Our weekly, sometimes offbeat, look at the best and worst of the week's MLS action. We took your suggestions on board and either embedded videos of our best/worst selections or included links. So what did week 5 of the 2013 season throw up for us?
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<b><u>Games This Week:</u></b>
TORONTO kicked off the weekend by hosting LOS ANGELES in an entertaining game. When LA's early pressure saw them break the deadlock after only 16 minutes, it looked like an easy afternoon was in store for the defending MLS champs. But TFC fought back well and Robert Earnshaw showed once again his top poacher instincts to get the home side back level, with a fantastically taken goal. He was helped of course by the idiotic defending of first Leonardo, and then Carlo Cudicini deciding to go on walkabout. That goal certainly gave Toronto confidence and when they took the lead with just 12 minutes remaining, you really fancied them to hold on. But that old problem of late goals came back to haunt them yet again, even though it was a cracking finish that did the damage. The goal, and the point, means LA are now the only unbeaten team in MLS.
It was also starting to look like the same old, same old in NEW YORK as the Red Bulls had a host of chances against PHILADELPHIA before finally getting the breakthrough and their first win of the season. They should have been about two up at half time but even after they did take the lead they made hard work of it and the Union fought back well to tie things up, in an enjoyable second half. The introduction of Thierry Henry was certainly the game changer. He looked outstanding in the short time he was on the pitch, with one spectacular goal and an almost more spectacular one with a bicycle kick that went wide. There was an interesting talking point late one when Conor Casey was adjudged to have fouled NY keeper Luis Robles in stoppage time, but the big striker did little wrong for me and it's just more signs of the over protection that keepers get these days. You just can't challenge them without getting a call against you. Bring back the olden days of bundling them into the back of the net!
If may be a bit too early in the season to go on about crucial wins, but the three points that DALLAS took in NEW ENGLAND could be huge come playoff time. The narrow 1-0 victory keeps Dallas on top of the West, and increased their points over Vancouver to six. It was a game that ebbed and flowed. The Revs had the best of the first half and Dallas weren't too much of an attacking threat, although they should have taken an early lead when Jackson had a horrendous miss in front of goal. Dallas became much stronger in the second half and put the New England defence under a lot of pressure. Kenny Cooper had the ball in the net but was harshly adjudged to be offside. New England came back into the game and looked like the team that would get the breakthrough, only for Dallas to go up the pitch and snatch it with a Blas Perez header that gave them three valuable road points. The Texans are playing some good football just now and importantly turning that into points on the board. It's very similar to what the Whitecaps did last season. Will Dallas have a mid-season slump or are they the real deal this season?
Two of MLS' five winless teams went in to the COLORADO - PORTLAND game. Two winless teams came back out of it after a 2-2 draw in the cold and wind. Great news for the Whitecaps. Not so great for a Timbers side still struggling to put together a solid game for the full ninety minutes. Portland did well to fight back after going two down to a Dillon Powers wind assisted thunderbolt and an avoidable penalty, and they got a soft penalty of their own as part of a double from Canadian Will Johnson. The Rapids were the better team and will be disappointed at having to settle for a point. Both sides though didn't show much to indicate that their fortunes are going to be changing any time soon in this one, although Portland have been impressing in spurts so far this season.
From the winless, to the unbeaten, as MONTREAL headed south for tricky trip to KANSAS CITY. The Impact fell behind to an early goal and there was no coming back, with KC bossing the game from then on and ending Montreal's winning start to the season. It was an impressive performance from Kansas City. It felt like everything they did had some output from Graham Zusi in it. It wasn't quite that but Zusi, Chance Myers, Seth Sinovic and Claudio Bieler all had fantastic games. Bieler could have had a hat-trick with a bit more luck and some better finishing. It was the first game this season that I've seen Montreal look a little devoid of ideas at times and they were giving the ball away cheaply and getting caught offside a lot, especially in the first half. They play a lovely passing game though and you always had the feeling that it would just take that one little slip and KC would be punished. The Impact looked stronger as the game entered the second half but were never really at the races and Zusi well taken goal sealed the deserved win for the home side. I'm sure the Impact would have taken 12 points from their first five games. As would every team!
