MLS Week in Review – Round 35 - 24th Minute

The final weekend of the 2013 MLS season took place over the weekend – a dramatic, tense, sometime pulsating, other nerve-wracking – often depending on whom one supports – round of matches.

Ten games were played – one on Wednesday, four on Saturday and a whopping five on Sunday (hence the late posting) – resulting in an impressive four away-wins and a single draw.

31 goals were scored – a perfect three for three from the penalty spot – including several jaw-dropping finishes.

The referees kept to themselves for the most part, though they could have justly awarded more spot kicks and missed at least one major call in Seattle, while handing out some thirty yellow cards and a single red – they waited until that match was all but over to resort to a dismissal.

The last two weekends of the season, with nearly every team in the league fighting for a seat at the playoff table, have been excellent; a fitting appetizer for the impending MLS Cup Playoffs indeed.

Before the results, the goals of the round:[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

Four beauties to choose from this weekend; in chronological order, up first, is San Jose’s Chris Wondolowski and his near-post roof job:

Not bad for a man with one good foot.

Rockets don’t do it? Prefer the more subtle approach, well how about Diego Valeri’s sumptuous, yet delicate chip for Portland at Chivas:

Why rip when one can feather?

Solo efforts don’t always encapsulate the beauty of this sport, where teamwork and passing is king; how about this bit of interplay from New England, featuring Juan Agudelo and Lee Nguyen:

No wonder the Revolution refused to let Agudelo head off to Stoke early.

And finally, leave it to Thierry Henry to provide a goal such as this:

Unstoppable, and crucial too, as it set New York on their path to a bit of history; on to the matches…

Midweek Result in Brief

Goals courtesy of Alvaro Saborio – from the penalty spot in the 49th minute after Edgar Mejia handled Joao Plata’s chipped pass - and Plata himself – curling a low left-footed shot into the bottom left corner of the goal from the arc – just three minutes later were enough to put Salt Lake in place to potentially win the Supporters’ Shield with a victory in their final match of the season – pending the weekend results, of course – despite Julio Morales clawing one back for Chivas after a glorious long pass from Carlo Chueca in the 77th.

Results

Philadelphia 1 – Kansas City 2

Saturday’s first match was rife with playoff implications for the Eastern Conference, as Philadelphia needed to win – and see other results go their way – to have any chance of moving on, while Kansas City had a chance to put themselves in the Supporters’ Shield lead, if only for a night.

The best of the early chances in a hard-fought match fell the way of the visitors - Dom Dwyer hit a low shot just wide and Jacob Peterson wasted a wonderful chance after Graham Zusi’s free-kick fell to him, wide open, behind the Philadelphia back-line only for him to shoot meekly, straight at the keeper – before emotions began to boil over heading into half-time with Peterson and Danny Cruz exchanging words moments prior to Conor Casey and Aurelien Collin seeing yellow for doing the same, more emphatically.

The deadlock was broken two minutes into the second half when Lawrence Olum flicked on a Matt Besler long throw from the right at the front-post to the back, where Zusi had found some space to nod in.

The Union brought on attacking substitution in desperate need of a goal and nearly found one, only for Seth Sinovic to clear Jack McInerney’s attempt off the line in the 77th minute.

Eleven minutes later, however, McInerney had his goal after a goalmouth scramble led to a weak clearance that was headed back in behind the Sporting back-line by Jeff Parke and McInerney stole in from the left to finish past Jimmy Nielsen with a calm right-footer.

Needing to win, Philadelphia continued to push forward and were caught on the break in stoppage-time – a long Nielsen goal-kick was collected by Peterson in the right corner, his cross was over the head of Josh Gardner at the near-post, but fell to Teal Bunbury on the left, who cutback to tee up Olum for a left-footer past Zac MacMath to secure the full points.

The loss eliminated Philadelphia from the playoffs for a second-straight season – the third time in their four years of existence – though it was their own fault, having won just two of their last ten matches to close the campaign.

