Up first, in chronological order, is
On to the results:
But first, a quick note – sincere apologies for the delay; your faithful scribe of this weekly review spent the weekend in Montreal and then went off to cheer the Canadian Women as they embarked on their U-20 World Cup journey, as such, he was not able to stay on top of the proceedings as firmly as usual, had to scramble, cobbling together before the weekend became obsolete and thus this review will lack some of its characteristic enthusiastic detail.
Normal service will resume with Round 22; hopefully, bright and early next Monday morn.
Midweek Results in a Sentence
Wasted chances from TFC handed DC the initiative, who tallied through Eddie Johnson in the first half before Chris Rolfe sealed the result in the second; minutes later a Nick Hagglund own-goal closed out the night as two potential contenders for the Eastern crown met for the third and final time this season.
The Revolution finally snapped their long eight-match losing run on the back of a scintillating performance from Lee Nguyen, who scored the first two goals and set up Kelyn Rowe for the third on an off-night for the Rapids.
Nothing happened; two teams that draw a lot drew another – Chicago now has twelve on the season, Vancouver eleven. The MLS record for most in a season is sixteen.
Joao Plata and Thierry Henry exchanged goals in either half as the two sides played out a 1-1 draw; Jamison Olave, making a return to his former club, was involved in a fracas with Olmes Garcia – more on that below.
Results in Brief
Sporting and Philadelphia played out a diplomatic 1-1 draw on Friday night in Kansas City.
Riding four-straight wins in the midst of a seven-game unbeaten run; Dom Dwyer looked to give KC an early lead, only for his header to be cleared off the line by Brian Carroll in the 12th minute. The Union too had a chance to take the lead when Vincent Nogueira ripped a free-kick towards the top corner, but Andy Gruenebaum was sharp to react, pushing the effort around the post.
The breakthrough would finally come in the 54th minute, when Kansas City pounced on a poor back-header from Ray Gaddis. It fell to Toni Dovale, who poked Graham Zusi down the right-side of the box to sweep a right-footer under Zac MacMath.
Zusi was inches away from doubling his tally - and KC’s advantage - a minute later, when Dwyer square a ball, but his effort whisked just wide of the post.
Philadelphia would settle down, finding their equalizer in the 71st minute through recently-acquired Jamaican striker, Brian Brown – his bullet header from a left-sided Gaddis cross on virtually his first touch of the match saw the newcomer notch his first goal in MLS.
With the draw, both sides see their unbeaten runs continue – KC up to eight, while Philly extend theirs to four.
Saturday’s action began in Los Angeles, where the home-side Galaxy rode a fantastic outing from Robbie Keane to overturn an early Timbers strike to win 3-1.
Diego Valeri gave the visitors the lead in the 14th minute when his gorgeous right-footed free-kick eluded the LA wall and the attentions of Jaime Penedo to sail into the top right-corner of the goal.
But the goal only served to light a fire under the hosts, who would equalize before half-time. Gyasi Zardes, who had watched his header carom off the bar in the 30th minute, found his goal in the third-minute of stoppage time after Keane played out to Robbie Rogers wide on the left and his cross was met for a thunderous header by the Galaxy youngster, who now has seven goals in his last eight matches.
Keane would grab the winner in the 73rd minute, drifting off the back-shoulder of the Portland defense to get open at the back-post, where he met a lovely Landon Donovan cross with a firm header. And he would then round out his three-point performance from the penalty spot, after Diego Chara was adjudged to have fouled Juninho at the top of the Portland area – Keane’s right-footer would freeze Donovan Ricketts before whistling low to the keeper’s left.
As usual, when the season begins to matter LA turns it on, Bruce Arena’s side have now lost just once in their last eleven matches, a stretch that includes seven wins, rocketing them up the standings. Impressive performances against West Coast opponents – the dismantling of Seattle and this over Portland – are signals of their intent. Portland meanwhile see their modest two-game winning streak come to an end.
