MLS Week in Review – Round 3 - 24th Minute

Round three was Rivarly Week in MLS, featuring nine matches including the most hotly contested fixtures the league has to offer.

Sometimes underwhelming, occasionally exhilarating, and, once or twice, downright controversial, six of the matches finished as draws - and considering only one of the first seventeen matches was drawn - a near staggering figure, perhaps indicative of neither side’s willingness to lose.

Before the results, the goal of the round should go to one that didn’t count – Jackson’s perfect first-time finish of a David Ferreira through-ball over Tally Hall and off the inside of the far-post that would have given Dallas a three-goal lead before halftime against Houston – but that would be cheating, so to Los Angeles instead.

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It was a scrappy weekend for goal-scorers. Penalty kicks, set-pieces, and defensive errors littered the score-sheets.

Cue Chivas USA with the final goal of the round. Eric Avila collects a poorly-cleared throw-in, fights for a yard of space before laying Carlos Borja down the right. The defender sends perfect ball behind the LA back-line into that corridor of uncertainty between the keeper and his cohorts.

AJ De La Garza was caught napping at the far-post, allowing Carlos Alavaz, the pre-announced second-overall draft pick to score his first MLS goal forty-four minutes into his debut.

A defensive error from LA, to neither effectively clear the ball, nor track the danger when presented, but what it lacked in dynamism was made up for by the magnitude of the result, surely the shock of the round was Chivas drawing the Galaxy after being reduced to ten-men.

Results in Brief

New York 0 – DC 0

Despite bossing the possession and out shooting their opponent in their home opener, New York now find themselves winless through their first three matches of 2013.

Fabian Espindola twice hit the woodwork – from a header and a rocket of a left-footed shot – while Bill Hamid repeatedly came up big for DC, including a touch of goal-line controversy when the keeper pawed away a Brandon Barklage header on the goal-line from a Juninho corner kick in stoppage time.

Mike Petke’s Bulls were sure they had scored; Ben Olsen’s United breathed a sigh of relief when the full time whistle came and the first match of the Atlantic Cup ended scoreless.

Kansas City 0 – Chicago 0

Hardly natural rivals, the distaste between the two has built slowly over the years, fostered by some heated matches and a gentle nudge or two from the front offices.

Folks at the NBC ten-hour marathon of MLS coverage were left shaking their heads when the second match of the afternoon ended in another nil-nil draw. Chances were few and far between, but yellow cards were aplenty – six in total; the most in any match this round.

Peter Vermes’ KC collect their first clean-sheet of the season ruing their wasteful finishing – only three of twenty recorded attempts were on goal; while Frank Klopas’ Chicago are winless in three to start the season and are yet to score a goal.

Montreal 2 – Toronto 1

The weekend perked up a bit with a clash between what could be considered the most natural – and potentially heated – rivals in the league.

A slow opening phase was ended when referee Baldomero Toledo whistled for an innocuous series of collisions between Ashtone Morgan and Andres Romero. Patrice Bernier duly converted from the spot. Montreal’s second was a remarkable bit of passing, shredding the absent Toronto defense and springing Marco Di Vaio down the right to round the keeper and deposit in the far-corner of the goal. Toledo again pointed to the spot when Dennis Iapichino blocked off the run of Terry Dunfield and Robert Earnshaw showed he too was clinical from twelve yards.

Ryan Nelsen’s Toronto pressed for an equalizer in the final twenty minutes throwing on attacking substitute, one after the other, but Marco Schallibaum’s Montreal stood firm to maintain their perfect start to the season.

Philadelphia 1 – New England 0

Philadelphia maintained their unbeaten record against New England when the two met in one of the less-obvious matches of the rivalry-heavy round.

Jack McInerney scored the lone goal of the match, from a Sebastien Le Toux corner kick, poking home his own rebound after an initial header was saved. It was the second week in a row that the Union won via a McInerney goal from a Le Toux corner kick.

Jay Heaps’ New England could not find their offense, despite some glittering play from Lee Nguyen, to follow up their road victory last weekend with another here; John Hackworth’s Union are now unbeaten in eight all-time meetings with the Revolution and have won two straight.

Columbus 1 – San Jose 1

The other non-rivalry match of the round pitted these cross-conference foes against one another. The road team had not won this fixture in four seasons, a fact that continued as the two traded goals within five minutes in the second half.

Brazilian defender Glauber broke away from Ramiro Corrales to connect with a Federico Higuain corner kick – reminiscent of his strike against Toronto in Orlando – placing his bullet-header low to the short-side between Jon Busch and Rafael Baca, the defender on the post. Justin Morrow found himself in acres of space on the left having collected a simple wide pass from Corrales and placed a perfect left-footed strike across – and beyond the reach of - Andy Gruenebaum into the side-netting.

Frank Yallop’s Earthquakes have been decimated by injuries, so the defending Supporter’s Shield Champions should not be overly concerned with three points from nine; Robert Warzycha’s Columbus were projected to be vastly improved, defensively they have looked the part, but the offense is yet to find form.