Manager John Hackworth looked forward to next season post-match, “I think there are a lot of guys in the locker room who are going to be back here next year and are really going to have profited this year and the experiences that this team has had. It is hard for me to sit here and tell you guys that I think the future looks bright, but in fact, I really believe that it does.

“We have a couple of pieces that we need to change, and we have some tough decisions in the off season, just like any other team.* But I would look at it very optimistically because there are a lot of guys in that locker room have great futures ahead of them. I think our team is one that is building. We are getting better and better.* You look at it and you think there are a lot of pieces that are going to be good next year."

With the three points, Kansas City take the lead in the Supporters’ Shield race – in front of New York by two points – and will enter the post-season on a four-game unbeaten run.

Peter Vermes spoke about the difficulty of making the playoffs, "I say this all the time, everybody*thinks making the playoffs in this league is a lay-up, and there's no chance. When you look at, over the course of a season, the parity and how close everyone is right now in both conferences, except for a few outliers.

“That parity gives you*the opportunity to beat anybody week in and week out. If you take the EPL and made the comparison and said Man U is going to play against Norwich this weekend, well it is not a question whether or not they're going to win...it's whether it's by four or three goals. We don't have that in this league and I think that is a great thing and the entertainment value for all of our fans."

Toronto 1 – Montreal 0

An hour after the match in Philadelphia kicked off the second game of the day was getting underway in Toronto, with eliminated TFC hosting Lower Canada-rivals, Montreal.

The season ended for Toronto months ago, but Montreal were nervously looking over their shoulder, having struggled through the final months of the season.

Once the darlings of the East, dominant atop the conference, the Impact’s lead shrunk until they were overtaken and now they needed to win to assure their qualification, lest they rely on others to help them back into the playoffs.

Toronto came out flying, playing some of their best football of the year, against a Montreal side who looked turgid at best.

It took sixteen minutes for the home team to open the scoring.

Bright Dike forced a bad pass out of Montreal centre-back, Wandrille Lefevre; it was intercepted by Jonathan Osorio, who fed Dike up the right flank. Dike cut into the box, tried to take on two defenders and failed, but the ball squeaked through to Osorio above the near-post. His right-footed shot was aimed towards the far-side of the goal, but Robert Earnshaw deflected the effort, catching Troy Perkins wrong-footed and sending a finish into the right-side of the goal.

The first half ended with the one-goal lead intact – despite rookie, Kyle Bekker, smacking a left-footer off the bar from outside the box – but not before Earnshaw was involved in an incident that may have altered the outcome – swatting at Hernan Bernardello as the two argued over the placement of a free-kick. On another day he may have seen red, but Bernardello oversold the transgression and both were shown yellows for their troubles.

Toronto would look to add a second, failing repeatedly to hit that final ball, and Montreal appeared to level midway through the second, only for the goal to be ruled out as Marco Di Vaio directed it into the back of the net with a stray arm.

Though dominant, TFC were forced to rely, as usual, on Joe Bendik, who twice came up huge to deny both Davy Arnaud and Andres Romero from tying the match.

With the win, Toronto end their season on a high note; vanquishing their feted foes and, if not ending their season, at least ensuring a nervous Sunday of result-watching.

Post-match, Ryan Nelsen heralded his side, “I thought the first half was absolutely fantastic and the guys passed the ball extremely well and controlled the game,” before pointing out the obvious, “the only thing that disappointed me was that we didn’t get that second goal. We knew if we had got that second goal that we probably would have gone on to win by a bit more.”

Though they will enter the final day still sitting third in the East, with the loss Montreal are at risk of falling out of the playoffs, should other results not go their way, and they end their regular season with just one win in their last eight matches.

Marco Schallibaum was disappointed in the poor account his side gave of themselves, “The way we played in the first half, was not very good. There were too many individual mistakes, too much nervousness. We complicated matters at the back as well. In the second half, I saw a reaction, with clear opportunities created, but we didn’t put them in and you’re not going to win that way.”