Toronto handed Montreal yet another defeat when the two Canadian rivals took to the pitch in Saturday’s second match with goals in either half.
Gilberto got the scoring started early, registering his third of the season in the eleventh minute on a sweeping move that began when Justin Morrow moved in from the left to find Michael Bradley atop the area, who quickly played wide right to Dominic Oduro. The Ghanaian hit an early ball into the middle, which was met by Gilberto with a first-time right-footer towards goal. Troy Perkins got a piece of the effort, but could only push it onto the bar.
Toronto would add a second in controversial fashion in the 54th minute. Doneil Henry cleaned out Marco Di Vaio, who cried for a foul, but the referee waived play on. Bradley sprung a quick counter with a Oduro surging up the right; once more he tried to play into the middle, only for his pass to kick up off of Perkins, but Luke Moore was on hand to follow up the bouncing ball and touch into the open net with a sliding right-footed finish.
TFC nearly added a third in the 82nd minute when Nick Hagglund met a Collen Warner corner kick, only for Perkins to react with a majestic save, pushing his header onto the bar.
The 0-2 win ended a poor run for the visitors, snapping losing and winless streaks at two and four respectively, while the Impact fell to a sixth-straight defeat as they languish at the bottom of the Eastern Conference and the league.
The round continued with another heated encounter between Eastern Seaboard rivals, New York and New England - the home side gutting out the 2-1 result despite going down a man and a goal in the first half.
Charlie Davies gave the Revolution the lead in the twentieth minute. Kevin Alston began the counter with an interception before playing up to Kelyn Rowe, who found Teal Bunbury on the left. Bunbury skipped past Roy Miller to hit a cross towards the back-post, which took a slight deflection off Ibrahim Sekagya, arriving at a good height for Davies to meet with a calm header – it was his first goal in MLS since 2010.
New York’s troubles were doubled in first-half stoppage-time when second year defender, Matt Miazga was dismissed, somewhat harshly, for a clattering challenge on Lee Nguyen in midfield The centre-back had all but pulled out of the contact, but sent Nguyen flying, prompting the referee’s decision.
Down a man and a goal, New York reacted in the best possible way, Dax McCarty leveling the match two minutes into the second frame when a poor clearance fell to him atop the New England box and he beat keeper Bobby Shuttleworth with a sumptuous chip that is bound to be a candidate for goal of the year.
Their comeback was complete in the 63rd minute when Bradley Wright-Phillips scored his league-leading eighteenth goal of the season. BWP played Lloyd Sam down the right side on the counter, who cut back, returning the favour to the Red Bull hit-man. Wright-Phillips checked in-field on New England defender AJ Soares at the near-post, sending a curling left-footed effort to the far-side, nestling just inside the post.
New York would herald the hard-fought 2-1 win that ended a three-match winless skid as a potential turning point – overcoming obstacles as they did can really bring a side together. New England on the other hand, having ended that long losing streak, fall to a ninth loss in their last ten matches, dropping back out of the playoff spots to make way for the victors.
Two more Eastern Conference opponents scrapping for precious points met in the evening’s next match as Chicago and Columbus drew 1-1.
Chicago took the lead in the 36th minute after Tyson Wahl was adjudged to have handled Grant Ward’s chipped pass in the Columbus box with a trailing arm. Mike Magee would convert the chance with his right-boot, beating Steve Clark low to his left having sent the keeper falling in the other direction.
The Fire would take their advantage into the second half, but the Crew responded immediately after the restart – nine seconds to be exact: Federico Higuain equalizing with a right-footer past Sean Johnson after an Ethan Finlay flick on fell to him in the box, prompting one of the best lines of the weekend from an announcer: “You give the little devil a moment, and he’ll burn you.”
Energized, Columbus would go in search of a winner, drawing several solid saves out of Chicago keeper, Johnson, most notably an excellent foot-save to deny Ben Speas minutes after the match was leveled.
