski nearly being sick on the edge of the New York penalty box trying to shake off a whack to the throat – unintentional, surely – from Johnny Steele was downright unpleasant; no way anyone bothers to include that in the highlights.

Runners-up: El Chelis’ screaming exchange with a fan at the end of the Chivas match and Kenny Mansally’s head-butt into the chest of Perry Kitchen, somebody will take a look at that.

Both can likely be found somewhere on the internet and it would come as no surprise should the first in-season disciplinary committee action be taken – against Mansally, not Chelis.

Overheard

On a weekend in which Toronto, New England, Philadelphia, and Chivas pick up wins to, at the very least, put a smile on the faces of their beleaguered fans these words from Jose Luis Sanchez Sola – El Chelis - seem fitting:

“Thank God because this gives us credibility. Any athlete who competes needs these results. It makes you feel alive. We have a lot of faults, but the only one I don’t allow is for us to stop fighting. We can’t hang our heads for anything. It was another demonstration, with us down a goal on our own pitch and the time constricted, we raised our heads from the dead.”

There is always hope; even for Toronto fans.

Runners-up: Alexi Lalas nearly calling himself an “MLS Sl—“, before catching himself and saying “Snob”; one must love and appreciate Mr. Lalas, whether for his grizzled 1994-era ginger goatee, or his modern day bombastic enthusiasm. Guess everyone is still in early season form.

Danny Califf’s comments about Sporting getting upset in the second half were priceless, Graham Zusi’s impedance as the match worn on was startling, at least the referee managed a cheerful smile throughout the match.

Upcoming Matches

Be prepared, next weekend is MLS Rivalry Week, should be interesting; very interesting.

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

One of those matches really doesn’t belong.

Midweek fixtures will determine the fates of the three MLS clubs involved in the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions League.

Seattle hosts Mexican-side Tigres on Tuesday trailing by a single controversial header having held strong for the majority of the match. Houston faces the difficult task of an away trip to Torreon with only a one-goal advantage over Santos Laguna, thanks to Brad Davis’ late strike on Tuesday, while LA welcomes Herediano to Southern California with the series knotted at zeros, despite conceding a late penalty kick – it struck the bar – and having a legitimate goal from Mike Magee ruled offside, that same night.

Parting Thoughts

Montreal’s two road wins in the Pacific Northwest have them looking formidable, but how will they play at home? And Vancouver, unbeaten in two at home to start the season on the right foot, how will they fair on their travels after a bye week this weekend? And how good will this year’s Voyageur’s Cup be with all three Canadian sides looking strong – or at least sturdy in Toronto’s case? Excited?

Will New York learn to protect a lead or face a similar fate when they host DC in the Atlantic Cup next weekend? Can Sporting rebound from a disappointing defeat to Toronto or will their first half struggles continue to haunt them? And Chicago, what has gone wrong with the Fire? Is Jay Heaps rebuild of the Revolution ready to contend this season? How about John Hackworth’s Union, are they mature enough to build on a good result in Colorado? Will San Jose’s win over New York spark that lust to win that served them well in 2012? What fate awaits Seattle, Houston and LA, who return to league play against heated rivals after CONCACAF commitments midweek? Is El Chelis changing Chivas, or will the Goats revert to being, well, goats?

What did you think of round two?

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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