MLS Week in Review – Round 6 - 24th Minute

The sixth round of MLS play concluded with a lone Sunday evening fixture in Chicago.

It ended a weekend that featured three of the remaining four winless sides finally finding that elusive victory, Chicago unlocking their faltering attack, late-drama from Friday on, serious equipment malfunctions, and cards; lots and lots of cards.

Through the seven matches, sixteen goals were scored – and two penalty attempts missed; a whopping thirty yellow cards were shown – an average of over four per match and a high of seven in the Toronto-Dallas affair - but oddly, no reds; one bone crunching tackle that both delighted and horrified as it sparked debate and may have caught the attention of the disciplinary committee – much to the chagrin of old-school enthusiasts - as the home sides went undefeated with three draws dotting the fixture list.

Before the results, Goal of the Round honours must be awarded.

What the weekend lacked in volume, it made up with quality.

Darel Russell’s stoppage-time equalizing frozen rope was lovely, Blas Perez’ strike in the same match was as clinical as they come, Dominic Oduro’s tight-angled blast was a sight to see, and Edson Buddle’s hold-up play to set up Atiba Harris was an impressive feat of strength, while Ryan Johnson and Maicon Santos’ braces were each eye-catching in their own right.

But the goal of the round has to go to Chris Wondolowski’s top-shelf rocket past Vancouver’s Joe Cannon.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

The sequence began when an errant Ramiro Corrales cross produced a goal-kick for the Whitecaps; goalkeeper Joe Cannon opted to go short up the left flank, building out of the back, rather than booting it up-field.

Daigo Kobayashi, pressured by Dan Gargan, played back to Alain Rochat.

Shea Salinas continued the pressing forcing the left-back into a risky attempt to Jun Marques Davidson, which Wondolowski duly intercepted, poking it back to Salinas nearer the touch-line.

The tricky winger opted to play in-field rather than go wide, sending a testing ball towards Alan Gordon inside the arc. Brad Rusin just missed cutting out the pass and Andy O’Brien was caught wrong side of the big striker. Gordon touched it first time back into the path of the untracked Wondo down the right-side of the penalty area.

The striker settled it with a left-footed touch, simultaneously pushing the ball into space away from the incoming pressure – whether by design or accident matters not, to set up a right-footed blast. Timing his shot to the near-upper corner perfectly, both evaded the sliding Cannon and placing the shot to the only part of the net readily available.

A striker’s finish; one Martin Rennie will be devastated that his side conceded so easily, having wasted possession and not bothered to track the most dangerous goal-scorer in the league.

Results in Brief

Kansas City 1 – DC 0

In the first Friday night fixture of the young season, Kansas City and DC looked destined for a hard-fought scoreless draw until the KC pressure and substitute, Soony Saad, took matters into his own hands.

Saad and fellow sub, Peterson Joseph, combined to force a weak back-pass out of Panamanian Marcos Sanchez, in for the injured Nick DeLeon, deep in the attacking left-corner. Saad poked the loose ball past Marcelo Saragosa along the end-line before cutting back to Claudio Bieler patiently waiting to pounce above the near-post.

The Argentine hit-man struck his fourth goal through six matches, sweetly stroking the pass first-time to the far-side of the goal past a helpless Bill Hamid in the final minutes of regulation.

For Ben Olsen’s DC it was a second straight loss – now winless in three – and their scoring troubles – only two goals through five matches – continue to haunt the club that was thought to have turned a corner with last season’s deep run. Recent USSF National Hall of Fame Inductee Peter Vermes saw his side keep a fourth consecutive clean sheet – a run of 429 minutes, with their fifth straight win over Eastern Conference rivals, United.

Toronto 2 – Dallas 2

The late drama continued come the end of Saturday’s early kickoff.

Dallas took a two-goal lead, tallying either side of half-time through Andrew Jacobson and Blas Perez – firstly, through a sneaky run to the back-post to smack home a flicked Michel free-kick, then forcing a midfield turnover and catching the TFC back-line out of sorts with a raking diagonal ball from Jackson allowing Perez time and space to finish clinically past Joe Bendik in goal.

But Toronto showed previously unseen fight with Justin Braun and Darel Russell, the scapegoat of last weekend’s late-Los Angeles equalizer, scoring in the final five minutes of play.