San Jose 2 – Dallas 1

As the Toronto-Montreal match wound down, the first of two Western matches was getting under way in San Jose.

With both sides all but eliminated – San Jose needed to win and score thirteen goals and hope that Colorado lost, while Dallas were already doomed – this match was as much about the retirement of Ramiro Corrales, the last remaining MLS Original, as it was about the result.

Having secured progression in the Champions League midweek, Mark Watson gave Corrales the start, as well as backup keeper, David Bingham – both would play key roles in the action.

Kenny Cooper looked to have opened the scoring after seventeen minutes, putting a deftly clipped Peter Luccin free-kick in off the post, but the offside flag denied him the honour. Ten minutes later that responsibility fell to Walter Martinez, though at first it appeared as though Steven Lenhart had earned the plaudits.

Justin Morrow surged up the left and played up to Martinez, who cut onto his right-foot and sent a slow roller towards the near-post area. Lenhart and Walker Zimmerman collapsed on the delivery, but neither got a touch, freezing Dallas keeper Chris Seitz, who could only watch in agony as it trickled past him into the right-side of the goal.

Dallas would go in search for the equalizer and Bingham would repeatedly come up big in his first and only start of the season – making a huge stop on Blas Perez five minutes into the second half.

It was San Jose who scored next - Shea Salinas burst into the box from the right and was blocked off by Zimmerman, the loose ball fell to a retreating Lenhart moving back from the left and he swept a pass towards Chris Wondolowski, who settled the ball and then roofed a left-footer at the short-side.

Dallas would find their goal – and ruin Bingham’s clean-sheet – in the final minute of regulation, when a long free-kick was swatted wide right for Perez to collect. His cross into the middle was won by Stephen Keel, rising impressively over Victor Bernardez, to head on to the far-side.

Though the playoffs were beyond reach, San Jose enter the off-season in high spirits having gone unbeaten through their last seven matches.

Interim coach, Mark Watson – who is rumoured to returning next season on a permanent deal (more on that in tomorrow’s Canadian Content), took the opportunity to praise Corrales - more on Corrales’ retirement in the See It Live section.

Conversely, Dallas head into the winter having won just one of their last seven matches and in the midst of a search for a new boss, with Schellas Hyndman stepping down.

With this being Hyndman’s last match at the helm, it seems fitting to allow him to elaborate on his time:

“What I would like to say to the FC Dallas fans is that this has been a wonderful experience for me for the last five-and-a-half years coaching their team. Our fans should be excited about the future and I look forward to FC Dallas competing in the near future.

“I’ve always looked at myself as an educator. I coach like a teacher. I try to educate, I try to motivate, I try to do all of those psychological things and obviously being in the game as long as I have, I have a fair set of knowledge of the game. I think the best way for me to say what all this means is I have really been blessed to be in a sport that I love for as long as I have been in it and I hope it will continue.

“I’ll say that when I count my blessings that I have in life, I count soccer twice.”

Well said. Hyndman will remain a consultant with the club, responding whenever they need a bit of sagely advice.

Chivas 0 – Portland 5

Saturday’s final match was the Diego Valeri show, as Portland asserted their supremacy in the West with a thorough victory in Los Angeles against Chivas.

The Argentine Maestro scored the first two – collecting a loose ball above the left-post and slotting a right-footer into the bottom left corner of the goal after sixteen minutes and a second thirteen minutes later with a sumptuous right-footed chip from above the arc after intercepting a Jaime Frias pass and sauntering towards goal – and set up the third – tracking down a long Futty Danso ball into the right corner, cutting to a stop and shirking the challenge of Josue Soto, before rolling a pass into the path of Rodney Wallace, who touched a left-footer on to the far-side of the goal – before bowing out for the second half.

His teammates picked up the slack with the Johnsons – first Ryan, then Will – adding a fourth and a fifth to complete the thrashing.

Ryan Johnson potted in the 72nd minute, tapping the rebound from a Wallace shot into the empty net after Tim Melia parried a goal-bound shot straight to the striker and Will capped off the night in the 76th minute with a dipping free-kick from the left-edge of the box bound for the far-side of the goal.

