Seeing as the review is so late (apologies) and the next round begins tonight (Thursday), a slightly altered format will be engaged, foregoing the usual depth of coverage for a more cursory glance at the actual games, while focusing on where the league sits heading into the penultimate weekend.
Before the results, the goals of the round:
Five candidates this week, beginning with
Be sure to cast your ballot for Goal of the Week. On to the results:
Midweek Results in a Sentence (or Two)
Houston put a serious dent in Toronto’s playoff aspirations on Wednesday night, while ensuring they stayed viable, clinging to a first-half Giles Barnes strike despite going down to ten men in the 55th minute when AJ Cochran hauled down Luke Moore in the box, earning himself a red card and gifting TFC a penalty kick.
Jermain Defoe stepped to the spot, only for Dynamo keeper Tyler Deric to dive to his right, denying the want-away striker. Deric would stand on his head for the remaining forty minute, repeatedly preventing TFC from finding their much-needed equalizer.
Having met just five days earlier, the series moved to Portland for a return meeting midweek, resulting in Portland momentarily overtaking Vancouver in the battle for the final spot in the West.
Goals from Rodney Wallace in the first half and a second-half brace courtesy of Diego Valeri – the first from the penalty spot and the second on the counter - would see out the 3-0 win for the home side.
San Jose, who were already eliminated, saw their winless streak extended to twelve matches.
Results in Brief
Friday night opened in Kansas City, where Sporting finally returned to winning ways, snapping a surprising three-game losing streak at home with a 2-0 victory over Chicago.
Dom Dwyer missed a chance to open the scoring in the twelfth minute from the penalty spot after Benny Feilhaber was tripped up by Lovel Palmer, skying his effort over the bar. With Chicago the recognized draw kings, the match looked destined to end scoreless – in part thanks to some fine keeping from Andy Gruenebaum, only for Graham Zusi to break the deadlock in the 80th minute with a long-range effort.
Dwyer would make amends for his earlier miss in stoppage-time, getting on the end of a Zusi cross in the 92nd minute to power his header past Sean Johnson in the Chicago goal.
With the win, Kansas City clinched a playoff berth for the fourth-straight season, while Chicago inch closer to a bizarre stat, having collected more points from draws than wins – a measure that will hold true should they fail to win either of their final two matches.
The action swapped over to the West Coast for the final match in this season’s rendition of the Cascadia Cup. Not only were the points on the line, but the winner would take home the much-loved three team trophy.
It was a match decided by a moment of controversy, as Kekuta Manneh scored the only goal of Vancouver’s 0-1 win in the 45th minute. Off the pitch, receiving treatment for a knock that would force him off at half-time, Manneh was allowed to re-enter the pitch as Vancouver broke on the counter, finding himself completing alone on the left to steal in on goal, slipping a finish under Stefan Frei.
The debatable nature of whether an unfair advantage was allowed the Whitecaps when Manneh was waived on only served to ratchet even higher the emotions, as a contentious match turned absolutely fractious – highly entertaining.
The loss dented Seattle’s Supporters’ Shield aspirations, opening the door for Los Angeles to take the initiative on Sunday, while Vancouver retook fifth in the West from Portland and secured a second-consecutive Cascadia Cup.
Saturday’s play kicked off in Montreal with the Impact welcoming the Revolution. Having announced he would retire at the end of the season, Marco Di Vaio signed off in style, scoring a predatory brace.
His first came in the twelfth minute, ghosting off the back-shoulder of AJ Soares to get on the end of a Calum Mallace long-ball, blasting his finish past Bobby Shuttleworth. Kelyn Rowe would respond for New England four minutes later, breaking into the right-side of the area on a Lee Nguyen ball before beating Evan Bush.
Di Vaio would exhibit his quality again in the 39th minute, fooling one of the league’s premier defenders by letting the ball run across him, before beating Shuttleworth with a love drive.
Nguyen would equalize in the 69th minute with a visionary passage of his own, scooping a finish from the top of the box; it took a slight deflection en route, looping into the Montreal net.
The draw was enough for New England to clinch a second-consecutive post-season under Jay Heaps, who celebrated his 100th game as head coach.
Aside from the changing leaves and the turning of the calendar page, a sure indication that the MLS season is coming to an end is the 300th match of the season, a milestone that was reached when Philadelphia hosted Columbus on Saturday.
Neither side could find the go-ahead through the first hour; the Union had largely dominated the first half, but were forced to wait until the 68th minute for Danny Cruz to put them ahead with a blast after Amobi Okugo nodded down a Fabinho cross.
Desperate for the win, needing to keep themselves alive, Philadelphia would add a second in the 75th minute through Andrew Wenger, touching in from a yard out after Vincent Nogueira’s shot rebounded off the post.
