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    An extension to Canadian Soccer News’ MLS Week in Review, this article provides a closer look at the performances of the Canadian players who saw the pitch this week.
    With Toronto FC on a bye week, the Canadian quota dropped markedly – just five players saw the pitch this weekend.
    The top three spots go to Patrice Bernier – back to his old assured self on the more forgiving surface at Stade Saputo, Will Johnson – imperious, if defensive, away at Houston, and Karl Ouimette – another solid, if unspectacular, shift on the Montreal back-line.
    Find out what they did to deserve recognition and who else earned their keep this week.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Patrice Bernier
    Bernier maintained his starting spot for Montreal in their 1-0 win over Philadelphia on Saturday – it was his fourth start and seventh appearance of the season.
    From his position at the base of the midfield, paired with Collen Warner, Bernier was allowed the luxury of playing a more expansive game – that he could finally push himself on a more comfortable surface, likely played a small role in the revitalization of what had been a rather quiet season, though getting up to pace after off-season surgery likely had its part.
    That more-attacking outlook played a crucial role in the match, as it was a forward-leaning Bernier that helped his side find the much-needed breakthrough in the 14th minute.
    Sheanon Williams attempted to play a simple inside ball from his right-back position, looking for Maurice Edu in the middle, but Bernier read his intentions and swooped in to intercept the soft pass.
    Bearing toward goal down the attacking left-channel, Bernier opted to unleash a corker of a shot from some 25 yards; the right-footer in the misty rain was too much for Philadelphia keeper Zac MacMath to handle, spilling the rebound in the box.
    An alert Felipe beat a pair of Union defenders to the loose ball to touch the rebound in and give Montreal the lead – one they would protect for their first win of the season:
    <iframe width="533" height="300" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/npQEUtLT0lA?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
    He would not be rewarded with an assist – as a rebound, the goal was unassisted (unless one counts MacMath’s spill) – but that goal was entirely due to Bernier’s reading of the game and awareness of the wet conditions to get a shot on the keeper to see what would happen. That is what one wants from a captain, to step up when the chips are down and do something to lift the spirits of the club – do not be surprised if this goal, and by extension the win, prove to be a turning point for Montreal’s season.
    Aside from that offensive burst, Bernier generally locked down the middle of the park. He had a good running battle with Edu, and helped the Impact keep a rather dangerous opposition midfield, including Vincent Nogueira, who has been the creative spark for the Union, quiet for most of the match.
    The Brossard, Quebec-native completed 28 of 37 passes, had one shot on target, won two headers and two tackles, and made twelve recoveries, five interceptions, and three clearances, losing possession nine times throughout.
    Prior to game day, Bernier had discussed the current problems that led to the seven-match winless start, proffering, “We have to be more efficient in front of goal and better defensively, it’s simple. We have been playing well in moments, but not complete games. Finding a win now won’t be pretty, but it will be based on winning the ball, being effective in our zone and efficient in all that we do. It might not be pretty, but it will improve the confidence.”
    And how he would approach the weekend’s match, “Every game is a new game; it might be tough mentally, but we have to believe in what we are doing and that if we work hard we will see the light at the end of the tunnel. We can’t overanalyze things and just believe in ourselves to find a way to win. Sometimes that means playing simpler. It’s not one player that will make the difference, so we have to leave it all on the field. We’ve had really good moments this year, so we are capable of playing well; we just need to do it for 90 minutes now.”
    Post-match he reflected on the Impact’s first win of the season, “We are very pleased to get this win. The conditions weren’t ideal, and coming from our difficult start, it was good to push through. Now we finally got to see what happens when we put the same level of effort in the game as when we train.”
    Montreal now have the weekend off, before travelling to either Ottawa or Edmonton for the opening leg of their Voyageurs Cup series next Wednesday. They return to league play, welcoming Kansas City to Stade Saputo, on May 10th.
    Will Johnson
    Johnson started his eighth-straight match for Portland as the Timbers travelled down to Houston on Sunday, but could not find that elusive first victory, drawing 1-1 – he has started every match this season and finished each but one.
    Back on the road, Johnson reverted to a more defensive posture – a flexibility he has oft displayed this season – seldom getting forward, preferring to sit back and spray passes about.
    Paired, as always, with Diego Chara, Johnson was tasked with shoring up the back-line and imposing himself upon any situation he deemed worthy of his attention, whether tracking the movements of Brad Davis, confronting Oscar Boniek Garcia, or drifting wide to snuff out the attacks of Kofi Sarkodie on the right-flank – not to mention his running battles with Will Bruin and Giles Barnes, the latter of whom gave the Canadian a solid body check at one point.
    But it was his tangles with Davis that would prove most critical, getting suckered into a challenge on one occasion – it is telling that Davis’ cross that led to Bruin’s opener came when the midfielder had stayed wide enough for Johnson to not track out to close him down.
    Gaston Fernandez would level the match before the end of the first half, but neither side could find the winner as the humidity and warmth of the Houston sun drained the energy from the game.
    The Toronto-born midfielder completed an astonishing 60 of 61 passes – misplacing just one headed-pass in the 38th minute, had one shot that drifted wide from range, won all four of his tackles and one header, and made five recoveries and three clearances, while losing possession just that once.
    Nobody is more disappointed than Johnson in Portland’s struggles, going winless through eight matches to start their second year under Caleb Porter. Earlier in the week Johnson spoke about their loss at Salt Lake, “It was a tough one, no doubt about it. Our game plan was put together fantastically well by the coaching staff, and we executed probably 99 percent of the plays that we should have, so it was really tough. This game will test you like that; it’s not a game for the weak. It’s a character-building moment for us, for sure. I think we can draw upon it.”
    He continued, “Spirit in the group is good; we’re together. We know this is not how we wanted to start the season, but it’s testing our character. It’s testing us to the maximum, that’s for sure. When results go against you like they have, and you don’t get the results that you want, the tension and pressure builds, and it can tear apart a team. But that’s not happening with this group. We’re sticking together, and we’re going to keep fighting and fight harder and do whatever it takes to turn this around.”
    Post-match, he looked to the draw as a catalyst, “We have to find a way to turn these performances that are solid, good defensive road performances into wins. On one hand, we made plays defensively, and we feel good coming from behind to get a point on the road. We hadn’t been able to do that in the first three road games of the year. From that point of view it’s positive, but when you squander leads at home you have to turn these games into wins.”
    And looked forward to next week back at home against DC on Saturday, “You have to win your home games; you have to perform well. Defensively, we have to build on what we’ve done in the last two weeks. We have to finish a few more chances. We know we’re good enough, we know we’re capable, but it’s time to start [picking up three points].”
    Karl Ouimette
    Ouimette made his third-straight start for Montreal in their win over Philadelphia – it was his fourth-appearance of the season.
    As the left-sided centre-back, paired again with veteran Matteo Ferrari, Ouimette was instrumental at keeping a dangerous Philadelphia attack, one that included former teammate Andrew Wenger, at bay.
    He saw an early yellow card in the 16th minute after he stepped into the midfield to upend Edu and snuff out a transition – it was his second booking of the season, having picked up one last match against Kansas City:
    <script height="300px" width="533px" src="http://player.ooyala.com/iframe.js#pbid=4bfc225f82bf46c48dfb065eda97f74f&ec=hqN21qbToHMkASaeKksgZWh70iYoOV6X"></script>
    That willingness to get stuck in showed itself repeated, most notably when he confronted Danny Cruz out on the touch-line with sharp challenge – which was rather enjoyable to watch.
    The Terrebonne, Quebec-native completed just sixteen of his thirty passes – though largely due to launches and headed passes, which are always less-likely to be accurate, won three headers and three tackles, committed one foul, for which he was booked, and made eight recoveries, three blocks, interceptions, and clearances, while losing possession fifteen times – again due to the launches and headed balls.
    It is a good sign of Frank Klopas’ growing faith in the young centre-back that even though Hassoun Camara is fit, Ouimette has held onto the starting position.
    Russell Teibert
    Teibert made his sixth-straight start for Vancouver in their come-from-behind 2-2 draw at Salt Lake – it was his seventh start of the season, but for a second-straight match he was removed in the second half, as Carl Robinson sought to change things up with the Whitecaps trailing.
    On the right-side of the midfield, Teibert was allowed a more attacking role than he had been given in the two matches against LA.
    But virtually his first touch of the match led to Salt Lake’s opener, when his errant pass was easily intercepted by Chris Schuler, eventually allowing Chris Wingert to slot a ball up to Joao Plata, who opened the scoring in the 2nd minute:
    <iframe width="533" height="300" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/jvHkd9VkSPM?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
    He tried desperately to make amends for that slight error, but with Salt Lake in the ascendancy, it was difficult for Vancouver to mount much of an attack – their best chance of the first half did come from a lovely Teibert cross bound for Jordan Harvey; Nick Rimando was equal to the challenge, tipping it over the bar:
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    Taking up corner kicks duties, Teibert’s service on the night was excellent – perhaps his best of the season – even winning them himself, hustling to keep the ball in and force Wingert into conceding.
    He had one final really good run around the hour mark - Darren Mattocks overlooked how much space Teibert had in front of him, opting to go to Miller on the left instead; his weak shot was easily handled – before making way for Sebastian Fernandez in the 61st minute.
    The Niagara Falls, Ontario-native completed 32 of 41 passes, had one shot – blocked, won two tackles and suffered a foul, and made three recoveries and one interception, while losing possession thirteen times.
    Vancouver will look to end a four-match winless run next Saturday when they host San Jose.
    Maxim Tissot
    Tissot made his second-straight appearance for Montreal late against Philadelphia having started in Kansas City last weekend – replacing Marco Di Vaio in the 78th minute, prompting Jack McInerney to move from the left into the striking position as Tissot took up the left-flank.
    Five minutes in he had a chance that was not dissimilar to his goal in Chicago last season, running onto a Felipe pass around the left-side of the box, but MacMath was equal to the challenge, closing him down quickly and forcing his lunging attempt wide:
    <script height="300px" width="533px" src="http://player.ooyala.com/iframe.js#pbid=4bfc225f82bf46c48dfb065eda97f74f&ec=kyMHFqbTqBKlfQSc759uuzA7_F3mtEGW"></script>
    In his twelve-plus minutes on the pitch, the Gatineau, Quebec-native completed both his passes, had that one shot wide, won and lost a tackle and lost possession once.
    The Rest
    Sam Adekugbe was on the bench for Vancouver in Salt Lake – it was his second time in the game-day eighteen for the Whitecaps, though he has yet to see the pitch in league play.
    Kofi Opare made an appearance in LA Galaxy II’s Friday night clash against the Orange County Blues, winning 0-3 at Anteater Stadium on the campus of UC Irvine.
    All video and quotes courtesy of MLSsoccer.com
    Each week James takes a look at the contributions of Canadians in the league and the league as a whole.
    You can follow James on twitter @grawsee or read more of his writing at Partially Obstructed View
    Guest
    Vancouver Whitecaps are becoming the comeback kings. For the second week running they came from behind to eek out a crucial point.