Chivas’ only chances of the night came through Cubo Torres, who had a penalty shout turned away and saw his header denied by Donovan Ricketts in the final ten minutes; will he return next season or is he Guadalajara bound?

The horror-showing ends a miserable year for Los Ameri-Goats, who close out with five-straight losses, while conceding five goals against in three of those last five.

Jose Luis Real looked to the future post-match, “This is a project, and it's important to say I came here to install a style, and it's a project that normally takes about three years to be fruitful ... It's going to take time. It's a complicated project” adding, “We know who will be here and who won't be here next season. Who we'll be bringing, and we also have a very clear idea the style we're going to play” but threw his own role into question, “Independent of whether I'm here, [or] I'm not here, the idea is going to remain the same, with or without me. The most important part is everyone has the commitment to move forward and move the project forward next season.”

With the impressive five-goal performance, Portland clinch top spot in the West, will enter in fine form having gone unbeaten through eight matches, and, more importantly, their first playoff berth in their third year of existence, while equaling the league-record for fewest losses (five) in a season.

Caleb Porter summed up the season with an eye to next weekend, “We all realize that it has been a good year. It’s been a fun season, but I think we are all going to continue to remain grounded, humble, and hungry and keep business as usual because that’s the process we have been following all season long. We don’t want to celebrate or reflect too much because we are focused on not just being in the playoffs, but we want to win it all. I think we have a group of guys in that locker room that believe that we’ve got a good chance to do it.”

DC 1 – Houston 2

Sunday’s opener was the first of three matches that would decide the fate of the Eastern Conference.

Houston needed to win heading into already-eliminated DC – a draw may have done, but they would then be at the mercy of other results – and it took them just eleven minutes to find that precious opener.

Oscar Boniek Garcia lifted a ball over the DC back-line for Giles Barnes to run onto and James Riley was deemed to have done enough – with a slight tug after putting his hand on the forward’s shoulder from behind – to warrant a penalty kick.

Garcia stepped to the spot and firmly slotted a right-footer to the goalkeeper’s left, Bill Hamid guessed correctly, but could not reach the well-placed finish.

DC would come to life, calling upon Tally Hall to make a huge save on Chris Korb, before they responded in the 27th minute.

Dwayne De Rosario fed Luis Silva atop the left-side of the box and he in turn laid a ball down the side of the area for the overlapping Chris Pontius. Pontius beat Bobby Boswell with a move and hung a cross up to the back-post from the end-line for Kyle Porter to nod down for the equalizer.

Twelve minutes later Houston reinstated their lead from a set-piece – of course – when Brad Davis’ in-swinging corner kick was met at the near-post by Barnes, who got away from his marker, Silva to flick a header on to the far-side of the goal.

The Dynamo would nearly extend their advantage before the first half closed; calling on Hamid to make a fine double-save on first Will Bruin then Brad Davis to keep the score tight heading into the second frame.

Pontius would again be the centre of a DC attack and may have earned a penalty when Eric Brunner stuck in a foot, upending the attacker, but the referee waived play on, and neither side would score again.

The loss – their 24th this season - doomed DC to one of the worst seasons in MLS history, setting a new mark for fewest wins (three) and having own-goal win their golden boot with four goals (scored on them, by them, not for them), though they avoided being the club to have scored the fewest goals in a season with Porter’s header pushing them up to 22 in total.

Ben Olsen preferred to look forward to next season rather than reflect on this year’s ignominy, “I have a lot of faith in a majority of these guys. With the things that are given to us by the league, we’re going to have a very competitive team next year and I’m looking forward to it” adding, when asked what they needed for 2014, “Goals would help. Guys that can provide the last pass would help and getting more athletic and getting better on set pieces. Sure up our back line even more; you name it, we can get better.”