But it all went sour thereafter with Columbus scoring twice within a minute and thrice in a four-minute span to overturn the result. Ethan Finlay notched the first in the 78th minute with a near-post finish and Justin Meram added the second in the 79th pouncing on a loose ball before slicing into the area, while Jairo Arrieta rounded out the result in the 82nd minute.
Philadelphia would be eliminated by the result in New York, while Columbus’ post-season prospects were assisted by the Red Bulls victory.
Desperate for points, Toronto started well, only to crumble under the pessimism, allowing three New York goals in the first half. Bradley Wright-Phillips got the first in the 26th minute – his league-leading 25th of the season, Ruben Bover added the second nine minutes later, and nine minutes after that, Dax McCarty turned in a back-breaker before half-time.
TFC would pull one back in the 55th minute through Jonathan Osorio, but it was too little too late and a 86th minute red card to Nick Hagglund and a late booking to Michael Bradley would ensure Toronto would be short-handed next week against Montreal.
With the dominant 3-1 win, New York clinched their playoff spot – for a fourth-straight season no less, while Toronto’s hopes would now rely on winning their last two matches and Columbus losing both of theirs; nearly impossible margins.
Saturday night continued in the West, where Salt Lake too sealed up a playoff spot – their seventh-straight post-season appearance – winning 2-0 over San Jose in a match that was shorn of its international talent.
As many as six potential starters were away, while Javier Morales was suspended due to yellow card accumulation, requiring other pieces to step up with the goals for the home side. Ned Grabavoy would get the first, placing a low shot into the bottom corner in the 24th minute, while Sebastian Velasquez added the second just two minutes later, arriving unmarked at the edge of the six to get on the end of a corner kick.
With playoffs secured, first-year Salt Lake manager, Jeff Cassar had a promise to keep; San Jose on the other hand equaled a club record with a thirteenth-straight winless match as rumours swirl as to who will lead the team into next’s year stadium opening rebirth.
Saturday night would come to an end in Los Angeles, as Chivas and Colorado played out a dead-rubber with both sides already eliminated.
The Rapids would take the lead in the 30th minute, when John Neeskens snuck a shot past Dan Kennedy, beating the keeper to the short-side from a tight angle, only for Chivas, playing for pride with the club all but disbanded, registering two in the second half.
Rookie Kristopher Tyrpak grabbed the first – his first in MLS – on a fine solo effort, collecting the ball, turning towards goal before sliding through some ghastly Colorado defending to beat Clint Irwin in the 65th minute. Felix Borja would notch the second in the 85th minute, getting on the end of an Akira Kaji cross, sneaking his header past the Rapids keeper.
The 2-1 result would see Chivas win a second-consecutive match – just their second winning streak of the season – as they look to go out on a high, while Colorado extend their club-record winless streak to twelve matches.
Sunday began in a stutter, as Houston’s must-win game against DC was halted with lightning strikes in the area. The action would restart over an hour later and it was the visitors who took the lead through Taylor Kemp, scoring his first MLS goal when a swat from keeper Tyler Deric fell to him to the top of the box.
Houston thought they had earned a chance to level before half-time when the assistant referee appeared to call a penalty for a handball from Steve Birnbaum, only for the decision to be overturned after consultation. Fabian Espindola would take advantage of that respite and Houston pressing forward in the 64th, breaking in clear on goal from his own half to chip a deft finish over Deric for DC’s second.
The Dynamo would find a life-line – and a penalty kick – in the 83rd minute when Ricardo Clark was dragged down by Sean Franklin; Giles Barnes expertly dispatched the kick past Bill Hamid. But Houston’s hopes were dashed four minutes later when Eddie Johnson scored a third for DC, again catching the Dynamo forward.
With the 1-3 win, DC’s first ever in Houston, United all but assured they would clinch the top spot in the East, now six points ahead of Kansas City with two games left. The loss doomed Houston to just their second ever playoff-less season and their first since 2010. Hardly the end to Dominic Kinnear’s impressive tenure, should rumours of his return to San Jose next season, carry water.
The round concluded on Sunday night with an entertaining encounter between two playoff bound sides. LA had shored up their spot and had a chance to open up a gap on Seattle after the Sounders lost on Friday; Dallas’ fate would have to wait until after the match.
Their hopes took a dent in the 22nd minute, when Stefan Ishizaki opened the scoring with a lovely chipped finish, but David Texeira responded seven minutes after the restart, slipped in by Andres Escobar to finish past Jaime Penedo.
The match looked to end in a draw, only for Fabian Castillo to get on the end of the rebound after Escobar tested Penedo with a tight-angled drive, the rebound falling to him alone in the heart of the box for a free header into the open goal.