The 1-1 draw would leave neither side particularly satisfied. For Chicago it was a second-straight draw, their fifth in their last seven matches and thirteenth of the season; for Columbus it extended their unbeaten run to three-matches, putting them in sole possession of the fifth and final playoff spot in the East for the time being.
The rest of the evening swapped over to the Western Conference for a pair of matches, the first of which saw Salt Lake regain the Rocky Mountain Cup with a 0-1 win in Colorado, ensuring Nick Rimando of his place in the MLS record books.
But it was another Salt Lake legend who gave them the initiative: Javier Morales, collected a ball from Chris Wingert on the left and beat Clint Irwin with a deceptive finish, shaping to the far-post before tucking his right-footer to the short-side in the fourteenth minute.
Salt Lake’s hopes of sealing up the two-team trophy took a dent at the start of the second half when Aaron Maund was sent off for taking down Vicente Sanchez as the two got into a tangle with the Rapids forward bursting in on goal.
But the visitors, who had won the first meeting between the sides, would see out the result, thanks to some fine keeping from Rimando who ended the night with six saves – it was the 112th clean-sheet of his career, finally taking his share of the all-time record alongside Kevin Hartman.
The 0-1 win, their first in Colorado since 2007, was enough to see the Rocky Mountain Cup return to Salt Lake for the seventh time in eight seasons - the Rapids having taken last year’s rendition, while extending Salt Lake’s unbeaten run to four-straight. For Colorado, it was their third loss in their last four matches, though they found plenty of positives in the performance, chalking up the loss to a night where luck abandoned them.
Saturday’s finale was played in front of nearly fifty-thousand fans at spanking new Levi’s Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers with the home team Earthquakes gutting out a 1-0 victory over the league-leading Sounders.
After surviving some early pressure – Clint Dempsey’s effort was pushed over the bar by Jon Busch and Jason Hernandez’ last-ditch recovery block snuffed out another attack – San Jose took the lead in the 42nd minute through Yannick Djalo.
A quick Earthquakes counter saw Jordan Stewart find Shea Salinas on the left touch-line; he played in-field to Chris Wondolowski who lifted a ball over the Sounders back-line to send Djalo in alone on Stefan Frei. Having outpaced Zach Scott, Djalo touched past the onrushing Frei with his right-boot, sending the large crowd into the half with a smile.
Unfortunately for the goal-scorer, he would be forced from the pitch in the 65th minute after another run at goal ended in him getting clattered – his injury struggles have prevented what has otherwise been a fantastic introduction to MLS from fully blooming.
Dempsey was fired up, jawing with another of his international teammates, Wondolowski, having had words with Omar Gonzalez last week, but Busch was up to the task, preserving the clean-sheet and the result with a series of excellent saves. Even Wondolowski got in on the act, clearing a Chad Barrett header off the line from a Gonzalo Pineda corner kick at the death.
The 1-0 win was San Jose’s second in a row, stretching their unbeaten run to three matches as they seek to climb up the conference. For Seattle, a second-straight loss sees them concede further ground to the chasing pack, now just two points ahead of second-placed Salt Lake.
Sunday’s matches kicked off in Houston, where the Dynamo welcomed in-form DC.
United, who have never won in Houston, were looking to end that misery, while extending their winning streak beyond four-matches, the Dynamo on the other hand were winless in eight matches, having gone over two months without a victory.
With newcomers DaMarcus Beasley and Javier Garrido in the starting eleven, Houston looked to get an early start and they nearly did when Will Bruin’s header from a Giles Barnes cross struck the intersection of post and bar. Bill Hamid, who was spectacular once more midweek against Toronto, had other plans, denying Barnes on the break after the big forward was played in alone by Oscar Boniek Garcia in the 39th minute.