The win – combined with losses from Montreal and Philadelphia on Saturday – assured Houston a spot in the playoffs for the seventh season in eight years, though they failed to find the same form that has served them so well in the past – winning four of their last eleven matches.

Dominic Kinnear agreed it was not their usual surge to the post-season, “It was probably more of a different road than years past. We started out well, hit a rough patch in the middle and I think we finished pretty strong. I think we’ve lost one of our last seven, so in six of our seven we’ve picked up points, which has been crucial to get to the playoffs here.”

Columbus 0 – New England 1

With Houston taking one of the three remaining spots, it fell to New England to win the return leg of their home-and-home series with Columbus and ensure they would have a place in the post-season ruckus.

The Crew started the brighter of the two and the Revolution’s hopes looked dim when stalwart centre-back, Jose Goncalves, picked up a knock in the open minutes and looked to be hobbled.

But Goncalves played through the pain and New England weathered the initial pressure to open the scoring before the half-hour mark with Juan Agudelo tallying in the 28th minute.

Agudelo received a pass on the right-edge of the Columbus box from Andrew Farrell with his back to his marker, he back-heeled into the path of Lee Nguyen, attacking the box from further right, and peeled towards goal, receiving a return ball and finishing with a left-footer that found its way through Andy Gruenebaum, back in goal for the hosts.

The match descended into a war of attrition with Columbus pressing forward and New England looking to hold onto their lead; it got scrappy and there were plenty of whistles – 33 fouls - and stoppages - injuries to Aaron Schoenfeld, Kevin Alston, and the goal-scorer, Agudelo - stifling any momentum.

Those frustrations came to a boil when Dominic Oduro lashed out at Kelyn Rowe in the first of eight minutes of stoppage-time and was shown a straight red card for his efforts.

Columbus, who were officially eliminated last weekend, will miss the playoff for a second-straight season and close out the run with a third-straight loss.

Interim boss, Brian Bliss, was not surprised by how the match played out, “I expected that, when you’re down a goal and you make a couple of subs and you move some guys around the field you tend to lose a little bit of your continuity, that’s to be expected. The game was very sporadic, choppy, in terms of the flow, there was no rhythm. Between guys getting injured, guys laying down on the field, them doing what they needed to do in terms of eating up the clock, there was no rhythm to the game unfortunately, that’s just the way it was, it was their game plan and it worked and I can’t fault them for that.”

And feels he is the right man to take the helm next season, "I know how I view the game. I know how I feel the game should be played and what needs to happen in training every day in order to get that end result. I still believe in those methods and views of the game. I'm biased. I would say I think I got us on the right track, but that's for others to determine."

The win vaults New England above Montreal and Chicago, level with Houston on 51 points, but into third by dint of outscoring the Dynamo – 49 goals vs. 41 goals – to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2009.

Jay Heaps was pleased with the accomplishment of his side, “Obviously you play for the playoffs. I think that we had our ups and downs this season, but I really think that we are coming together as a group. We are getting our young guys big minutes, big games, and they are winning games. They are finding results. I think that is really important for the development of players. You can talk about developing players and put them in tough situations and I think when you put them in tough situations they do well that learning curve is expedited.”

New York 5 – Chicago 2

As the second half got underway in Columbus, the third Eastern match was about to begin – and what a match it was.

Both teams had plenty to play for: New York were looking to win their first major trophy by vaulting back over Kansas City into top spot in the league and Chicago needed to win – or draw in a high scoring manner – to break their tie with Montreal.

Red Bull(s), Metro-stars, the New Jersey Energy Drink, call them what you will, New York has a history of failing at the final hurdle, and six minutes in it looked as though a pair of alumni would doom them once more to that ‘Oh So Metro’ fate.

Dilly Duka collected a pass from Arevalo Rios on the left, cut in-field and drilled a right-footed blast across Luis Robles. The New York keeper got his hands to it, but could only push the rebound straight to Mike Magee, who tucked a right-footer in at the right-post to open the scoring.

It was a wide open match with chances coming at both ends and after struggling to string passes together through the opening twenty minutes, Thierry Henry would settle the nerves of the home side.