    We pick over the bones of the 2-2 draw in Real Salt Lake. Who shone? Who didn't? Were Robinson's starting line up and subs the correct ones? And what will it all mean to the shape of the team going forward.
    The point keeps Vancouver in 5th spot in the West. We take a look at the happenings for their Western Conference rivals this past weekend.
    And there's still time to round up all the weekend's Residency and BC Provincial Cup action.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Have a listen!
    You can listen to this week's podcast on iTunes <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/aftn/id628306235" target="_blank"><b>HERE</b></a>.
    Or download it for your later listening delight <a href="http://aftn.podbean.com/" target="_blank"><b>HERE</b></a>.
    We also have an iPhone app, so you can now add our podcast to your phone as an app. Visit the podcast's mobile site <a href="http://aftn.podbean.com/mobile/" target="_blank"><b>HERE</b></a> and then at the bottom of the screen just click the "Quick Launch" icon and the podcast will be added to your home screen and appear as an app.
    And if that's not enough, we've joined <a href="http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/michael-mccoll/the-aftn-soccer-podcast?refid=stpr" target="_blank"><u><b>Stitcher Radio Network</b></u></a>. Download the app and listen to the AFTN podcast on your device, along with over 15,000 shows <a href="http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/michael-mccoll/the-aftn-soccer-podcast?refid=stpr" target="_blank"><b>HERE</b></a>.
    Or after all that, you could just listen on the player below!
    <iframe width="100%" height="100" id="audio_iframe" src="http://www.podbean.com/media/player/audio/postId/5142933/url/http%253A%252F%252Faftn.podbean.com%252F2014%252F04%252F29%252Fepisode-60-the-aftn-soccer-podcast-comeback-kids%252F/initByJs/1/auto/1?skin=3" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>
    <p>
    Guest
    With three points from three regular season games and a chance to secure a berth in the semi-final of the Canadian Championship/Voyageurs Cup, Ottawa Fury FC are carrying some momentum. A victory or draw in Edmonton on Wednesday will see Marc Dos Santos’ squad through to play his former club Montreal Impact.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Saturday’s 4-0 win at home to Carolina was a coming out party. Not just for NASL Player of the Week Oliver, who scored two goals, and pressured an own goal, but for the franchise. They had some struggles coming together, some injury troubles and a dagger in the form of a 90 +7 injury time winner by Minnesota in their second home game. With Patterson, Ubiparipovic, Heinemann, Jarun all missing time, Mayard not playing and starting left back Maykon going down against Carolina, Ottawa have been challenged in all facets as an expansion franchise. But, to the credit of the players and the coaching staff, they’ve got inertia on their side. Coming out of a stretch of three games in eight days, they’ll now gun to play four more in 11 days.
    Oliver’s burst of goals against the Railhawks were key, but, the return of Sinisa Ubiparipovic seemed to spark the Fury. His play, along with the fearless defensive mid performance of Richie Ryan, set the tone early against the Railhawks. Ryan has been a monster taking some nasty challenges in each of the Fury home games in stride and continuing to pop up in all the right places as the team transitions to offense. The loss of Omar Jarun against Edmonton saw Andres Fresenga inserted into Drew Beckie’s right back slot, with Beckie assuming the central defending partnership with Mason Trafford. Trafford has been playing extremely well. The only knock on the defenders in the recent stretch is their inability to clear balls in the air. Too many headed clearances are dropping to the feet of dangerous attacking players, in even more dangerous positions. Beckie, in particular, however has been making some fine tackles.
    The key to the win against Carolina seemed to be the defending tactics. The Fury pushed into the attacking third to pressure the Railhawks. It wasn’t a high pressure, with the forward three – Carl Haworth in particular – applying only light pressure, but with the backline following suit pushing into the middle third, the Railhawks couldn’t mount any kind of prolonged possession or attack.
    Maykon continues to baffle me. His positioning when the ball is on the opposite wing is incomprehensible. He rarely drops to help provide a switch of field opportunity – something the Fury have only done once all year, to my memory – and often moves into the midfield without a clear sign of someone dropping to support him. His service in the first half of Saturday’s game was impressive, until an injury took him out. But, combined with his lack of fitness, one wonders whether he is the best fit at left back. Ramon Soria came in after Maykon went down and served a perfect ball that lead to a goal. He’s not seen any minutes after starting much of the preseason. It remains to be seen how long injury keeps Maykon out and whether Soria did enough to see starting minutes over the next stretch of games.
    Phillipe Davies and Devela Gorrick deserve special mention. Davies has been playing well and finally got a goal and set up Oliver well again and again on Saturday. And despite giving up the goal, and points, to Minnesota, Gorrick saved the game against Edmonton and did what was needed to get the clean sheet against Carolina.
    The question of whether the high pressure and calm distribution via Ryan continues with Jarun back in the starting 11 and the timeline on Nicki Patterson, who’s been itching in the press box the past three games are important ones. The ties to Montreal through coaching staff, former players and loanees will surely drive the Fury against Edmonton on Wednesday night. Their stingy defence demands that Ottawa find a way to carry the momentum forward and get the away goal to put them in control. In Voyageurs play and against Atlanta and Tampa Bay.
    Guest

    MLS Week in Review – Round 08

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    Another weekend, another fine round of MLS action in the books as the eighth week of play took place, bringing to an end the second month of the season.
    Leaving aside the midweek fixture, eight matches were played over the two days (seven on Saturday and a lone Sunday fixture), resulting in three draws and zero away wins – perhaps a signal of a normalization following a very erratic opening quarter of 2014.
    All told, 22 goals were scored this round, including a perfect two-for-two from the penalty spot (each as unstoppable as the other), while 26 yellow cards were flashed and four reds – three straight and one accumulative to Dallas’ Zach Loyd.
    From late drama – three stoppage-time result-changers - to burgeoning strike partnerships; from former players haunting (or not) their old clubs, to red cards changing matches, this review will travel through the round that was in MLS, at times in excruciating detail.
    But before the results, the goals of the round:[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    In chronological order, up first is Salt Lake’s opener against Vancouver:
    <iframe width="533" height="300" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/jvHkd9VkSPM?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
    Nobody slices through the opponent’s defenses quite the way Salt Lake does… but would such early dominance be enough?
    Not if Sebastian Fernandez had anything to say about it, and his long-range dipping bomb eluded the feline-alertness of Nick Rimando late:
    <iframe width="533" height="300" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Z4LF3sIhyB8?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
    This guy only scores beauties.
    Speaking of Gatos, and not to be outdone by his namesake, Portland’s Gaston Fernandez is as predatory a finisher as there is in the league:
    <iframe width="533" height="300" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/feqLUWEcQKE?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
    Too bad the rest of his team is having trouble finding the back of the net.
    Honourable mentions go to
    , , and – with special note to Nick LaBrocca for the pass, lovely.Onto the results…
    Midweek Result in a Sentence (or two – maybe three)

    Wednesday night saw New York continue their dominance over Houston (in the regular season) laying another four goals on the Dynamo as the partnership between Thierry Henry and Bradley Wright-Phillips begins to flourish. Henry played a role in the first two of Wright-Phillips’ hat-trick, notching his own (from a Wright-Phillips driven cross) before winning the penalty kick and handing off the ball to his strike partner to round out the scoring in the 86th minute.
    Having not won through the first six matches, New York now have two wins in a row, while Houston see their winless run stretch to five, without a goal in some 319 minutes of play.
    Results in Brief
    Seattle 4 – Colorado 1
    When the weekend kicked off on Saturday, it was time for another of those strike partnerships to flourish. The dynamics between a pair of forwards can be a funny thing – horrible when they are working, but devastating when they do.
    Enter Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins.
    But first, it was the third of Seattle’s attacking threats who broke the deadlock in first half stoppage-time, with a little help from the aforementioned duo.
    Victor Pineda touched the ball away from Gabriel Torres to Lamar Neagle, who hit a cross-field pass to Marco Pappa on the right. Pappa moved up-field and played to Martins when the forward checked back, drawing defenders towards him before shredding the Colorado back-line with a ball that found the diagonal run of Dempsey moving across from the left.
    Dempsey rounded Clint Irwin and put a weak shot towards goal that was brushed away by the recovering Drew Moor, only for Neagle to swoop in for a simple right-footed finish into the unguarded net.
    Two minutes after the restart it was Dempsey who added a second from a similarly simple finish, but not until after a skillful touch in the build-up, picking out Pappa with a flicked back-heel to set up the shot from the midfield and swooping in on the spilled rebound to lift over Irwin.
    Five minutes later he added a second – his league-leading eighth of the season – from a left-sided Pineda corner kick that was met at the back-side by Chad Marshall, heading in to the near-post for a looping header from the red-hot striker.
    Dillon Serna would draw one back for the Rapids, after a glorious through-ball from Nick LaBrocca played in the youngster for a tidy right-footer over the on-rushing Stefan Frei in the 62nd, but Martins would reinstate the three-goal lead in the 75th minute, going it alone from a Neagle throw-in to place a right-footer across the keeper having attacked from the left and opened his body up for the finish.
    With the 4-1 win, Dempsey and Martins have now combined for eleven goals and seven assists on the year, as Seattle surged into a joint lead atop the Western Conference and the league with a third-straight win, forming one of the most dangerous tandem attacks in the league – even the oft-measured Sigi Schmid thinks so.
    Pablo Mastroeni will be disappointed with the lack of energy displayed by his side as their unbeaten streak ends at three and they remain winless in eight all-time trips to Seattle.
    <iframe width="533" height="300" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/VVQjk5NEzwk?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
    Montreal 1 – Philadelphia 0
    A month ago, Montreal and Philadelphia met in Philly, playing to a 1-1 draw that saw Andrew Wenger sent off for a rash challenge – he was roundly booed as he made his way from the pitch. Shortly thereafter, he was traded to the Union as the two sides exchanged young talent, with Jack McInerney headed in the opposite direction, en route to Montreal.
    The two clubs would enter the match riding long winless streaks; Montreal having gone without a victory through seven matches this season, and Philadelphia winless through six since a week two win over New England.
    Through six all-time meetings, these two have produced goals, with eighteen scored, averaging three per match, but it was a single goal that would determine the outcome on this occasion. And it came early.
    In the fourteenth minute, Patrice Bernier read the intentions of Sheanon Williams, swooping in to intercept a pass bound for Maurice Edu and charging up field. His driven shot was spilled by Zac MacMath in the drizzle and the Philly back-line was caught napping by the alert follow-up from Felipe, who beat a stagnant Ray Gaddis and Aaron Wheeler to the rebound, finishing with a simple right-footer past the helpless keeper.
    Both Wenger and McInerney would look to impress revenge upon the team that traded them; each denied by some fine keeping as Troy Perkins was out quick to stop a sharp toe-poke from Wenger, while MacMath similarly prevented McInerney from finishes after he was played in by Felipe.
    The 1-0 win was Montreal’s first of the season, ending what has been a terrible start to Frank Klopas’ precarious tenure as head coach, though that it was their first match played on a proper surface at Stade Saputo rather than the indomitable carpet at Stade Olympique should not be overlooked.