Having taken care of Vancouver last week, HOUSTON extended their unbeaten home streak to 34 games, and tied the MLS record, with a comfortable 2-0 demolition of SAN JOSE. Now you wouldn't normally count a two goal victory as a demolition, but the Dynamo were just so in control of this game and the Earthquakes were another visiting team just not at the races. Chris Wondolowski wasted their best chance of the night when he completely missed a cross on the edge of the six yard box. It was unlikely to have made any difference. Some of Houston's crosses were just sublime and it puts last week's loss by the Caps into a little perspective. As we said at the time, there's not going to be many Western teams go into Houston and come away with any points. At least San Jose are now one of them.
SEATTLE remain rooted at the foot of the Western Conference after another defeat. I'm just enjoying it all whilst I can! REAL SALT LAKE should have been out of sight by half time, never mind by the time that the Sounders got themselves back into the game with still over half an hour remaining. Seattle had Michael Gspurning to thank for some important saves, but they once again turned in a bit of a listless overall performance and RSL held on pretty easily for the win. They even had a late penalty shout turned down. As I keep saying every week, I just wish we were facing Seattle before June 8th, as they could be ripe for the picking. Although if the Sounders watched the Caps, they may feel the same way.
CHIVAS wrapped this weekend up with a 2-1 victory over VANCOUVER. We'll obviously have a lot more on this game than just here, but the Goats continued their impressive run of form. Unbeaten in four now and the Caps still looking for their first away win of the season. The Caps will feel that they should have come away from the game with something and a combination of bad luck, poor marking, a missing midfield and the inability to bury chances was their downfall. Chivas played some nice stuff, but have looked better this season. How you look doesn't matter when you get the job done. The Caps are now four points behind Chivas.
The weekend's results saw Vancouver fall out of the top five in the West. With Seattle the team most likely to do this year's LAesque comeback during the season, getting the points on the board early and not falling behind those above them is crucial, even at this very early stage. Five points ahead of Seattle is nice. I'd be happy with that come October. Next week in San Jose is going to be tough and it's hard right now to see the Caps coming away with anything.
<b><u>Outfield Player of the Week:</u></b>
Sporting Kansas City's GRAHAM ZUSI just seemed to be everywhere in their win over Montreal. It felt that every attack had featured Zusi at some point and he was finally rewarded for his sterling performance with a goal that clinched the match for KC. Even the goal itself earned him plaudits for our search for the player of the week. He could easily have gone down under the attention of Karl Ouimette, but instead he stayed on his feet and showed some neat footwork to bury his chance. A lesson for those players who like to hit the deck more than try to score.
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I also want to give a shout out to New England Revolution rookie Andrew Farrell, who really impressed me with his attacking play in the loss to Dallas. He seemed to be another player at the heart of many of his team's moves.
<b><u>Goalkeeper of the Week:</u></b>
Now there wasn't really any stand out contenders this week. No-one brought out a string of match winning saves. So we turned to the stats and went with RAUL FERNANDEZ of Dallas who kept a clean sheet and produced five saves to keep New England at bay in their away win.
<b><u>Goal of the Week:</u></b>
DILLON POWERS lived up to his name with his long range rocket for the Rapids. It gave Colorado the lead against Portland and had power, placement, swerve and some wind assistance. Really sweet strike, wind or no wind.
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<b><u>Miss of the Week:</u></b>
I'm sorry 'Miss' JACKSON but I am for real when I say you had the worst miss of the week for Dallas against New England. Three yards out, great ball across from Kenny Cooper and somehow it managed to go through his legs and not onto his foot. It wasn't to cost his team in the end, but was a shocker. The proximity of it to the goal is what tipped him over the winning post, ahead of Wondo's complete missed cross against Houston.