The match seemed destined to end a scoreless draw; that is until a harmless play in the 91st minute ended in calamity. Taylor Kemp began the symphony of errors with a weak back-headed that put Steve Birnbaum and Hamid under pressure. Bruin did enough to prevent either from collecting the bouncing ball as they bundled into each other, the ball squirting free to Omar Cummings, who squared to a wide open Bruin for a simple finish into the empty cage.
The 1-0 win was Houston’s first since May 17th, giving life to Dominic Kinnear’s side as they hope to embark on their regular late surge up the table. DC fall to just their second loss in their last nine matches, passing up the chance to overtake Sporting KC for first place in the East.
The round closed on Sunday night with a meeting between Chivas and Dallas, the visitors returning home with the three points.
A week removed from a poor outing in Colorado – their second-straight defeat, Chivas were looking to put those games behind them and came out a much more cohesive side. It was Dallas, however, who would take the lead.
Colombian Fabian Castillo was forced to sit out four matches, serving a suspension for making contact with an official; he returned with aplomb as the catalyst to much of Dallas’ attack on the night. It was his bursting run up the left-channel that led to Tesho Akindele’s game-winning goal, Castillo squaring a ball after a one-two with Blas Perez allowed him access to the area before setting up his teammate for a simple finish in the 49th minute – it was the Canadian’s third goal in four matches.
Castillo would nearly add his own in the 61st minute, but Dan Kennedy was out quick to snuff out the chance – he would see his effort from a tight angle in stoppage-time hit the post having rounded the Chivas defenses.
Chivas would have a glorious chance to equalize in the 78th minute when Akira Kaji’s cross from the right found Cubo Torres unmarked in the middle, but the oft-deadly striker could only watch as his header sailed over the bar – having seen his six-match scoring streak ended last round, Torres has now gone two whole matches without a goal, for shame.
The 0-1 win extended Dallas’ unbeaten run to seven matches, though it was their first away win since the start of April, as they climb up the standings, rebounding from a long fruitless spell to settle in fourth in the West, level on points with LA. Chivas, with San Jose having won the day before, fall to the foot of the conference, though only seven points off the playoff pace.
CanCon
The extended Canadian Content review will be available as soon as possible, featuring another excellent outing from Tesho Akindele, a strong defensive performance from Doneil Henry, and the debut of the newest Canadian to join the fray, Montreal’s recent homegrown signing, Anthony Jackson-Hamel.
Controversy
Plenty of controversy to be debated this round:
First there was bizarre encounter between a pair of Colombians as New York’s Jamison Olave and Salt Lake’s Olmes Garcia, exchanged words, some naughty action, and some hilarious over-reaction – Garcia would see yellow at the time and Olave would receive a two-match suspension for his transgression afterwards.
Was Diego Chara’s tackle on Juninho inside the area or outside?
Should
Was New York’s Matt Miazga harshly dismissed for his clattering into New England’s Lee Nguyen, or did his over-exuberance warrant the action?
Something about Aaron Maund’s red card in Colorado irked; was it really all that dissimilar to Aurelien Collin’s foul on Gilberto last week? The one that head of PRO, Peter Walton, stated that, to his eyes, contained no contact.
Should Houston’s late winner over DC have been whistled for
Upcoming Fixtures
The league takes a momentary pause this week for the All-Star Game against German club, Bayern Munich on Wednesday; Monday saw the first ever Chipotle (mmm, Chipotle) MLS Homegrown Game against the Portland Timbers U-23 side – it ended 0-0.
Play resumes on Friday with a full slate of nine matches scheduled for the weekend:
Friday: Los Angeles-San Jose. Saturday: Philadelphia-Montreal; Columbus-Toronto; Dallas-Colorado; Salt Lake-DC; Portland-Chivas. Sunday: Vancouver-Kansas City; Chicago-New York; Seattle-Houston.
Meanwhile, Montreal kicked off the group stage of the CONCACAF Champions League on Tuesday, with a 1-0 win over Salvadorian side, CD FAS.
All video & quotes courtesy of MLSsoccer.com
Each week James takes a look at the league as a whole.
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