    John Hackworth continues to believe in the quality of his side, though their inability to convert possessional dominance into goals – with just nine through nine matches – has proved costly once more.
    <iframe width="533" height="300" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/3nl3f94FAOQ?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
    DC 4 – Dallas 1
    When Ben Olsen rebuilt his struggling side in the offseason he decided to rely heavily on proven MLS talent, bringing in the likes of Fabian Espindola, Eddie Johnson, Bobby Boswell, Sean Franklin, Jeff Parke, and most recently, Chris Rolfe.
    It is a strategy that is now paying dividends.
    Dallas entered as the top side in the league, on sixteen points from seven matches, having rebounded to their first loss of the season – against Seattle – with a dominant performance and win over Toronto FC last weekend.
    They looked to continue that form, taking the lead after thirteen minutes through Mauro Diaz.
    Jair Benitez played the ball up the left touch-line for Fabian Castillo, who spun in-field and played up to Blas Perez just inside the area. The Panamanian touched back to Diaz, who faked his way past the sliding challenge of Christian (or maybe it’s Cristian, there seems to be no consensus on spelling) before slotting a right-footer across the convalescent Bill Hamid, back in goal for United.
    But a pair of bookings to Zach Loyd – first for pulling down Espindola from behind and then for a lunging challenge on Davy Arnaud (catching him high, though in the process of pulling out) – reduced Dallas to ten in the 39th minute and handed the initiative to DC.
    Having finally ended that horrid winless run at the start of the month, DC has put the horror of last season behind them, entering the match unbeaten in four, with draws either side of a two-game winning streak. Now with the man-advantage, they sought to punish Dallas – and they did.
    Espindola would notch the first, deep into stoppage-time (the fifth minute to be exact). He began the play himself, collecting the ball on the right and moving across the top of the area before feeding up to Nick DeLeon. DeLeon would reverse the stream, back to Johnson on the right, who was given far too much time to hit a cross to the back-post.
    Espindola continued his run, getting in front of his marker, Hendry Thomas, to head down and past Chris Seitz in goal.
    Fifteen minutes into the second half it was another off-season acquisition would put DC in front. Again Espindola provided the spark, playing a short corner back to Franklin who hit a ball deep to the back-post, where yet another MLS veteran, Parke, nodded it back to Conor Doyle.
    Doyle’s shot was denied, but the rebound fell to Boswell arriving at the top of the box and his right-footed smash would not be stopped.
    Four minutes on it was Franklin’s turn, once more thanks to Espindola. DeLeon played out to the Argentine wide on the left; he skipped past two defenders to the end-line and chipped a cutback into the middle where Franklin stole in front of Benitez to touch on to the far-side of goal with a right-foot.
    And just five minutes later it was again Espindola who added the fourth. His pressure on a heavy touch from Adam Moffat ricocheted to Rolfe, who attacked down the left before cutting back to Espindola. He settled with his right and finished with his left across the keeper for his second of the night.
    The two goals and assist bring Espindola’s season totals to four goals and three assists, involved directly in seven of DC’s ten goals this season after a mixed year in New York.
    With the 4-1 win, Ben Olsen’s United climb into the upper grouping in the Eastern Conference – a long way from their basement days of the past year – and stretch their unbeaten run to five matches, while welcoming Hamid, Luis Silva, and Chris Korb back from injury.
    For Dallas it was a second loss in their last three, but of more concern for Oscar Pareja will be the fitness of Diaz, who left the match before half-time with a muscle injury – never mind that Michel, who has proved crucial to their set-piece success, was shown red in the 89th for a frustrated swipe at Rolfe and will miss their next match with suspension.
    <iframe width="533" height="300" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/6geO9J_VnXU?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
    New England 2 – Kansas City 0
    Former players return and red cards change games – themes from the previous two matches that would repeat themselves in New England.
    Sporting has dominated the recent in-league meetings between the two clubs – unbeaten in their last six and having not conceded a goal to the Revolution in some 502 minutes of play. The two also met in one of last season’s Eastern Conference semifinals, with New England taking the home leg 2-1, but losing 3-1 in extra time back in Kansas City.
    With both entering in good form – the hosts unbeaten in two after a slow start and Kansas City undefeated through five with three wins and a pair of draws – and neither taking advantage of half-chances through the first hour-plus of play the match looked destined to end in a draw.
    That is until Aurelien Collin was sent off in the 74th minute for lunging into a challenge on Diego Fagundez when New England were breaking in on goal. It was a somewhat harsh decision from the official, but Kansas City weathered the remaining twenty minutes of regulation without much difficulty, further enhancing the likelihood of a goal-less tie.
    That is until one of their former players, forward Teal Bunbury struck for his first goal with his new club in the second minute of stoppage-time. Lee Nguyen played out wide to Fagundez on the right and the teenager flung a cross toward the near-post that Bunbury bundled across the line with an unintentional pelvic thrust – hardly the prettiest of finishes, but they all count.
    Three minutes on New England would seal the result from the penalty spot after a counterattack from a KC corner kick resulted in Uri Rosell handling a Fagundez header, after keeper Eric Kronberg denied his initial attempt.
    Nguyen would convert, eyeing right and finishing to the left, freezing the keeper in the process.
    With the 2-0 win Jay Heaps’ Revolution, who welcomed back club legend Shalrie Joseph midweek, have three wins in their last five matches and just one loss in their last six, after starting the season winless through three, despite scoring less than a goal per game throughout.
    For Peter Vermes, who judged the red card to be overly harsh, it was just the second loss of the season for his defending champions, who must now scramble to fill Collin’s position. Given the season-ending injury to Ike Opara, it could be time for the debut of highly-touted prospect, Erik Palmer-Brown.
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    Columbus 1 – New York 1
    The Eastern Conference may well be the weaker of the two, but with one extra team in place, the playoff race already looks set to be a tight contest. As such, hard fought close-affairs like the one between the Red Bulls and the Crew look to be the order of the day.
    Jairo Arrieta, who was given the start ahead of Dominic Oduro – and his outrageous hairdo – put the hosts ahead in the 39th minute from the penalty spot after Kosuke Kimura wrestled Justin Meram to the ground.
    Josh Williams laid a ball down the right flank for Hector Jimenez, who hit a cross back into the middle, where Meram had gotten in front of his marker, tempting Kimura into pulling him down. Arrieta’s right-footed blast from twelve paces was unstoppable, catching the underside of the bar to Luis Robles’ right.
    Bradley Wright-Phillips, fresh, (well, tired - as were the rest of the New York starters) off his midweek hat-trick notched his fifth of the season on the other side of half-time. Lloyd Sam attacking from the right used the overlap of Kimura to make space, playing a low ball into the feet of Wright-Phillips above the left-post.
    With his back to goal, the striker controlled the ball and turned, kissing his right-footed shot off the base of the left post, across Steve Clark to level the match in the 66th minute.
    The 1-1 draw was a fair result on the night, through Crew chief Gregg Berhalter will be troubled by his side’s winless run that stretched to four matches with a third-straight draw.
    For Mike Petke, a four-point week extends their unbeaten run to three matches and a few rest days should see them ready and reinvigourated for a match next Sunday – the continued form of Henry and Wright-Phillips could well be the catalyst to climb up the table as the defending Supporters’ Shield champs look to defend their title after a slow start that saw them go winless through their first six matches.
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    Salt Lake 2 – Vancouver 2
    Timing is everything in soccer – when one scores is nearly as important as how many.
    Salt Lake burst out of the gates when they welcomed Vancouver to Utah in one of Saturday’s late matches - it took just two minutes for Joao Plata, returning to the starting lineup after missing three matches with a hamstring concern, to get on the score-sheet.
    Pressure forced a turnover out of Russell Teibert, whose breakout pass was intercepted by Chris Schuler, bottling up the attacking left. Salt Lake’s overload and interplay tore through the Vancouver defense, as Ned Grabavoy and Chris Wingert exchanged passes before the full-back played a low diagonal ball towards the corner of the box. Luke Mulholland left it, drawing Andy O’Brien out of position, isolating Plata on Johnny Leveron, who came over to cover.
    The trickster Plata faked inside then surged outside, finishing with a strong left-footer across David Ousted into the far netting.
    Seven minutes later Salt Lake added a second, from a similar passage on the right.
    Mulholland played Tony Beltran down the side of the area where he cut a ball across the top of the box. Alvaro Saborio dummied the service which was collected by Grabavoy, who tiptoed through a hesitant gauntlet of Vancouver defenders, straight towards Saborio.
    The big Costa Rican pounced on the loose ball, curling a left-footer to the top left-corner of the goal, past a helpless Ousted.
    Salt Lake should have added a third to kill the match – two-goal leads are the most dangerous after all – and when they did not, Vancouver found their response deep in the match.
    Carl Robinson went to his bench thrice after the hour-mark, bringing on Nicolas Mezquida and Sebastian Fernandez, as well as Erik Hurtado, and two of his additions would turn the match.
    A potentially dangerous free-kick in the 86th minute was clipped to the back-post by Mezquida, finding only the head of Sebastian Velasquez, whose clearance fell weakly to Darren Mattocks on the left. Mezquida, got on his proverbial horse, charging into the box, as Mattocks beat Velasquez to get in a left-footed drive. His attempt was uncharacteristically spilled by Nick Rimando and Mezquida was on hand to dink a right-footed touch into the Salt Lake goal to draw the Whitecaps within one.
    Deep into stoppage-time, the final minute of four to be played, saw a heavy touch from Saborio, who was attempting to counter, intercepted by Steven Beitashour with a sliding challenge. The loose ball fell to Fernandez, who picked his head up and slammed a dipping shot from some forty yards, beating Rimando low to the bottom right-corner of the goal, leveling the match at two.
    Jeff Cassar and Salt Lake may have not yet tasted defeat – the only remaining unbeaten side in MLS – but the foul aroma of dropping more points via late goals, as they did against San Jose, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia previously, and a fifth draw out of eight matches will leave them with bitter questions to be answered.
    For Robinson on the other hand, the fighting spirit shown by his club is truly an accomplishment – but can they afford to keep falling behind and relying on those special moments to salvage results?
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    San Jose 1 – Chivas 0
    Saturday’s final match pitted two of the Western Conference’s struggling sides against each other in San Jose.
    The Earthquakes were one of four teams who entered the eighth round of MLS action without a win, though on the back of collecting their first clean-sheet of the season in last weekend’s score-less draw in Colorado. Los Ameri-Goats on the other hand were winless in six, stretching back to opening day, alternating draws and losses.
    It was a combative first half that saw some four yellow cards issued – three to San Jose; of interest, each of their three bookings, to Jordan Stewart, Alan Gordon, and Sam Cronin, were for fouls on Mauro Rosales – clearly a marked-man as Chivas’ most troublesome provider.
    The best chance of the opening frame fell to the most dangerous and in-form player on the pitch, Chivas’ Erick Torres, who shockingly sent a right-footer from nine yards out wide after a cross fell to him in a pocket of space in front of goal.