Braun muscled in a miscued Matt Hedges defensive header from the goal-line before Russell struck as sweet a hit as one is likely to see, in off the inside of the far-post from outside the box after Braun had picked him out on the right.

Ryan Nelsen’s Toronto maintained their unbeaten form at home with a second-straight draw, while Schellas Hyndman’s Dallas saw their three-match winning streak crumble and will fret over last season’s complications – failing to win eleven of the seventeen matches in which they scored first – resurfacing with a second such occurrence.

Columbus 1 – Philadelphia 1

Columbus maintained some home form of their own when a relatively late Dominic Oduro strike gave them a share of the points after Jack McInerney had taken the lead for Philadelphia with his third of the season.

The twenty-year old Chattanooga Choo-choo put his side in front with a simple finish, tapping a squared Danny Cruz ball into the unguarded net after an Amobi Okugo through-ball down the right shredded the Columbus defense.

Oduro blasted his equalizer, picking out the far-netting from an impossible angle on the right end-line, after latching onto an Eddie Gaven ball, and catching Philly keeper Zac MacMath expectant of a goal-mouth cross rather than a high shot.

The draw extends Robert Warzycha’s Crew’s unbeaten home run to eleven matches and prevented John Hackworth’s Union from recording their first win at Columbus, though they did take their first point from four visits.

Colorado 1 – Salt Lake 0

Colorado, still hampered by an injury list too lengthy to recount, rose to the occasion to earn their first win of the season, against Rocky Mountain Cup rivals, Salt Lake, no less.

Atiba Harris, fresh off the birth of his second child, scored the lone goal, stroking the ball into the left-side of the goal after Edson Buddle had done all the heavy lifting.

Hendry Thomas found Nick LaBrocca in space on the left with a cross-field ball, the midfielder played in to Buddle, who manfully held off the attentions of Nat Borchers before poking the loose ball over to the awaiting Harris a mere five minutes into the match.

Alvaro Saborio had a glorious chance to level the score minutes later from the spot, after Dillon Powers was adjudged to have restrained Kyle Beckerman on a corner kick, but Clint Irwin denied the chance with a fine stop.

Rapids’ boss Oscar Pareja will be proud of the efforts his stricken side have put in; Jason Kreis’ Salt Lake are at risk of losing their first interclub cup in seven season, as a single point in their third and final meeting - also in Colorado - will see the Rapids take home the trophy they last held in 2006.

San Jose 1 – Vancouver 1

The theme of late drama, though this time of the goal-less variety, continued in San Jose as the two played out one of the more fascinating second halves of the 2013 season.

Chris Wondolowski nabbed his third goal - and first ‘of the round’ honours - with his high, near-post finish past former teammate, Joe Cannon, in the first half, before one of the more bizarre sequences one is ever likely to witness unfolded.

Two Earthquakes, Alan Gordon and Victor Bernardez, simultaneously left the pitch to change their footwear, leaving their side reduced to nine-men, and were not allowed to return until the next stoppage in play, as per a little-known sub-section of Law 4.

That next stoppage would come as Vancouver celebrated an equalizer after Daigo Kobayashi’s shot, skimmed off Sam Cronin and fell kindly to Corey Hertzog, who did well to corral and finish the chance with his right-foot.

The final twenty-odd minutes descended into entertaining anarchy as the Earthquakes pushed and the Whitecaps replied staunchly. A gloriously heavy-tackle from Nigel Reo-Coker upended Cronin and heightened the emotion, before goal-mouth blocks from YP Lee and Cannon, and perhaps a Tommy Heinemann hand-ball, saw out the road result for Vancouver.

San Jose’s Frank Yallop will lament the moment of madness – and his side’s ignorance of the fine print; while Martin Rennie and his Vancouver side will enjoy a quiet chuckle and take their first road point of the year back home.

Portland 2 – Houston 0

If the West Coast had not atmosphere enough with one storming fixture, the rain in Portland and the subsequent soaked-action, provided more, as Caleb Porter’s charges picked up his first win as an MLS coach.

Winless through four and having witnessed two key players – David Horst and Diego Valeri – forced off through injury in the first half - ankle and head knocks, respectively – the Timbers returned to the field after half-time on a mission.