(WATCH: http://p.mlssoccer.com/SAu5a/video/1666110/mls_2013-03-30-162910.640hq.mp4)
<b><u>Save of the Week:</u></b>
Toronto's JOE BENDIK produced a wonderful reflex save to keep out LA's Mike Magee in the first half of their game, when conceding a second could have been a death blow to TFC's hopes of getting back into the match. Magee met the ball perfectly but Bendik was not only quick to react and strong to keep it out, he managed to quickly pounce on the rebound.
(WATCH: http://p.mlssoccer.com/SAu5a/video/1665964/mls_2013-03-30-144704.640hq.mp4)
<b><u>Stat Attack:</u></b>
After Week 5 - 42 games
<b>Total goals in week</b> - 22 (90 this season)
<b>Average goals per game</b> - 2.75 (2.14 ave this season)
<b>Highest scoring team</b> - 9 teams with two goals
<b>Penalties awarded</b> - 2 (8 this season)
<b>Clean sheets</b> - 3 (23 this season)
<b>Unbeaten teams</b> - 1 (Los Angeles Galaxy)
<b>Winless teams</b> - 4 (Chicago Fire, Colorado Rapids, Portland Timbers, Seattle Sounders)
<b>Biggest win this season</b> - LA 4-0 v Chicago (2/3/13)
<b>Sending offs</b> - 0 (4 this season)
<b>Bookings</b> - 15 (110 this season)
<b>Total attendance this week</b> - 120,974 (747,919 total for season)
<b>Average attendance this week</b> - 15,121 (17,808 average for season)
<b>Highest attendance this week</b> - 20,359 Real Salt Lake v Seattle
<b>Highest attendance this season</b> - 40,150 Seattle v Portland (16/3/13)
<b>Lowest attendance this week</b> - 8,354 Chivas v Vancouver
<b>Lowest attendance this season</b> - 7,121 Chivas v Columbus (2/3/13)
<b><u>Fantasy Football Highs and Lows (after Week 5):</u></b>
This is mainly my attempt to keep my interest in the competition going beyond the first few weeks this season, which has been my downfall in the past!
<b>Highest Scoring Goalkeeper</b> - Bill Hamid (DC) / Troy Perkins (Montreal) (both 30 points)
<b>Week's Highest Scoring Goalkeeper</b> - Raul Fernandez (Dallas - 8 points)
<b>Highest Scoring Defender</b> - Michel Garbini Pereira (Dallas - 34 points)
<b>Week's Highest Scoring Defender</b> - Matt Besler (KC) / Michel Garbini Pereira (Dallas) (both 10 points)
<b>Highest Scoring Midfielder</b> - Graham Zusi (KC - 40 points)
<b>Week's Highest Scoring Midfielder</b> - Benny Feilhaber (KC) / Will Johnson (Portland) (both 13 points)
<b>Highest Scoring Forward</b> - Robert Earnshaw (Toronto - 28 points)
<b>Week's Highest Scoring Forward</b> - Four forwards with 7 points
<b>Overall Highest Scoring Club</b> - Dallas (326 points)
<b>Overall Lowest Scoring Club</b> - Toronto (142 points)
<b>Week's Highest Scoring Club</b> - Houston (78 points)
<b>Week's Lowest Scoring Club</b> - Montreal (29 points)
<b>Best Weekly Score so far</b> - Los Angeles (94 points - Week 1)
<b>Worst Weekly Score so far</b> - Chivas (23 points - Week 1)
<b>Highest Scoring Club Defence (inc GK)</b> - Dallas (185 points)
<b>Lowest Scoring Club Defence (inc GK)</b> - Toronto (54 points)
<b>Highest Scoring Club Midfield</b> - Dallas (116 points)
<b>Lowest Scoring Club Midfield</b> - Columbus (47 points)
<b>Highest Scoring Club Forwards</b> - Columbus (55 points)
<b>Lowest Scoring Club Forwards</b> - Chicago and New England (17 points)
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