    San Jose would unleash their secret weapon – a Plan B – in the second half with the introduction of the slippery Yannick Djalo and the Portuguese attacker (born in Guinea-Bissau) would break the deadlock in the 66th minute.
    Stewart played up the left-side for Shea Salinas, who moved easily past Eric Avila and sent in yet another wonderfully inviting ball – his delivery this season has been so impressive – to the back-post, where Djalo tracked it carefully, to hit a bouncing volley down and across the keeper into the left-side of goal past Dan Kennedy.
    Chivas’ red card woes would continue in the 77th minute, when Kennedy was caught out of his area by a sharp Gordon attack and instinctively got his hand on the striker’s touch past him – it was the third red card of the season through eight games for the LA-based club.
    The 1-0 win ends San Jose’s winless start to the campaign and allows Mark Watson’s club to climb out of the basement in both the West and the league, while stretching their current unbeaten run to three matches and keeping a second-straight clean-sheet.
    For Wilmer Cabrera and Chivas, the loss – their second-straight – ends the cycle of draws and losses in an undesirable manner, now winless in seven since opening day against Chicago, despite showing signs of vastly improving from last season.
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    Houston 1 – Portland 1
    Sunday’s lone fixture saw two struggling supposed-powerhouses duel to a sluggish draw in the steamy heat of a Houston swamp as summer nears – really, any day now.
    The Dynamo entered winless through five matches, having lost three straight – most recently that devastating midweek collapse at New York – and gone more than five hours without scoring a goal.
    The Timbers meanwhile are yet to win this season, with three losses and four draws to their name this year.
    Will Bruin would put the hosts in the lead after sixteen minutes thanks to service from the now-fit Brad Davis. Davis had missed three matches with an ankle sprain, but did not miss a step when Corey Ashe laid a ball down the left for the left-footed wizard.
    Davis swung his usual perfect service into the middle, where Bruin was allowed a free run by the poor recognition of Pa Modou Kah, rising up to meet the delivery, guiding it down and in past a helpless Donovan Ricketts.
    Seventeen minutes on Portland would level with a stunner, as Gaston Fernandez notched his third of the season with a predatory strike from just inside the Houston box.
    Kalif Alhassan tried to pick out the run of Darlington Nagbe with a ball, but it slowed after taking a touch off a Houston defender, falling into vacated space near the arc. Fernandez reacted quickest and smashed a right-footed blast into the top right corner of the goal – Tally Hall had no chance.
    With the temperature climbing in the afternoon sun, neither side had the energy to find a winner, though Houston were definitely in the ascendancy with Portland faltering away from the cooler climes of the Pacific Northwest.
    The draw would extend both winless runs, though it would be folly to assume early-season struggles will determine final positions of either Dominic Kinnear or Caleb Porter led sides.
    Kinnear’s Dynamo may well have not won in six, but they ended that score-less drought and have two draws in their last three, while the return of Davis and Bruin getting on the score-sheet are strong portents.
    Porter’s Portland may be winless, but with just three losses on the season, they are in every match, and need an extra goal or two to push them over that precipice – they have a mere nine through eight games, including that four-goal outburst against Seattle.
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    CanCon
    As always, the extended look at the Canadian performances this round will be posted midday tomorrow (Tuesday).
    With Toronto off this weekend, participation dropped markedly, but strong performances from Patrice Bernier, Will Johnson, Russell Teibert, and others will provide a few talking points at least.
    Overheard
    A few weeks ago many were questioning Clint Dempsey and how effective his partnership with Obafemi Martins may be, but, as per Sigi Schmid - “Right now Dempsey and Martins are as good as it gets in our league.”
    Brave words or speaking the truth?
    He may play like a selfish individual, but off the pitch San Jose’s latest acquisition, Yannick Djalo, is a team man – he’ll fit in nicely there and could prove to be a very useful acquisition indeed, “It was a great team play. Shea Salinas made a great pass to get it over to me and I was happy to be able to score, but it was the hard work of the team that scored.
    “The ball made the goal. I was wide open. I just had to focus, and put the ball in the corner.”
    Sometimes the pass is as good as a goal.
    Not strictly related to the weekend, but some wise words of advice from MLSsoccer.com’s Armchair Analyst, Matt Doyle:
    "Watch a player, and see how good they are on the ball - that's how good they are on the day. Watch a player, and see how good they are off the ball - that's how good they are."
    Sagacious indeed – be sure to check out his excellent posts sprinkled throughout the weekend, while the match previews and such other videos are well worth the time.
    See It Live
    Dominic Oduro’s hair – that is all.
    <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>OMG, it's soooooo real. <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23PizzaHead&src=hash">#PizzaHead</a> <a href="http://t.co/HonTW8Km9S">pic.twitter.com/HonTW8Km9S</a></p>— Andy Edwards (@AndyEdMLS) <a href="
    ">April 27, 2014</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
    Controversy
    A pretty clean weekend, aside from the occasional half-hearted handball shout, though Aurelien Collin’s red card could be said to be a little harsh – but how
    is stunning.Then there was the bizarre Donovan Ricketts handball outside his box – which was more comical and confusing than egregious.
    Upcoming Fixtures
    Another nine matches on the docket for next week – don’t forget about the second leg of the play-in round of the Voyageur’s Cup on Wednesday between Edmonton and Ottawa, delicately poised at zeros – with seven matches on Saturday and a pair on Sunday.
    Saturday: Toronto-New England; Vancouver-San Jose; Chicago-Salt Lake; Colorado-Los Angeles; Seattle-Philadelphia; Chivas-Houston; Portland-DC. Sunday: Dallas-New York; Kansas City-Columbus.
    All video and quotes courtesy of MLSsoccer.com
    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
    Guest
    <i>"Caps Countdown" is our Vancouver Whitecaps player rankings with a twist. The starting eleven is ranked from eleven to one, from worst to first. Who was the 'man of the match' and who, if anyone, had a game to forget in the late comeback 2-2 draw with Real Salt Lake? Aaron Campbell makes his selections. Do you agree?</i>
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

    <b>STARTING XI:</b>
    11 - Russell Teibert
    His brutal give away set up the attack for the RSL opening goal. Has struggled the past two matches and needs to step up to start over Fernandez.
    10 - Kenny Miller
    Was not even trying to go get the ball when it was passed to him. Looks like someone who didn't want to get injured.
    9 - Kekuta Manneh
    Struggled all game long with his attack and tracking back defensively.
    8 - Johnny Leveron
    Had trouble in the start of the game with his marking. Was slow closing down on the RSL striker on the opening goal.
    7 - Andy O'Brien
    Was probably his worst opening half as a Whitecap. Stepped up in the second half.
    6 - Darren Mattocks
    Had trouble getting his attack started. Calmed down a bit as the game went on. Will need to pick up play or he won't be starting much longer.
    5 - Jordan Harvey
    Had a great run on the header from the cross from Teibert. Didn't get sucked into the middle of the pitch as much as he usually does.
    4 - Gershon Koffie
    Had a few spots where his defensive marking was suspect. Stepped up play in the midfield.
    3 - Matias Laba
    Forming a great midfield partnership with Koffie. They will need to keep up that form to keep getting minutes over Reo-Coker.
    2 - David Ousted
    Would of had to make an excellent save to stop the first goal. Will need to make excellent saves to steal the team some wins this season. Had no chance on the second goal. Made some nice saves in the second half to keep the team in the game.
    1 - Steven Beitashour
    Had some big defensive challenges late in the game to generate a Whitecaps attack. Great sliding pass to Fernandez to set up game tying goal.
    <b>SUPER SUBS:</b>
    3 - Erik Hurtado
    Second game in a row where Hurtado came on and the team's offensive game stepped up a notch.
    2 - Nico Mezquida
    Was offside on his goal but we will take it. Brought a spark on the pitch when he was subbed in.
    1 - Sebastian Fernandez
    Great strike in the 94th minute to steal a point from RSL. Deserves a start over the struggling Russell Teibert against San Jose in my opinion.
    <p>
    Guest
    By Tyler Follett: Oliver Minatel helped make history as he recorded Ottawa Fury FC’s first ever brace in the club’s first win as they defeated the Carolina Railhawks 4-0 Saturday in a dominating performance from start to finish.
    A crowd of 2,158, that included Oliver’s parents visiting from his native Brazil, turned up on a rainy afternoon, giving the man of the match a standing ovation on his exit by substitution in the 80th minute.
    “I’m very happy to score and dedicate those goals to them. And they’re going back tomorrow. Very lucky,” said Oliver.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

    Oliver heads home the first goal of the day off a Philippe Davies corner kick in the rain at Keith Harris Stadium. Tyler Follett photo
    Luck played little part in the day’s result, as Fury FC carried the play from the opening whistle.
    The team received good news ahead of kickoff, with the return of Sinisa Ubiparipovic and Omar Jarun from injuries.
    Ubiparipovic went the full 90 and looked strong in midfield, linking up well with Oliver and Davies. Jarun was a late game sub for Andres Fresenga in a warm up for Wednesday’s second leg Voyageurs Cup match at FC Edmonton.
    Davies had the game’s first chance in the 5th minute with a cracker from range that forced Fitzgerald into action early.
    Fitzgerald would have himself a busy game, as the Railhawks defense struggled to contain Oliver, Davies and Haworth early.
    After a Philippe Davies corner in the 34th minute, Oliver headed home his first of the day, after extended forays in the Carolina final third.
    In the 41st minute, Railhawk defender Kupono Low was fortunate to only receive a yellow for a rash challenge on Carl Haworth, kicking the Canadian in the back after some incidental contact.
    Maykon appeared to suffer a thigh injury and departed for Ramon Soria just before half time, with his health a question mark heading into a week with two important games.
    Fury FC continued to carry the play after the break, with Philippe Davies becoming the first Canadian to score for the nation’s capital’s professional team.
    A streaking Oliver found Davies wide open at the far post, which he then slotted home.
    With a goal and an assist, and some encouraging linkups with Oliver and Sinisa, Davies continued his strong play as he looks to secure a starting spot on a Fury FC squad getting healthier and healthier.
    Davies is part of a group of five Canadians that started in the game for Fury FC, with Mason Trafford, Andres Fresenga, Drew Beckie and Carl Haworth impressing as well.
    “Canada needs Canadian players playing at the highest level possible. And we’re able to,” said coach Marc Dos Santos.
    Jarun entering the game was an encouraging sign, with the defender playing 30 minutes and looking comfortable.
    He’ll be tasked with keeping Tomi Ameobi and Frank Jonke off the score sheet Wednesday.
    Oliver finished the brace with a goal in the 72nd minute putting the game out of reach with a sublime finish. He also seemed to score a wundergoal in the 63rd but the ball actually went in off a Railhawks defender. It was credited as an own-goal upon match review by the NASL officials.
    Oliver and Sinisa will be a thing to watch. They repeatedly made the Railhawk defense look like they were standing still.
    Devala Gorrick wasn’t tested often in net but he was big when he had to be to earn the shutout, his second clean sheet in a row.
    The quality of the opposition was not lost on Marc Dos Santos, as the Railhawks are an NASL powerhouse.