Ten minutes in, Ryan Johnson capped off some wonderful passing work – a Diego Chara and Darlington Nagbe one-two sent the defensive-minded Colombian midfielder into space beyond the Dynamo fortifications - down the right, where he delivered a devastating curling cross behind the back-line.

Houston centre-back Bobby Boswell wanted to cut it out, but such was its perfection, that had he tried, it would have surely been an own-goal. Johnson ghosted in off the defender’s back shoulder, stretched out his left-leg to touch the attempt goal-ward. It struck the leg of the retreating Tally Hall, but spilled over the line at the back-post.

Johnson added a second in the final twenty minutes, breaking the Dynamo offside trap, sprung by Nagbe down the left, to calmly stroke a left-footer over the collapsing Hall.

Porter’s Portland will celebrate the win in front of a raucous Saturday night crowd, while Houston’s Dominic Kinnear must ponder his side’s poor road form after their second loss in two attempts.

Chicago 3 – New York 1

And finally, the Sunday fixture saw Frank Klopas’ Chicago nab their first win of 2013, end their worst start in club history, and their woeful scoring jinx, quadrupling their season output in the process.

The elusive win was not at first evident, with New York taking the lead after twenty minutes when Jamison Olave gracefully swept a loose ball in from a Juninho left-sided corner kick. The service looked too deep, but Tim Cahill won the header back into the middle, where Brandon Barklage flicked on to the patiently-ready dexterous defender.

Chicago were offered a life-line minutes later, when Jonny Steele handled a Jeff Larentowicz shot, but Chris Rolfe missed the target, wide left, having sent the keeper the other way.

With half-time looming, the Fire capitalized on their next chance in the forty-fourth, when a hanging Hunter Jumper cross from the left was caught floating in the wind, delaying its arrival into the arms of Red Bull keeper, Luis Robles, by a fraction of a second, thereby allowing Daniel Paladini to steal in and intercept, heading in an equalizer.

Point in hand, Chicago nervously saw through the introduction of Thierry Henry, who struck the post sweetly, before Maicon Santos tallied his brace to secure the points and then ensure their destination.

Paladini turned provider on the first, laying the Brazilian down the left where he devastatingly cut in, leaving Olave in his dust, before poking a cheeky left-footer across Robles. Santos’ second came in the final minute of regulation, when New York defended a Paladini free-kick far too casually, allowing Larentowicz to win a header down and across to the right-post, where Maicon touched it home, again with the left boot.

New York coach Mike Petke will lament his side’s collapse as their winless run in Chicago, having never won at Toyota Park, dates back to 2005.

Canadian Content

Dejan Jakovic put in another solid ninety for DC United, nearly seeing his side through to a tough point in Kansas City, before faltering in the final minutes. He had this to say after the match: “It was a heartbreaking loss. I thought there were stretches where we played really well and moved the ball. We created a really good chance in the first half and should have been ahead. This one definitely stings.”

In response to giving up the late winner, he added: “It’s frustrating. We played well defensively and were compact, and they never really broke us down. They tried long balls and playing it short. For a long time we were in great shape, so it’s really tough. Everyone played their guts out – I don’t know what else to say. It’s a tough one to swallow.”

Jakovic was tidy in possession, misplacing only three of twenty-six passes, while making nine interceptions and five clearances. He was shown a yellow card for a foul on Claudio Bieler, going heavily through the attacker, clipping the back of his ankle in the process.

Russell Teibert saw his first MLS minutes of 2013 as he started on the left-side of the midfield for Vancouver in San Jose, as Martin Rennie rewarded the youngster’s hard work in training and non-league matches.

He was very tidy in possession – completing twenty-three of twenty-seven passes – and showed the confidence that has some thinking so highly of him. He wasn’t afraid to have a lash from distance, taking an early left-footed crack from nearly thirty yards that strayed over the bar and displayed a bit of nifty footwork at the top of the box, dummying a ball from Alain Rochat before dragging it towards the end-line with a heel-drag in an attempt to beat the imposing Victor Bernardez, who bit and then recovered to usher the ball out for a corner.

Teibert picked up a yellow for a professional foul, tripping up Sam Cronin and was substituted for Gershon Koffie after sixty-eight minutes.

Will Johnson was again excellent in his fifth-straight complete game for Portland – having played every minute thus far - sporting his fancy newly-designed captain’s armband.