In the 24th minute, the much-maligned Peguy Luyindula collected a ball from David Carney in the centre-cirlce, turned, and lofted a ball towards his fellow Frenchman. Henry took the delivery down on his chest, let it bounce and settle, before pinging a sweet right-footed half-volley towards the top right-corner of the goal where it dinked off the intersection of post and bar to level the match at ones.

The sides entered the lockers at half-time level; when they returned, something had changed.

Three minutes into the second half, Lloyd Sam was tripped up and from the ensuing free-kick, taken by Henry, Dax McCarty was denied by a brilliant save from Sean Johnson. Unfortunately for the Fire, the loose ball was touched by Ibrahim Sekagya then ping-ponged around, striking Tim Cahill, then Sekagya before bounding across the line.

The goal was officially awarded to the centre-back, though who got the last touch was difficult to verify.

Seven minutes later - in the 56th minute - the celebrations began in earnest, when a devastating counterattack doubled the Red Bull advantage. Robles rolled a throw out to Luyindula, who charged up-field before laying out wide to Sam on the right. The winger cut-back onto his left-foot and unleashed a curling effort into the top left-corner of the Fire’s goal.

New York would add a fourth in the 77th minute – Eric Alexander, again from Luyindula (his third assist of the night) blasting a tight-angled shot through Johnson to the far-side netting from the right – and a fifth in the 84th – after a lovely touch inside from Henry and a curling goalmouth ball that was touched in by the left-boot of Jonny Steele – to send the home crowd and first-year manager, Mike Petke, into raptures.

Chicago would grab hollow consolation for the five unanswered goals in the final minute of regulation, when Quincy Amarikwa – another short-term Bull – nodded in a Joel Lindpere corner kick – Lindpere too was once a New Yorker – but it would change little.

The win ended eighteen years of waiting, as New York would clinch top spot in the East and hoist the Supporters’ Shield, as the team with the best regular season record, in front of a teeming South Ward

Mike Petke gave an impassioned address to the fans post-match, “This is a great moment, for the players, for the staff, for the supporters, especially. It’s been a long time… It’s been a long time coming and these guys earned it. It doesn’t matter what’s written, it doesn’t matter how we played in certain moments, these guys gave me everything they had this year and this season. I’m at a loss for words” going on to emphasize, "This is history; tomorrow, we go back to work."

For Chicago, the loss ended their hopes of participation in the 2013 MLS Cup playoffs, awarding the final spot in the East to Montreal – separated by a mere three goals-scored.

Frank Klopas reflected the feeling of his dressing room, “Right now it’s a lot of emotions. I’m proud of the guys just the way the second half of the season [went] and we were probably the best team in the league in the second half of the season. Through adversity you learn and you become better but I think the group fought all the way to the end, it’s just unfortunate that early on if you get one more win it’s a different thing. I take my hat off to the guys because they competed. I know it’s disappointing right now for sure, but you have to learn from every situation and move on.”

Vancouver 3 – Colorado 0

With the East all settled, it fell to a pair of Western matches to decide the final seeding for the playoffs.

Up first was a chance for Colorado to stake a claim for a higher seed with the possibility of moving into third spot, at least until after the final match of the round sorted out the standings.

Vancouver were eliminated when they lost the first leg of their home-and-home in Colorado last weekend and were hungry for a measure of revenge.

From the off, it was clear Sunday was the Camilo-show, as the Brazilian forward went in search of the Golden Boot with a pair of early chances, each turned away by Clint Irwin.

It looked as though the visitors would steal the lead in the 27th minute with Edson Buddle nearly turning in a chance only for some excellent defensive work from Brad Rusin and goalkeeper, David Ousted, to deny the big striker.

Vancouver finally found their break-through three minutes before half-time when Kekuta Manneh was sent in down the left-side of the box and was tripped by Marvell Wynne, forcing the referee to point to the spot.