    “We beat a very good side that was five games without losing, won 17 games home, and we were very good today. We know what we’re doing, we know what we’re building, we know what we’re capable of. And today we just we were able to put everything on the field,” said Dos Santos.
    The message has been the same since the start of training camp, that Fury FC are a strong side that will compete, and they have.
    Aside from Oliver, the Canadian content in the starting lineup impressed the coaching staff.
    “I think the CSA too has to be happy about that, we beat a team that didn’t have any Canadians in their side and we were good,” said Dos Santos.
    The offensive explosion is sure to give a boost to a team that will be looking to break down a stingy FC Edmonton defense, having allowed only three goals in four games to date.
    Fury FC know a 1-1 draw has them through, and against an Eddies squad that has only one goal in four, they will be playing for the goal.
    “It gives us the confidence to go in now and win more matches. Now we’re going in very strong on Wednesday and I’m sure we can win there too,” said Oliver.
    The message after the game was to enjoy the moment, while keeping an eye on the task ahead.
    “This group of players deserved this day, a special one that we’ll never forget. We have to stay focused on our target,” said Dos Santos.
    Guest
    <i>Match report and post game reaction from the Whitecaps' Carl Robinson, David Ousted, Steven Beitashour, Darren Mattocks and Kekuta Manneh following Vancouver's come from behind 2-2 draw down at Real Salt Lake. We also get the thoughts of RSL coach Jeff Cassar and players Javier Morales, Chris Wingert, Nat Borchers and Kyle Beckerman. Photos courtesy of Julie Harper.</i>
    <b><u>Report:</u></b>
    It's not how you start, it's how you finish and it was an Uruguayan late, late show in Sandy on Saturday evening as Vancouver Whitecaps fought back from being down to early strikes to grab a couple of goals at the death and somehow come away from Utah with a point.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    One of the Whitecaps' big focus points at training this week was the need cut out mistakes from defensive lapses and stop the lack of concentration that has been costing them dear. It didn't seem to work and within nine minutes of kicking off in Utah against Real Salt Lake on Saturday evening, they were two goals down.
    Those early strikes from Joao Plata and Alvaro Saborio looked to have won it for the unbeaten RSL, but from nowhere, late goals for Uruguayan substitutes Nicolas Mezquida and Sebastian Fernandez won a crucial point for the Whitecaps against the odds.
    Robinson rang some changes from the home draw against LA last weekend, with neither captain Jay DeMerit nor Designated Player Pedro Morales making the trip, never mind the starting line up. Their absence allowed Johnny Leveron to come in to partner Andy O'Brien in the middle of the Caps defence and Kekuta Manneh to come in for just his second start of the season.
    Having partnered well for Vancouver's only clean sheet of the season so far in New England, it didn't take long until the Caps central defensive pairing was tested. It was a test they didn't pass and the Whitecaps found themselves a goal down after only two minutes.
    Real pounced on a sloppy giveaway from Russell Teibert to set up a five pass move that ended with Joao Plata being allowed to run at and get the better of Leveron before drilling the ball low across goal and past David Ousted.
    The only attacking danger was coming from the home side and it was no surprise when they doubled their advantage in the ninth minute.
    Tony Beltran ran on to a flick forward by Luke Mulholland and cut the ball back to Ned Grabavoy on the edge of the box who waltzed past four Whitecaps defenders without any of them getting a foot in. The ball eventually broke to Alvaro Saborio and the Costa Rican DP curled a perfect finish into the top left corner to make it 2-0.
    Vancouver were enjoying more possession but it was Real who were still looking the more dangerous team by far and Kyle Beckerman curled a long range effort narrowly wide as the midway point of the match approached.
    The visitors had their best chance of the game in the 26th minute when Jordan Harvey's cross was poorly defended in the box and the ball fell to Kekuta Manneh who couldn't get off a decent shot.
    Harvey himself got on the end of a Russell Teibert cross ten minutes later, forcing Nick Rimando to tip the ball over for a corner.
    The action died a bit as the half came to a close but as the game entered stoppage time, Plata had a great chance to grab his second after being found in the box in acres of space. This time though Ousted stood tall and blocked his shot with his legs after the Ecuadorian took a touch too many.
    With no changes at the half, Vancouver came out for the second period with more urgency and forced the game in the early stages.
    They couldn't do anything with that possession and the game fell into a bit of a lull with Real looking comfortable with whatever they were throwing at them.
    Robinson made three substitutions by the halfway point, who added a little impetus, with Erik Hurtado forcing a save out of Rimando from a header in the 69th minute.
    Those substitutions came to the fore by the end of the match.
    There was little happening and Real weren't under too much pressure but they nearly put the game beyond doubt with ten minutes remaining when Saborio's header was first tipped on the bar from Ousted and then he could only look on as the rebound came off the left post.
    It didn't really look like it mattered, but turned out to be a crucial point in the match.
    From nowhere Vancouver found themselves back in the game in the 86th minute when Rimando couldn't hold on to Darren Mattocks' fierce strike and dropped the ball at the feet of sub Nicolas Mezquida who had the easy job of hitting home from close range.
    The Whitecaps had looked a different team in the second half but looked like it was too little too late.
    Then with seconds left in stoppage time, Steven Beitashour put in a strong tackle just ahead of Saborio just inside the Real half and the ball came to Sebastian Fernandez who unleashed a 35 yard thunderbolt into the bottom corner and send the Vancouver bench into ecstasy.
    It had looked an unlikely point but it is one that will give this Whitecaps side a lot of hope and belief moving forward.
    With San Jose coming to BC Place next Saturday, they now need to build on that to keep themselves in the playoff mix even this early in the season.
    FINAL SCORE: Real Salt Lake 2 - 2 Vancouver Whitecaps
    ATT: 19,661
    SALT LAKE: Nick Rimando; Tony Beltran, Nat Borchers, Chris Schuler, Chris Wingert; Kyle Beckerman, Luke Mulholland (Sebastian Velasquez 63), Ned Grabavoy, Javier Morales (John Stertzer 90); Alvaro Saborio, Joao Plata (Olmes Garcia 74) [subs Not Used: Jeff Attinella, Aaron Maund, Abdoulie Mansally, Devon Sandoval]
    VANCOUVER: David Ousted; Steven Beitashour, Andy O'Brien, Johnny Leveron, Jordan Harvey; Matias Laba, Gershon Koffie, Russell Teibert (Sebastian Fernandez 61), Kenny Miller (Nicolas Mezquida 67), Kekuta Manneh (Erik Hurtado 61); Darren Mattocks [subs Not Used: Paolo Tornaghi, Ethen Sampson, Sam Adekugbe, Christian Dean]
    <b>Carl Robinson on the overall game:</b>
    "We didn't perform to the levels that I would expect or the players expect in the first half. We dug ourselves a big hole from being two goals down after ten minutes and maybe could have been a little bit worse. But all credit to the guys in there. They showed a lot of character after a few adjustments at half time and we fully got what we deserved in the end."
    <b>Carl Robinson on losing the two early goals:</b>
    "We made a big focus of it, last night especially on the video, of this is what we can't do. And in the first ten minutes they did exactly what we didn't want them to do and obviously it cost us. It was concerning."
    <b>Carl Robinson on his half time team talk:</b>
    "After last week's performance against LA, the type of belief they showed should have been there from the start of the game and it wasn't. So I said listen, we've dug ourselves a hole, football's a funny game, we can dig ourselves out of this hole."
    <b>Carl Robinson on team's character:</b>
    "The character shown from being 2-0 down and in a hole was nothing short of phenomenal."
    "Characterwise, unbelievable. Really was. I think that's the culture in the club at the moment. It's a never say die attitude. When you have a young group of players that train hard every day, for them to keep engaged and get their reward, nights like this is very important in their development."
    <b>Carl Robinson on substitutions:</b>
    "As in every game, substitutions are key, because games are won and lost from the changes you make and sometimes you have to be bold in your changes. We had a very young team at the start and obviously making one or two adjustments and that brought us to another level."
    "I'm going to try things. We're a young team, we're trying different things. Today just goes to show that any changes we make are always for the good of the team."
    <b>Carl Robinson on playing Leveron for DeMerit:</b>
    "It was based on the month coming up. We have a big month with the Canadian Amway Championships so there is going to be lots of time for certain people, so I wanted Johnny to play. Johnny had been training very well and I think he deserved his chance. My decision was based on the fact that Andy looked fresher than Jay. After 10 minutes I was questioning it because we were 2-0 down. He didn’t defend the goals very well at all but sometimes you hold your hand up."
    <b>David Ousted on overall performance:</b>
    "We were not happy with what we did in the first half. The whole first half was a horrible experience and not the kind of team we want to be. Luckily the second half was really good, a world apart from the first one, and we got the two goals to get the point."
    <b>David Ousted on coming from behind again:</b>
    "It was fantastic coming back. We did it last week and do it again this week, but I think it's important not to become the team that always comes from behind. We need to get ahead and we need to play better in the first half. That said, a lot of character for coming back."
    "We can go toe to toe with any team in this league but we need to be there from the start and it showed today that if we were how we were in the second half, we can win the games."
    <b>David Ousted on substitutions:</b>
    "Carl said all along that this wasn’t about the 11 or 14, that is was about the 25, and we have shown that the guys coming off the bench have made a tremendous impact every time they have come on and that is a great thing to have."
    <b>Steven Beitashour on the draw:</b>
    "Obviously it feels like a victory and it is good to get an away point."
    <b>Steven Beitashour on his big tackle to set up equaliser:</b>
    "I was hoping he would take another touch when he was dribbling because I knew if he played it behind it would kind of be over so I was just waiting for the touch and right when I saw it I tried tackling and I was on the floor and saw Seba take it and he has a rocket. I had a good angle from the floor and Nick is a great keeper and that ball moved on him so nothing against Nick, but Seba can really strike the ball."
    <b>Steven Beitashour on going down two early goals:</b>
    "I don’t know what it was. We just were on our heels a bit. We didn’t play to our standards and we got punished. I think they had three good chances and they scored two but we stuck in there and fought to the end."
    <b>Darren Mattocks on turning the game around:</b>
    "I think it was the belief we had. We had a very good mentality coming out second half and I think the guys showed depth. We showed guts. We're a young team and we're learning a lot but the character we showed to come back in this game is really amazing."
    <b>Darren Mattocks on the substitutions:</b>
    "These guys stepped up to the plate big time. Two fantastic goals from Nico and Seba. It's going to take every single player in this team to contribute because sometimes it's going to be the subs that come on and make the difference in the game and I think they just did."
    <b>Kekuta Manneh on team's character:</b>
    "It says a lot about our character. We've been coming from behind and fighting and then not giving up and we get a result in the past two games we've played. It says a lot about us and we just need to start it from the beginning of the first half and then do the same thing. We'll definitely work on that and I think that's all we need for right now."
    <b>Kekuta Manneh on substitutions:</b>
    "We have a lot of talent on the team. It's difficult to stay on the team and everyone is looking to make impact whenever they get the chance to play. The guys that came in and they did really well today."