He kept the ball moving all night – completing fifty-one of sixty-two passes – and made nine recoveries and four clearances, mostly in the second half, as the Timbers put Houston to the sword and saw out the result.

Jonathan Osorio of Toronto FC, too made his first MLS start after a scintillating cameo last weekend against LA – in which he scored – but failed to show the same verve when tasked with a more-defensive minded role against Dallas, replacing Terry Dunfield in the two-man midfield shield in front of the back-line.

He completely slightly more than half of his passes – thirteen of twenty-two – but was caught in possession ten times, likely more a function of a sluggish first half for the entire side, rather than his own failing. He made way at half-time for Luis Silva, having shown he has a defensive side to his game as well, though it may need some work.

Ashtone Morgan made a brief substitute’s appearance for Toronto, replacing the injured Richard Eckersley in the eighty-ninth minute. He got involved immediately as TFC pressed for a winner with Dallas reeling, but looked rusty as a poor cross was easily handled.

Kyle Porter, Doneil Henry, and Kyle Bekker were all on the bench for their respective sides, DC United and Toronto FC.

DC's Dwayne De Rosario, TFC’s Terry Dunfield and San Jose’s Nana Attakora were unavailable due to an adductor strain, a knee sprain – suffered last match – and a right groin strain, respectively.

Overheard

The pitch-side microphones in the Colorado-Salt Lake match were on high, transmitting a few choice words from the stands and a nice conversation between the referee, Chris Penso, and Brian Mullan, who was lying on the ground after a hard tackle, as well as the protestations of Marvell Wynne, who swears he was elbowed.

“Alan Gordon, key contributor with a league-leading seventy-two goals on the season for San Jose” – what? Sentence phrasing is important.

See it Live (We’re Seeing It Live)

Colorado’s stand-in goalkeeper Clint Irwin let loose a celebratory howl upon saving Salt Lake’s Alvaro Saborio’s penalty kick, a display worthy of the moment. The save ended Saborio’s perfect record – twelve goals from twelve attempts – at the penalty spot.

The bizarre shoe-change situation in San Jose was almost unbelievable.

Post-match Frank Yallop had this to say: “It was really poor on our behalf of not realizing that the rule is you can’t go back on the field [during the run of play]. There has to be a stoppage in play... It’s just one of those nights that frustrates the team and frustrates me as a head coach.” Alan Gordon added: “I have never heard of that [rule].”

Joe Cannon summed it up nicely: “I think every year in MLS, you probably see something you’ve never seen before in your life; that might be the moment for this year. Overall, I don’t know what to think of that situation. It’s just something that happened and it helped us out.”

Upcoming Fixtures

The Second Legs of the CONCACAF Champions League Semifinals take place midweek with both MLS sides, Seattle and Los Angeles, trailing by a goal – 0-1 to Santos Laguna (Tuesday) and 2-1 to Monterrey (Wednesday), respectively - as the series shifts to Mexico.

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

Parting Thoughts

A few questions to ponder and discuss:

Montreal had the weekend off and face Columbus, who have won two road matches, next round; are they the dominant side who won their first four or the meek side who lost to Kansas City more recently?

Vancouver returns home to face Salt Lake having picked up a single point from their three-match road trip; do the comforts of home see them return to form against tricky opponents?

And Toronto are tasked with an away match in Philadelphia, emboldened, perhaps, with a touch more spirit after the rousing comeback; they lost their first two road matches – to Vancouver and Montreal – but how does their first cross-border trip go down?

Seattle, now the sole winless side in MLS, return to league play on Saturday at home to New England; how will midweek exertions and requisite mourning/celebration affect their future? Los Angeles too returns to MLS play on Saturday will a difficult trip to in-form Dallas, do they suffer a Champions League hangover, regardless of the result midweek?

Chivas will look to maintain their positive start with a result against Colorado, themselves feeling good after a nice opening win; can El Chelis continue to weave his spell? Portland and Chicago, like Colorado, will look to immediately build on first wins; what odds on one following it up straight away with a second?

Like Colorado, both will face tough opposition - a fired-up and convalescent San Jose and the dominant at home Houston, who still defend their impressive streak; as will the struggling DC and New York, who face each other for a second match after a scoreless draw on Rivarly Weekend.

Just what does Round Seven hold? So much to ponder…

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 6

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