Salt Lake 1 – Colorado 1

The Rocky Mountain Cup, one of the more heated affairs, ended in the fourth draw of the day’s schedule. A physical contest saw Colorado’s goalkeeper, Matt Pickens, leave the match after seven minutes with a broken forearm - following a clash with the head of Kwame Watson-Siriboe – to be replaced by debutant Clint Irwin (former CSL GK with Capital City), who performed admirably in his stead.

The Rapids took the lead through another MLS rookie, when draft pick DeShorn Brown scored his first professional goal, picking the pocket of Watson-Siriboe on the right and striking a low right-footed finish past Nick Rimando in the Salt Lake goal. Alvaro Saborio leveled the contest with ten minutes remaining, capping off a broken play thanks to two great passes, first from Luis Gil, then from Joao Plata, to free the striker for a low finish across the keeper from a tight angle on the right.

Oscar Pareja’s Colorado now sit winless in three, despite strong performances in each; Jason Kreis’ charges again found a way to stay in a match, while preventing their first home loss to their rivals in nine matches and six years.

Seattle 1 – Portland 1

The nightcap to a full Saturday pitted Cascadia rivals Seattle and Portland against one another in their first meeting of the season.

Fresh off their Champions League triumph midweek – becoming the first MLS club to eliminate a Mexican one – Seattle wasted no time exerting themselves on their opponent. Steve Zakuani intercepted a poor pass from Diego Chara in the defensive half and galloped up-field down the left – a welcome sight to those who feared his broken leg had robbed him of such pace. He cut towards the Portland box to send a perfect cross towards the back-post where a grateful Eddie Johnson touched in his first of the season.

The Sounders’ week was set to be one of triumph, until in the final minute of play Timbers centre-back Andrew Jean-Baptiste looped a cross from the right into the heart of the box, where an unmarked Rodney Wallace sent it goal-bound into the top right corner of the goal.

Sigi Schmid’s side will rue their poor-marking at the death, but Caleb Porter’s Timbers will take some joy in ruining the debut of Obafemi Martins, though they now find themselves winless through three.

Dallas 3 – Houston 2

The opening match of Sunday’s schedule finally provided some much needed drama. The Texan Derby, the Battle for El Capitan, an eighteenth-century cannon – only in Texas – took a turn after a half-hour of play.

Houston had dominated the all-time series, but it was Dallas who strolled out to a shock two-goal lead – when Bobby Boswell’s clearance of a Michel free-kick rebounded off the back of George John beyond the reach of Tally Hall and into the net; barely a minute later, Andrew Jacobson turned in a left-sided David Ferreira corner kick at the near-post - and were unlucky to not have a third before half-time when Jackson was wrongly called offside cancelling his deft strike.

Houston stormed back in the final twenty minutes - first, from hard-work by Kofi Sarkodie forced a turnover from Michel and then teed up Andrew Driver for a pinpoint shot off the underside of the bar; then from a goalkeeping error from Raul Fernandez, palming a low Cam Weaver cross into the path of Brad Davis - only to fall in the end to a last-minute strike from Kenny Cooper – his first of the season – in controversial manner.

The Texas-born striker appeared to collect the cross from Michel with his arm before touching it into the net and celebrating bare-chested while swinging his shirt over his head – having looked for a sign that his infringement was spotted first.

Dominic Kinnear’s Dynamo will rue their slow start to the match and the debatable winner; Schellas Hyndman’s Dallas will take the points and run, reveling in only their fourth win – in twenty matches – against their cross-state foe.

Los Angeles 1 – Chivas 1

Separated by only a corridor, the final match of the weekend saw high-flying Los Angeles - fresh off progression in the Champions League - host the much-maligned Chivas USA. A chippy affair drew three bookings out of referee Ricardo Salazar before, in the fortieth minute - of the twenty-sixth MLS match of the season – the first red card was shown to Chivas’ Joaquin Velazquez for a weak-tackle – if it can be called that - on Colin Clark who embellished any impact greatly.

Ten man Chivas held the potent Galaxy offense at bay until the eighty-third minute when youngster Jack McBean contorted himself to get a looping header on a deflected Mike Magee ball sending it over a stretching Dan Kennedy, who could only get the faintest of touches as it sailed beyond his reach. Seemingly in control, the LA defense was caught napping when Eric Avila began the play that allowed Carlos Borja to square a right-sided ball through the goal-mouth for Carlos Alvarez who had sneaked in off the shoulder of AJ De La Garza at the back-post.

Bruce Arena will be focusing on defensive responsibilities at the end of matches in training this week; while El Chelis is moving closer to ‘Saint’ than ‘Heathen’ in the eyes of media and fans alike – though, on a sliding scale – with a miraculous point after last weekend’s win.