    <b>Jeff Cassar on losing two late goals:</b>
    "I honestly don’t think it was anything they were doing. I think it was all what we were doing. When guys are making runs forward and turning the ball over, now we’re out of shape. It’s something that can’t happen."
    <b>Jeff Cassar on jumping out to an early lead:</b>
    "Every time we’re at home, we want to start off right and really get the fans into the game. I thought the first half, there was so much energy inside the stadium, and the fans were a huge part of that."
    <b>Javier Morales on Caps fightback:</b>
    "They deserve it because I think their players were much better in the second half, and we didn’t even pass the ball two or three times. It’s a little bit painful because we were ahead in the score but I think it’s justice."
    "They were down two and had to go forward. I think it was more our fault than them playing better, because if we can control the ball for a long time, maybe it would have been better."
    <b>Chris Wingert on losing two goal lead:</b>
    "We shouldn’t have to score a third, we should be able to kill the game off. There were a number of ways of winning that game – keeping them off the scoreboard, or scoring a third and the games probably over and we didn’t do any of them unfortunately."
    <b>Nat Borchers on Caps comeback:</b>
    "It’s momentum really in this game. They came out and pressured us really high so we weren’t able to keep the ball in the back and get any rhythm. They played with three high and they did a great job of running behind us and putting pressure on the back line."
    <b>Kyle Beckerman on Sebastian Fernandez's equaliser:</b>
    "They got the ball and then the guy just hit the shot that was probably a one in a hundred type shot. Unfortunately, we were just on the wrong side of the tie tonight."
    <p>
    Guest
    Vancouver Whitecaps are heading down to Utah to take on Real Salt Lake and the AFTN crew have all the pregame news and chatter ahead of the Western Conference clash.
    Caps' goalkeeping coach <b>Marius Røvde</b> shares his thoughts on the game and what Vancouver need to do to get something from this one. We also chat to him about RSL's difference maker, keeper Nick Rimando.
    Joining us on the phone is <b>Tyler Gibbons</b>, the sports producer for Real Sports Live on <a href="http://www.4utah.com/sports" target="_blank"><u>ABC4Utah</u></a>, to discuss everything Real Salt Lake ahead of the game.
    But it's not just the pregame talk as we delve into some of the bigger stories to come out in Whitecapsland this week involving Kenny Miller and Nigel Reo-Coker.
    And there's still time for <b>Predictapooch</b> to cast his magic powers into the weekend's results.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Have a listen!
    You can listen to this week's podcast on iTunes <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/aftn/id628306235" target="_blank"><b>HERE</b></a>.
    Or download it for your later listening delight <a href="http://aftn.podbean.com/" target="_blank"><b>HERE</b></a>.
    We also have an iPhone app, so you can now add our podcast to your phone as an app. Visit the podcast's mobile site <a href="http://aftn.podbean.com/mobile/" target="_blank"><b>HERE</b></a> and then at the bottom of the screen just click the "Quick Launch" icon and the podcast will be added to your home screen and appear as an app.
    And if that's not enough, we've joined <a href="http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/michael-mccoll/the-aftn-soccer-podcast?refid=stpr" target="_blank"><u><b>Stitcher Radio Network</b></u></a>. Download the app and listen to the AFTN podcast on your device, along with over 15,000 shows <a href="http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/michael-mccoll/the-aftn-soccer-podcast?refid=stpr" target="_blank"><b>HERE</b></a>.
    Or after all that, you could just listen on the player below!
    <iframe width="100%" height="100" id="audio_iframe" src="http://www.podbean.com/media/player/audio/postId/5139597/url/http%253A%252F%252Faftn.podbean.com%252F2014%252F04%252F25%252Fepisode-59-the-aftn-soccer-podcast-rsl-v-vancouver-pregame-show%252F/initByJs/1/auto/1?skin=3" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>
    <p>
    Guest
    OTTAWA

    Oliver goes up for a header in the box against two defenders as he tries to convert a Philippe Davies cross in the first half. Tyler Follett photo
    By: Tyler Follett
    An injury-ravaged Ottawa Fury FC side played FC Edmonton to a scoreless draw in a tight and physical affair in the opening game of the 2014 Voyageurs Cup.
    Despite the conditions of cold wind and potential rain at any time, 2,500 fans came out to show their support as the team’s battle for the chance to play the MLS’s Montreal Impact.
    Both sides had several chances to break the deadlock, including an incredible save by Devala Gorrick in injury time to deny Edmonton a winner.
    “(Gorrick) made a fantastic save at the end, it would be unfair if Edmonton scored,” said Fury FC coach Marc Dos Santos.
    It was Fury FC’s best 90-minute performance to date, with several contributions from key depth players thanks to injuries and a compact schedule at the worst time.
    Carl Haworth was subbed on for the booked Vini Dantas in the 58th minute, looking to build off a strong super sub appearance on Saturday, while Tony Donatelli and Philippe Davies retained their starting positions and continued to threaten with their crosses.
    It was an encouraging performance player really looking to make an impression early on in the season, when they may not have been given a chance without injuries.
    “With the guys that we have out, the depth that we have and the players that are answering and the character of the team, I’m very positive as to what’s to come,” added Dos Santos.
    Nicki Paterson, Sinisa Ubiparipovic and Tom Heinemann, who all missed the home opener, remained sidelined, joined by centreback Omar Jarun who is recovering from a boot to the face he took against Minnesota.
    For an expansion team to be missing both their vice-captains, as well as starters at each of the three areas of the pitch, Fury FC’s depth has been strongly tested.
    Drew Beckie, who played right back against Minnesota, took Jarun’s spot at centreback, with Fresenga slotting in at right back. Both had strong games in the backline drawing praise from the coach, with Beckie in particular showing what made him an MLS draft pick of the Columbus Crew.
    “Beckie was drafted by Columbus for a reason, it wasn’t a fluke or luck,” said Dos Santos.
    “He can get back to MLS if he continues like that. We need him at right back he answers, centre back he had an excellent game tonight again.”
    Against FC Edmonton, the depth test was passed with flying colours.
    “It proves we have a lot of guys that can play in this team if there’s injuries,” said Dos Santos.
    The first half was back and forth, with both teams getting their chances. Ameobi was active up top for FC Edmonton, while Philippe Davies and Tony Donatelli peppered the box with crosses when given space.
    Davies, Maykon and Dantas all had scoring chances denied off Donatelli crosses in the first half.
    Richie Ryan had his strongest game yet, after being shaken up by a foul in the opening 10 minutes, he controlled the middle of the field, slowing the game down with careful distribution.
    The physicality was apparent from the get go, with Ryan needing attention at one point, as well as Pierre-Rudolph Mayard after a hard foul by Ottawa-native Eddie Edward that earned him a yellow.
    “We knew it would be physical,” said Dos Santos, an opinion shared by his counterpart, FC Edmonton coach Colin Miller.
    “There’s a bit of spice to the occasion because it’s two Canadian teams trying to play against an MLS side,” said Miller.
    The break at half did Fury FC no favours, as they had to contend with the wind in the second half.
    The opening 25 minutes of the second act was controlled by Edmonton as the Fury realized quickly they could no longer play balls in the air with the conditions.
    In the 58th minute, Haworth was subbed in for Dantas, with Haworth shifting to the left wing and Mayard moving up top. Mayard’s skill set would appear to make him an ideal candidate up top, though he seems to have a slight reluctance to shoot.
    As the half progressed, Fury FC got more comfortable and began to press for a winner.
    Mason Trafford sent a powerful effort a foot over the bar in one instance.
    Just after the Trafford miss, a beautiful pass sent Haworth in on the keeper with just one defender bearing down.
    Haworth went down in the box, and was then shoved twice by the defender while he was still on the ground. A bit of a melee ensued, with Philippe Davies receiving a yellow for shoving, in what may have been the most Canadian thing about the match, aside from the weather; a Canadian sticking up for his Canadian teammate he felt was wronged.
    “I encourage a bit of passion between the two teams,” said Miller.
    “It’s a terrific commitment from both teams, I didn’t think anything was over the top.”
    Frank Jonke was a 61st minute substitution for FC Edmonton, as they pushed hard for an away goal with the Jonke-Ameobi tandem up top.
    The physicality continued to ramp up as the game went on, with the referee never having full control of the game, despite handing out six yellow cards.
    Ameobi was very fortunate not to sent off after a rash challenge late in the second half after he was already booked. The referee gave him the rare warning after having already booked him and warned him in the first half.
    A strong tackle from Drew Beckie ended a Frank Jonke threat late as Jonke went down far too easily at the top of the box.
    As Edmonton pressed in injury time, Gorrick had the Fury faithful on their feet as he made an incredible save to stop a sure goal.
    The result favours Fury FC, having not allowed an away goal, which pleased Dos Santos.
    “If you asked me what’s the best score after leg one, I will tell you I want to win 5-0,” he said.
    “But the reality is if you do tie at least tie 0-0 at home knowing that goals away count for two. If we tie, 0-0 is the best tie possible.”
    Dos Santos pointed to the 2013 Voyageurs Cup, won by Montreal after a 0-0 draw in the first leg and 2-2 draw in the second in Vancouver.
    Miller was left to rue missed chances for his squad as they look ahead to the second leg.
    “We’re disappointed not to have won this game, over the piece we probably were the better side,” said Miller.
    Dos Santos highlighted Gorrick, Beckie, Fresenga and Davies in particular as some of the bright spots.
    Davies has started two games in a row since not seeing a minute in the opener against Fort Lauderdale. He’s been playing with a lot of energy and been the team’s most consistent threat on the flank, after playing in central midfield last year.
    “Going from last year playing the middle to playing the wing this year I have to re-adjust myself,” said Davies.
    “I like it, I’m starting to grow into it.”
    Players are coming to the realization as well that wind will regularly wreak havoc at Keith Harris Stadium.
    “The first two games have been really windy so I guess it’s going to be like this. It’s part of the game and can’t do anything about that,” he added.
    Devala Gorrick, Richie Ryan, Drew Beckie and Philippe Davies all deserved man of the match honours, with Gorrick my choice as he exuded confidence in net.
    Looking ahead, Fury FC welcome the Carolina Railhawks this Saturday at 3p.m. at Keith Harris Stadium, ahead of next Wednesdays second leg at Edmonton.
    The winner on aggregate of the two-leg set between Fury FC and FC Edmonton will take on the Montreal Impact in the semifinals of the Voyageurs Cup.
    “The goal away is important and we’re going to score in Edmonton,” said Dos Santos.
    Guest
    Concacaf president Jeffrey Webb said in an interview* today that the Gold Cup shouldn't always be held in the same country. (Spanish link)
    "I believe that the Gold Cup shouldn't always be held in just one country. It's the best tournament in the area and all [Concacaf's] members should have the possibility to receive the big prize that is this tournament. The decision to hold it in the U.S. has been for financial reasons exclusively," Webb said in remarks printed in Spanish.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Well, yes. The U.S. is home to almost 40-million Spanish-speaking adults, the vast majority of which have roots in Mexico or Central America. Its stadium infrastructure is unparalleled in the region and those stadiums fill up in a way that would not happen elsewhere. The U.S. has hosted every edition of the biennial tournament since 1991, except for in 1993 and 2003. It just kind of makes sense.