The 2-1 win would clinch Dallas’ spot in the playoffs, while ensuring that the two meetings between LA and Seattle over the final two rounds of the season would begin on level ground to determine who would win the Supporters’ Shield.
CanCon
The extended review of the Canadian performances will have to wait until tomorrow (again, apologies for the delay).
Strong outings from Russell Teibert, Tesho Akindele, and TFC duo of Jonathan Osorio and Kyle Bekker will be covered, as will the return from injury of Patrice Bernier and the league debut of a new face, Vancouver’s Kianz Froese.
Overheard
Montreal head coach Frank Klopas commented on the two-goal performance from his retiring talisman: “I told him we wanted to sign him for three more years. It was great to see him tonight. We talked about the last two games and finishing strong and getting a win for Marco. It was great seeing him play tonight; it reminded me of Marco Di Vaio 20 years ago.”
Lee Nguyen had a laugh about his deflected finish: “Of course I meant to chip him. No, I took a shot and it took a blessed little deflection. We were just happy to get the second goal there and hold on to that tie.
Philadelphia were devastated by the loss, with Danny Cruz summing it up well: “We’re professional athletes; It’s what we live for. We live to win championships, to win games. We don’t take this lightly. I don’t. I feel awful. I feel like we let down the club. I feel like we let down the fans, more importantly.”
While Maurice Edu was left with only clichés and disappointment: “That’s soccer sometimes. They always say 2-0 is like the worst lead to have. Again, it’s disappointing because I thought we put a lot of effort and a lot of energy into that game. To get two goals and to have it taken away just like that in a matter of minutes is really disappointing. What a rough way to lose a game.”
“I don’t know man, we’ll see” – Thierry Henry, when asked if this would be his final season in MLS.
See It Live
Seattle had a pretty awesome tifo for the conclusion of the Cascadia Cup; Clint Dempsey’s sarcastic applause earned him a yellow card. Good fun was had by all – except for maybe the official in question - when Kosuke Kimura hit the assistant referee when his clearance
A selection of the best saves: Tyler Deric’s goal-keeping performance in Toronto was stunning; Jon Busch on Fanendo Adi; Andy Gruenebaum on Matt Watson. Cast your vote for the week’s best.
Jeff Cassar was true to his word, shaving his head with Salt Lake making the post-season.
Controversy
Foremost in the controversy were two procedural issues:
The non-call when DaMarcus Beasley hopped on the back of Jackson was one thing, but the entire fiasco of the AJ Cochran red card, lengthy protest, and Jermain Defoe miss was an entirely different matter. Expect a mass confrontation citation from the league, while Toronto can complain about the amount of time it took for the referee to regain control and allow the penalty to be taken. Kudos to Houston, who alertly got in a substitute, eating up even more time before Defoe made his attempt.
Seattle were disappointed by the nature of
Penalties too were an issue, Philadelphia thought that Vincent Nogueira should have earned one when he was blocked off by Columbus’ Bernardo Anor; then there were a pair of decisions on Sunday in Houston: the retracted call and the dicey awarding on Sean Franklin who tumbled to the ground with Ricardo Clark.
And there was some indication that
Both red cards this weekend were somewhat debatable: Toronto’s Nick Hagglund and Dallas’ Moises Hernandez – did either deserve reprieve?
Playoffs
The composition of the ten teams who will take part in the 2014 MLS Cup playoffs was all but determined, as eight of the ten have been identified, though of course there is plenty of room for the jockeying of position.
The fifth spot in the East is virtually Columbus’, needing a single point in their last two or a TFC slip up to secure their place. The West is a little more open, with Vancouver one point ahead of Portland with two games left to play: the Whitecaps head to San Jose before hosting Colorado, while Portland host Salt Lake and travel to Dallas.
Seattle and Los Angeles, who meet twice over the final two weeks, enter their home and away series level on 60 points to determine who will take the Supporters’ Shield – they play in LA on Sunday and then in Seattle six days later. Seattle holds the tie-breaker, having won more games, meaning LA must come out the better over the two meetings to hoist the trophy. DC, the East’s only challenger, sit five points behind.
Upcoming Fixtures
Thursday: Houston-New England. Friday: Portland-Salt Lake. Saturday: Toronto-Montreal; Colorado-Dallas; Philadelphia-Kansas City; DC-Chicago; San Jose-Vancouver. Sunday: New York-Columbus; Los Angeles-Seattle.
As a means of making amends for the tardiness, as well as satisfying any knowledge of a greater depth of coverage for this round, a rare look behind the scenes at this monster review. The forty-plus page document compiled each round in order to ensure the best coverage of MLS action in one place can be accessed here (dropbox, in PDF form).
All video & quotes courtesy of MLSsoccer.com
Each week James takes a look at the league as a whole.
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