The fans may have wanted retiring legend YP Lee to take the spot kick, but he deferred to Camilo, who blasted a right-footed finish straight down the middle.

Buddle was again denied – by both the offside flag and a big save from Ousted – before Camilo doubled the advantage after 74 minutes receiving a pass from Matt Watson on the left before cutting past two defenders with an inside-outside move and finishing across the goalkeeper from a tight angle with his right-foot.

Watson would almost set up the hat-trick – and Golden Boot clinching strike – nine minutes later, unselfishly setting up his teammate, only for Drew Moor to clear off the line, but Camilo would not be denied his award and Russell Teibert teed him up with a lifted ball over the back-line for Camilo to touch in with his right-boot in the 84th.

Post-match Martin Rennie hailed a “fantastic result and a great performance” before showering praise on Camilo and Lee.

The loss left Colorado sitting in the fifth and final spot in the West, meaning they would be forced to go through the play-in round on the road before reaching the playoffs proper.

Oscar Pareja was disappointed with the performance, “When you lose a game like that, you can’t say that we came out prepared. It didn’t happen today for many lapses of the game, and we paid for that” something he will hope to address before the playoffs begin.”

Seattle 1 – Los Angeles 1

And finally, the last match of the weekend – and the season – was a high-profile clash in front of some 66-thousand fans in Seattle with the Sounders hosting the Galaxy as they jockeyed for final positions on the Western table.

With Portland and Salt Lake having locked up the top two spots and Colorado bringing up the rear, all that was left to be decided was who would be third and who would be fourth; fourth being forced into a play-in round.

Desperate to turnaround a woeful run, Seattle came out the more aggressive of the two, taking their first shot within three minutes and turning the ball in after eighteen, though Eddie Johnson was flagged offside.

They would have to wait until the thirtieth minute to take the lead – it was a goal they had been waiting for for some time.

A poor Greg Cochrane ball up the attacking right was cut out by Brad Evans, who headed into the path of Johnson steaming up the right. He dished off further wide-right to Lamar Neagle to hit a looping cross to the back-post where Clint Dempsey managed to turn it in with a flick of his right-foot to tuck in his first goal in MLS – 590 minutes after making his debut.

Unburdened, Dempsey nearly added another – curling a shot wide, before controversy struck to deny Los Angeles an equalizer.

In the 42nd minute, Omar Gonzalez headed a Landon Donovan corner kick towards goal where it appeared to trickle over the line – replays showed it definitely did – before Osvaldo Alonso, who was inside the net, could swat it away.

Neither the referee, nor his assistants, was certain, and play carried on, much to the chagrin of the Galaxy.

Justly LA would find their leveler in the 78th minute when Gonzalez nodded a bouncing ball towards Hector Jimenez on the right-side of the Seattle box and he cushioned a header back to Robbie Keane, who sent a right-footed chopper bouncing towards the right-side of goal where Michael Gspurning could do nothing to prevent it crossing the line.

A point each maintains the status quo – with LA in third and Seattle in fourth – so the Galaxy have a week to rest, while Seattle must suit up midweek to fight their way to the conference semifinal on the weekend.

For Seattle, the draw did snap their four-game losing streak, but extended their winless run to seven matches – not the way one hopes to enter a winner-takes-all match against Colorado, who pounded them mercilessly quite recently.

Sigi Schmid was thankful for the little things, “The most important thing is that we play well and get results. I think today it was important, as well, to stop the bleeding a little bit… We also played the team that’s the two-time defending champions and we played them even, and even had more at times. We just have to continue to know what that did for us and build upon it” continuing hopefully, “maybe luck is turning for us a little bit.”

LA, meanwhile, face a difficult series against Salt Lake, but get some much-needed rest.

Bruce Arena was his usual loquacious-self, “It was a good game in preparation for the playoffs for us. We’re pleased with that” adding, “We’ve done a good job and we’ll hopefully be healthy by the weekend when we play. We’ll be in a good position to be competitive and hopefully win the first series.”