    If the words emitting from Webb's mouth are sincere and the idea is not simply to hold the tournament in Mexico, it means Canada would be an obvious choice as host. Any bid coming from Central America would likely have to be shared among countries; Central America could certainly muster more soccer-specific venues than Canada, it's all the other stuff that goes along with hosting a tournament where Canada would be ahead. That said, Costa Rica did recently host a successful U17 women's World Cup.
    These admittedly as-yet-meaningless musing from Webb represent an interesting contrast with Concacaf's decision to play the Copa Centroamericana in the U.S. for the first time this September. The logic on that one is solid: Central Americans in the U.S. have far more money to spend on football than Central Americans in Central America. Moving in the opposite direction represents an intriguing step. Spanish television networks in the U.S. would still get their huge TV audiences, regardless of where the Gold Cup takes place. Ticket sales and sponsorship would take the hit and it's not clear there would be any benefit in the sense of the 'expanding into new markets' rhetoric FIFA uses to justify awarding tournaments to places like Qatar.
    It's also worth nothing that Webb mentions Concacaf might allow Mexico to compete in the 2015 Copa America with a full squad. (Mexico has only been permitted a sort of U23 side in the Copa so as to preserve the 'integrity' of the Gold Cup and ensure Mexico's full focus lay there.) On the same day Webb spoke about spreading the Gold Cup around, he hinted at devaluing it.
    Grant Surridge focuses much of his writing for CSN on the Spanish-speaking Concacaf world. You can follow him on twitter @SCGGrant
    *I'm not certain whether Al Dia did the interview, but I couldn't find Webb's comments elsewhere online
    Guest

    Jock Math: Week 7 TSR rankings

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    This week's Canadian Soccer News power rankings (I.e. the current TSR rankings) below the jump:
    Before we get into the numbers, a reminder of what TSR -- total shot ratio -- is.
    TSR is a complicated way to express a basic thing. Specifically, it's an expression of what percentage of a game's shots a team generates. This matters, because the more shots a team generates the more goals they score. That's not a debatable fact. And, to add to that, the more goals a team scores the more wins they get.
    Again, not controversial.
    So, teams with a high TSR value typically, OVER THE LONG RUN, do better than teams that have a low rating.
    If you're interested in seeing how well TSR correlates to points in a table you can read some great work on the subject (using the Premier League) here: http://pena.lt/y/2013/04/02/understanding-total-shot-ratio-in-football/
    Before we go on a word on outliers.
    They exist. They exist in every statistical evaluation, everywhere. Generally they exist because of a little thing sports fans hate to acknowledge: luck. Luck, OVER THE LONG RUN, typically runs out. When that happens no one knows, which is why the magic of sport really isn't ruined by numbers. They don't matter once the games start.
    There are some odd outliers so far in the MLS season. One of the reasons we are tracking TSR from the start to the end of the year is to try and understand those outlying numbers more. If a team with a poor TSR continues to do well all year (SPOILER ALERT -- RSL) then something else is going on beyond dumb luck (if it's the latter it will almost certainly correct over 34 games).
    Got all that? Good. The figures for week 7:
    1. Kansas City .676
    2. Los Angeles .617
    3. Chicago .560
    4. Colorado .533
    5. Montreal .526
    6. San Jose .514
    7. Chivas .509
    8. Houston .505
    9. Columbus .504
    10. Portland .502
    11. Philly .496
    12. New York .486
    13. Toronto .480
    14. Vancouver .469
    15. Seattle .462
    16. New England .459
    17. DC United .448
    18. Dallas .441
    19. Salt Lake .391
    As I said: odd outliers.
    RSL and Dallas being chief among them. How can TSR be real when two of the top teams are dead last and second last on the chart. On the surface it's easy to dismiss the whole concept out of hand.
    Those inclined to do that aren't likely to be swayed by the answer of why they should continue to believe these numbers. The answer is that they've been tested in various setting over a very long time. What's happening at the seven game mark might just be early season luck both bad and good.
    Another possible explanation is that individual performances are having undue influence on an otherwise poor team performance. We're looking at you Nick Rimando (who would be my MVP pick if the vote were today). Dempsey at Seattle is another example.
    To bring it back to Salt Lake it would seem unlikely that A) They will perform this poorly on TSR all year (two games with LA are already on the books) and Rimando will continue to play this far out of his mind.
    So, who knows.
    A couple other outliers, only the other way, are San Jose and Montreal. How can we explain such good TSR and poor results?
    Again, individual performances might explain. In Montreal's case Di Vaio just shoots so much, from so many different positions, that he skews the numbers. When he's hot (a concept that isn't real, but that sounds better than "when he's on a real lucky streak") he can push Montreal up the table like he last year (when Montreal had a terrible TSR number, by the way).
    Regardless, the bottom line on all the numbers is that it's early. Not too early to take any value from the number, but not too late that we won't see major changes in its order yet.
    Guest
    (So as to avoid any confusion - this post was written on Wednesday, April 23. This game is already done.)
    What are you doing tonight?
    Say, about 7:30 if you're in Ontario. 4:30 if you're in B.C. Or whichever time zone applies to you (you're a smart Canadian, you know how this game works).
    Watching sports, probably? Maybe? Well, don't bother turning on the NHL playoffs -- no Canadian teams tonight. The NBA playoffs? Nope, no Canadian teams tonight. Baseball? Perhaps, but how important is an April game in a 162-game season? (Hint: Not very.)
    No no, what you want to be doing, no matter where you are, is heading over to the CSA's website -- canadasoccer.com -- to catch a live stream of the first game of the 2014 Voyageurs Cup, the first leg of the play-in between FC Edmonton and the expansion Ottawa Fury.
    Why do you want to do this? Well, here's a little idea.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    First, look at the website you're on. Nobody stumbles across "CanadianSoccerNews.com" by accident. The URL is pretty clear about what's going to be here. So clearly you, to whatever extent, care about the game in this country. And while there are dimwits (far too many of them) ready to disparage the tournament for any number of reasons, the reality is that it's a vital part of the modern-day Canadian soccer environment.
    And yeah, that matters to you. (Admit it, it does.)
    Secondly, because it's a tournament in the ascendancy. Yes, it's all relative; we're still talking about a competition that has only just grown to five teams. But given the rumblings from the CSA about bringing in new regional semi-pro leagues and considering expanding the tournament to include untold numbers of squads in the future, it might be worth getting in on... well, not the ground floor, but surely the first or second floor.
    Thirdly -- and this is really the most important, to those who care about that sort of thing (which, as we've established, includes you) -- the trophy. A legitimate piece of Canadian soccer history, modest as it may be. This is the 13th time the Voyageurs Cup will be awarded. On each occasion, it has been awarded to the winning team by a member of the supporters group that, at the turn of the century, took matters into their own hands and decided to give some recognition to the country's top pro club.
    (And it's the reason why Maclean's magazine -- a 103-year-old Canadian institution -- had the excuse to publish a photograph of Ben "Lord Bob" Massey looking absolutely crestfallen. That, alone, is almost enough to justify the tournament's existence.)
    While the so-called "
    " still holds special significance to fans of all three Canadian MLS teams (and lends that extra tinge of intensity to the tournament), the two Canadian NASL teams will look to use the tournament as a launching point not only to gain attention in their home markets, but to gain respect on the continent at large. Even if you're not from Edmonton or Ottawa, tonight's clash carries significance -- specifically, the fact that both teams are awash in Canadian talent. The Eddies's 23-man roster includes 12 Canadians; the Fury's includes 11. No matter what the outcome of the game, or the tournament, giving Canadian players more opportunities to compete in meaningful games can only mean good things for our national team in the long run.
    But this particular clash carries its own storylines as well. FC Edmonton, after making a surprise playoff appearance in its inaugural season (2011), has stumbled over the past two years, and will be desperate not to be taken out by the upstart Fury, who have just started their own NASL existence.
    Ottawa, meanwhile, is coached by former Impact manager Marc Dos Santos (a key figure in the Miracle in Montreal), with the winner of Edmonton/Ottawa set to contest the Voyageurs Cup semifinals against... you guessed it, Montreal.
    No, nobody's going to confuse Edmonton vs. Ottawa with Bayern Munich vs. Real Madrid. But that isn't the point. That is their tournament. The Voyageurs Cup is ours.
    And that's something that too many self-loathing Canadians, dismissive non-Canadians and predictable Deadspin scribes don't seem to understand about the growth of the game in our country. Yes, sports are about entertainment, and prestige, and history, and so on and so forth. But they are also about identity; about feeling that palpable connection to people from the same place as you, who feel similarly passionate about a team or competition that (ostensibly) represents you.
    The Voyageurs Cup isn't the oldest tournament. Or the most prestigious. Or the largest. Or the best. And it might never be close to any of those things.
    But so long as it is fully, unabashedly and indisputably ours, it will be worthy of our attention in a way unlike any other sporting event you might otherwise watch tonight, or any other night.
    .
    Guest
    An extension to Canadian Soccer News’ MLS Week in Review, this article provides a closer look at the performances of the Canadian players who saw the pitch this week.
    As suckers for getting on the score-sheet, Issey Nakajima-Farran and Rob Friend take the top two spots this week, while third could go to any number of players for strong, if unspectacular, outings this round – special mention for Maxim Tissot, who made his first appearance of the season for Montreal.
    Find out what they did to deserve recognition and who else earned their keep this week.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Issey Nakajima-Farran
    Issey made a second-straight start for Toronto in their 2-1 loss at Dallas – he has appeared in all four matches since joining the club three weeks into the season.
    Constantly swapping wings with Jackson, Nakajima-Farran was lively, battling hard with Dallas left-back, Jair Benitez, in particular – Issey would be shown a yellow card for a shove on the defender in the 55th minute, as the two dueled for the line in pursuit of the ball; it was a call that could have gone either way.
    His most significant contribution was undoubtedly his goal in the 21st minute that gave TFC a lead as the two sides exchanged a multitude of corners through the early going. Kyle Bekker hit a short corner of sorts, pulling a low ball back to the high post area where Michael Bradley arrived to flick goal-ward. It appeared as though Dallas would clear, but Jackson won the footrace and laid a ball down the left-side of the box for Issey, who saw his first crack at goal blocked.
    Fortunately the rebound returned for a second attempt that deflected off the shin of Je-Vaughan Watson and beat Dallas keeper Chris Seitz:
    <iframe width="533" height="300" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/-gDoAu7JEps?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
    It was his second goal of the season.
    Later he would play a lovely long pass to spring Gilberto, but the striker was called offside on a night that fortune did not favour Toronto.
    The Calgary, Alberta-native completed 15 of 26 passes, took two shots – both on target, one blocked, the other deflected for the goal, won six headers and a tackle, committed three fouls and suffered one - seeing his first yellow card in MLS for that tangle with Benitez, and contributed two recoveries and an interception, while losing possession twelve times in his 81 minutes on the pitch.