Canadian Content

Patrice Bernier put in another ‘Man of the Match’ performance going the full ninety in Montreal’s win over Toronto FC. He scored a goal – converting from the spot – after his ball for Romero drew the penalty from Ashtone Morgan and provided the second assist on Di Vaio’s goal by playing Arnaud into space – they were his first goal and second assist of the season.

Though he rarely strayed over the half-way line, he completed fifty of fifty-seven passes, made six recoveries, two interceptions and one clearance; won and conceded three fouls apiece – picking up his first booking of the season for pulling back and tripping Reggie Lambe in transition.

Dejan Jakovic again went the full match for DC United in their scoreless draw with New York, maintaining a second straight clean-sheet. He made six tackles, five interceptions, eight clearances and seven recoveries, conceded two fouls and one corner kick and completed twenty-three of twenty-nine passes.

Will Johnson put in another full shift for his Portland Timbers in their come-from-behind draw away to Cascadia rivals, Seattle. He completed forty-two of fifty-three passes, made nine recoveries, four interceptions and one clearance; won five tackles and two fouls, conceding a further two – his fourth and fifth fouls of the season – and picked up his first yellow card of 2013 for a lunging challenge on Oswaldo Alonso. His one attempt on goal, from a direct free-kick, was blocked.

Disturbingly he was tackled and lost possession twelve times, though that could be more indicative of Seattle’s high pressing and a poor outing from Portland’s attacking core.

Terry Dunfield was his typically active self in Toronto’s loss to Montreal covering most, if not all, of the pitch. He played ninety minutes, completed forty-one of fifty-two passes, won three tackles, made six recoveries and two interceptions; winning three fouls and conceding four. He had two shots and a header – all off target – including one where the wiser option was to slip in Earnshaw. Dunfield was tackled, losing possession, a staggering eleven times - like Johnson, whether he was holding the ball too long, or lacking options, is a matter for debate.

Dwayne De Rosario, having served his two-match ban for a preseason head-butt on Philadelphia’s Danny Cruz, started his first match of the season for DC. He had two shots – one on target, completed twenty-nine of thirty-five passes, won two tackles, made six recoveries, and won three fouls, but was tackled and lost possession nine times and had two unsuccessful dribbles. He lasted seventy-six minutes before making way for Marcos Sanchez.

Ashtone Morgan had a rough night and was subbed of after sixty-five minutes for Darrell Russell. He completed only twenty-three of thirty-seven passes, had three unsuccessful crosses, and was alarmingly tackled for a loss of possession fifteen times. He made three clearances, two recoveries, adding an interception and a blocked cross, and managed one of his two shots on target, though only a weak attempt from distance. Morgan has been repeatedly target as the weak-link of the TFC back-line; his flaws were exposed on this night.

Kyle Bekker came on for Jeremy Hall in the sixtieth minute as Toronto attempted to fight back from a two-goal deficit. He completed thirteen of sixteen passes, was tackled, losing possession five times and conceded one foul. He took two free kicks and made one recovery. Not a bad cameo for the rookie on his third appearance, but Toronto needed more.

Jonathan Osorio also entered the fray in Montreal for Danny Califf in the eighty-four minute with Toronto throwing caution to the wind in search of a tying goal. He had little time to make an impact, but completed seven of his eight passes in his second substitute appearance.

Kyle Porter, Wandrille Lefevre, and Nana Attakora were all on the bench for their clubs – DC, Montreal, and San Jose, respectively.

See It Live

An abbreviated rendition this round - Peter Vermes shouting tantrum on the touch-line when he thought Claudio Bieler was being held by Jalil Anibaba in the box. He was incredulous.

Overheard

The Philadelphia Union announcers are possibly the worst offenders in MLS of the unwritten rule that the calling of matches should be nonpartisan, especially given that local broadcasts are often made available across the league via Direct Kick and MLS Live. The Hoppenot-Rivas head-butt incident last season was made nearly unwatchable by their repeated moanings. The homerisms seem odd in the case of Alejandro Moreno; given how good he is when analyzing matches elsewhere.

Upcoming Matches

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

Parting Thoughts

Vancouver hits the road after a bye week for their first away match of the season - a particularly tricky one at that - to Houston. What is expected from the Whitecaps on the road? Can Montreal keep their perfect start to the season rolling when they face New York? Will Nesta be ready in time and does that even matter? What about Baldomero Toledo’s match in Montreal, were those penalties warranted? Toronto has some time to take stock of all the new arrivals and train as a unit with two weeks between matches, what emerges from this cocoon?

Two of the three unbeaten sides remaining in MLS are Canadian; can they really rival LA for league dominance?

Was Velasquez’s tackle worthy of the red card? Was Jackson offside? Should Cooper's goal have been ruled off for hand-ball? Was New York's last-gasp attempt over the line? Given all three Champions League participants failed to win on the weekend, is that tournament more trouble than it’s worth? Should Chris Wondolowski’s early scoring troubles be a concern to San Jose? And what of the winless sides – Chicago, New York, Portland, Colorado, and … Seattle, what does round four hold for them?

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 3

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