CanCon

As usual, the extended look at the Canadian contributions will be posted tomorrow (Tuesday) with plenty to look out for: a pair of goals, two assists, a sweet left-footer off the bar, one new face, the return of an old one, and perhaps, a contract.

Overheard

Apparently Chris Wondolowski has been playing with a broken foot since end of June.

Mike Petke’s speech to the Red Bull fans after his side claimed the Supporters’ Shield:

Plenty of plaudits for Ramiro Corrales from his San Jose teammates on the eve of his final match, but first from the man himself: “It was very emotional before the game with my family there and friends were there. It’s been fantastic for 18 years. I’ve felt comfortable here the last few years. This has been one of the best locker rooms I’ve experienced in my career” adding, “My teammates are unbelievable. They made me feel very special tonight. I’ll never forget this night.”

Mark Watson noted, “It was important to honor him,” interim head coach Mark Watson said. “He’s been great. He’s the last of the originals and he needed to play a part. He can still play at a high level. He’s truly a legend.”

While Rafael Baca pointed out, “He deserves everything. He was the first to start the league and the last to leave. He’s done it all. He’s a great role model and it’s been great getting to know him.”

And Chris Wondolowski summed it up nicely, “I’m so proud to have stepped on the same field as Ramiro.”

A tip of the hat to Ramiro Corrales.

See It Live

Plenty of wee gems for one’s viewing pleasure:

Be it, Javier Morales’ defense-splitting nutmeg pass for Grabavoy against Chivas, or Ramiro Corrales being carried off the pitch to raucous applause.

Peter Luccin’s bear-hug on Walter Martinez in San Jose was comical, Bill Hamid’s double save was spectacular, and there was an on-field halftime marriage proposal at RFK Stadium – hopefully things go better for them than they did for DC.

And DC had two goalkeepers on their bench and were still short a substitute.

Thierry Henry’s move and pass for Jonny Steele’s goal was special, as were the scenes when it became clear that New York would win their first trophy – the Tim Cahill-Mike Petke hug, New York-native Petke welling up a bit at the emotion, then Henry walking his manager over to the fans to present the shield.

Then there were some serious defensive heroics: first from Vancouver duo Brad Rusin and David Ousted to deny Edson Buddle, and then from Drew Moor to deny Camilo after Matt Watson’s unselfish play.

Controversy

A couple of decent penalty shouts were turned away – Chivas’ Cubo Torres PK shout was shouldered down in the box by Portland’s Diego Chara and Chris Pontius appeared to be tripped up by Houston’s Eric Brunner in DC.

The only red card this round was shown to Columbus’ Dominic Oduro – did he deserve it or the referee just trying to defuse a chippy match as it came to an end?

And what about the Omar Gonzalez goal that clearly crossed the line, only to be missed by the officials? Video Technology!

Opinion Poll

A little bit of un-fair play from DC’s Dwayne De Rosario who did not return the ball, preferring to play on against his former club, Houston, after Brad Davis put the ball out thinking De Rosario was injured?

Fair game or a bit foul?

Should the referee be the one to decide when play stops or are the players right to take matters into their own hands?

Upcoming Fixtures

The 2013 MLS Cup Playoffs are set.

Teams that finished fourth and fifth in each conference – Houston and Montreal in the East and Seattle and Colorado in the West – face a short turnaround as they return to the pitch on Wednesday and Thursday for the one-match play-in round to decide who moves on to the Conference Semifinals which begin on the weekend.

In the East, Kansas City will play New England, while New York await the winner of Houston-Montreal; out West, Salt Lake meet Los Angeles and Portland take on whoever emerges from Seattle-Colorado.

Wednesday: Seattle-Colorado. Thursday: Houston-Montreal.

Really it would be best to watch them both.

A hearty congratulation to Red Bull New York - and especially their fans - on ending the long wait; proof-positive that there is hope for all the long-sufferers out there.

All quotes courtesy of MLSsoccer.com

For those who missed them, Rounds 33 and 34 are now available.

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 35

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