    He would make way for the fresh legs of Andrew Wiedeman with time ticking down.
    Post-match he spoke with TFC TV.
    Rob Friend
    Friend made his fourth appearance of the season for Los Angeles in their 2-2 draw at Vancouver – it was his third appearance from the bench and second in as many games.
    Entering the match for Stefan Ishizaki in the 72nd minute, shortly after Darren Mattocks had leveled for the Whitecaps, Friend would have an immediate impact, cushioning a header from a long Omar Gonzalez ball into the box down for Robbie Keane, who reinstated the Galaxy’s lead in the 77th minute:
    <iframe width="533" height="300" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/7KYmb4y1DV4?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
    He was credited with an assist on the play, his first in MLS.
    Four minutes later he would once more look to feed the Irishman with a tidy pull-back, but Vancouver keeper David Ousted was equal to the task this time, before having a look himself in stoppage-time with a header over Jay DeMerit:
    <script height="300px" width="533px" src="http://player.ooyala.com/iframe.js#ec=NqbzdhbTr56z9hHeXUSpiPiXP7VFfF95&pbid=4bfc225f82bf46c48dfb065eda97f74f"></script>
    The Rosetown, Saskatchewan-native completed thirteen of fourteen passes, won three headers – one of which was his shot on target and another the assist, won two fouls and made one recovering, while losing possession just once in his eighteen minutes on the pitch.
    Afterwards he spoke with the media about not being in the starting lineup: “Yeah. Bruce wants to start with a diamond and we’ve been playing well like that. The time that I get, I need to make the best with it. Personally I’m happy with that. Obviously a goal would be nice. The goals will come, I know they will. I think I’ve been a bit unfortunate not to get the goals. But all in all, 20 minutes, I can hold my head up today.”
    And on making his return to Vancouver: “Fantastic. I love this city. I had about 25 people, family and friends here, so I saw them all after the game and it’s fun to be back. I’ve enjoyed the 24 hours so far.”
    Will Johnson
    Johnson made his seventh-straight start for Portland in their 1-0 loss at Salt Lake, continuing his streak of having started every game this season.
    Back on the road, Johnson was much more reserved in picking his spots to go forward – most of his forays did not come until the final stage of the match with the Timbers chasing the game.
    In tandem with Diego Chara at the base of the midfield, Johnson was again solid, limiting the effectiveness of the likes of Javier Morales and Kyle Beckerman – it is telling that Ned Grabavoy’s winner came down the side of the pitch that Johnson did not occupy.
    He was definitely pumped up for the return to his old stomping grounds, having spent five seasons with Salt Lake, showing some excellent hustle to steal a lazy Tony Beltran throw-in deep in Salt Lake territory and send a dangerous cross through the goal-mouth, just beyond the reach of a teammate in the opening phase.
    Otherwise, he mostly contented himself with stifling the opponent, getting in the way of crosses – a Sebastian Velasquez cross deflected off him and on target, but did not overly trouble Donovan Ricketts – and mopping up trouble areas, such as when Morales’ juicy rebound sat momentarily in the box after hitting the post.
    Once behind, Johnson cautiously went forward, and was a little too deep to really be troubled by Alvas Powell opting to shoot rather than pull-back – though it caused him to drop to his knees in frustration:
    <script height="300px" width="533px" src="http://player.ooyala.com/iframe.js#pbid=4bfc225f82bf46c48dfb065eda97f74f&ec=94a2JhbTpErKZrxq_NsEyWuPGd5SYfum"></script>
    Similarly, he would look for a wide pass when Sebastian Fernandez tested Nick Rimando from range, drawing a brilliant save from the keeper – head in hands once more; he really wanted to snap that winless streak against his former club.
    The Toronto, Ontario-born midfielder completed 43 of 48 passes, won two headers, committed two fouls and suffered one, and made nine recoveries, five clearances, and an interception, while losing possession six times.
    Afterwards his fighting spirit brushed aside any platitudes about playing well: “I’m a little bit sick and tired of hearing that; it’s all about results. We have to step up and make plays, and there are plays out there that are there to be made. This is professional soccer, and when we get in those big moments we look like amateurs. So we have to face the reality that we have to be better.”
    Adding, “Defensively, we kept the ball, we frustrated them, but attacking-wise, it’s not good enough. You’re never going to win a game if you can’t score goals, so we’ve got to find a way to do even better than we did. For me, it’s not good enough. Saying that, we did well, but that seems to be the case every single week now. So it has to change. It’s just quite simply not good enough.”
    Kyle Bekker
    Bekker made his third-straight start for Toronto in Dallas – it was his fourth-straight appearance for the club since the injury bug started to bite, somewhat forcing Ryan Nelsen’s hand in selection.
    As one of three central midfielders, alongside Michael Bradley and behind Jonathan Osorio, Bekker was less involved than he had been in previous matches.
    He exhibited that same knack for being in the right place after leaving space for Mauro Diaz to run and feed Fabian Castillo with a pass, but tracking back to be in position to cut out the cutback in the early goings.
    With TFC under serious pressure from corner kicks, Bekker was one of the players closest to Matt Hedges when he scored the equalizer in the 37th minute and perhaps he could have won the initial header, but Hedges was not his man, having escaped the attentions of Justin Morrow to ghost in behind Bekker at the near-post:
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    He had one rather tasty free-kick opportunity from deep that sailed on Chris Seitz, backing the keeper into making a catch on his line, prompting Bradley Orr to protest that it had crossed the line, but to no avail.
    And he put a very strong shoulder into Stephen Keel deep in the Toronto box on the play that led to Blas Perez’ winner in the 88th minute:
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    Keel may have otherwise been the one to put in the finish, though there was some risk of the referee pointing to the spot on the physical play.
    The Oakville, Ontario-native completed 28 of 34 passes, won three headers, had one shot – the sailing free-kick on target, committed and suffered a foul each way, and made five recoveries, three interceptions, and a clearance, while conceding possession six times.
    Russell Teibert
    Teibert made his fifth-straight start for Vancouver in their draw against LA – it was his sixth start of the season, having missed one match through injury.
    Released from his defensive duties of the week before, Teibert took up a much more attacking posture on the left-side of the midfield, cutting in-field to operate through the middle in attack, but was still wary of LA’s threat, tracking back to pressure Landon Donovan after Andy O’Brien’s poor clearance fell right to one of the Galaxy’s most dangerous attackers.
    Going forward he latched onto a long ball from Jay DeMerit out of the back, but had his cross cut out by Omar Gonzalez and kept Dan Gargan, LA’s right-back, honest for much of the first half – though Teibert was partially at fault for LA’s opener, pressing deep into the middle to confront Marcelo Sarvas, leaving that wide open space that Gargan sauntered into:
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    He was replaced at half-time by Kekuta Manneh when Carl Robinson opted to switch up the tactical game-plan for the second half.
    Prior to the match, Teibert relished having another go at the Galaxy after a strong outing last week and reflected on his breakout two-goal performance against LA last season:
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    Jonathan Osorio
    Osorio return to TFC’s starting eleven after missing the last three matches with a hamstring strain – it was his third start of the season.
    Playing as the most advanced of the midfield trio, Osorio looked a little off the pace – no surprise given the time away from training. Nelsen noted afterwards, “[bradley] hasn’t trained in a while, same with Jonathan Osorio. We’re running on fumes in terms of what we have available for options. It’s great they both got through the game and now we’ve got a couple weeks where we can get a rest, get healthy and move on.”
    But still he was very important to any possession Toronto did manage – something Dallas was well aware of, hacking him down with abandon. One time Michel surely fouled him with a blatant chop, only for the referee to ignore the foul. Osorio was not best pleased and gave the official an earful after staying down for a moment, for which he got a talking to from the clueless arbiter.
    The Toronto, Ontario-native completed a very tidy 25 of 27 passes, won two headers and a tackle, suffered two fouls and committed one, and made seven recoveries, while losing possession seven times.
    He also spoke with TFC TV post-match.
    Patrice Bernier
    Bernier returned to Montreal’s starting lineup in their 4-0 loss at Kansas City after entering from the bench in the previous three matches – it was his third start and sixth appearance of the season.
    Prior to the match, Bernier commented on their winless start to the season - “You have to dig deep within yourself. It’s not just about pulling off nice moves and making nice passes. We have to do the – how can I say? – not-so-pretty soccer stuff: the duels, the 50-50 balls, the battles we seem to lose, allowing other teams to capitalize. Everyone has to look at themselves and know they can give something more.”
    Stationed deep in the midfield, as part of a two-man shield in front of the back-line, alongside Callum Mallace, Bernier was as swamped as the rest of the team was with the rampant Sporting attack.
    They managed to keep pace through the first half and perhaps should have taken a lead – Marco Di Vaio missed a good chance and Bernier could not dig the ball out of his feet in time to spring the Italian on another break, though he did manage to find Felipe before the attack fizzled.
    Bizarrely, Bernier appeared to be marking Aurelien Collin on KC’s first goal that was looped into his own net by Mallace – which seems a ridiculous mismatch on a Matt Besler long-throw:
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    Bernier was constantly putting out fires, twice intervening on Collin’s attempt to turn for a low shot from the top of the box – a play that would eventually lead to KC’s second goal of the night. He also started some, such as when an under-hit pass was gobbled up by Benny Feilhaber leading to chances for Dom Dwyer and Graham Zusi:
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    His frustration at the match was evident, kicking the turf in a rare show of anger at the flow of the match as wave upon wave of Sporting attack poured forward.
    The Brossard, Quebec-native completed 29 of 44 passes, won six headers and a tackle, losing another, committed two fouls and suffered an equal number, and made six recoveries, 2 blocks, one interception and one clearance, while losing possession some sixteen times – an outrageous number for him.
    Post-match he commented, "We started the game well, we were working hard but then they scored on an unfortunate own goal. In the second half, there were too many moments where we didn't rise to the occasion. With the way we started the season, we aren't in a place where we could come back after having two goals scored against us."
    “[After] the second goal, although we kept pushing, we were dismayed and we’re not at a stage where our play develops and we can start over, change the momentum, score a goal, make it 2-1 and push. I really don't know what to say about that second half. We really have to take our responsibilities, get going and put double the effort we’re putting in.”
    “At 1-0 down, we probably [could have scored], and we played really well in the first half. We were solid defensively, played on the counter and created chances. We limited, more or less, their chances – they were mostly throw-ins or corners. I don’t know what to say, but we really need to look at ourselves in the mirror, for if we want to get out of this, we must give nothing, nothing away.”
    Karl Ouimette
    Ouimette made a second-straight start for Montreal after an impressive outing against Chicago last weekend – it was his third appearance of the season, and did not go as smoothly.
    Aside from the own-goal, the Impact managed to largely hold Sporting at bay through the first half, though there were signs of trouble, as Dwyer was allowed a free-run at Troy Perkins to challenge for a Zusi cross, foreshadowing what would come in the second.
    From his position as the left-sided centre-back, Ouimette was left far too isolated on KC free-kicks, with Collin once getting on the wrong side of the defender before having to deal with both Collin and Dwyer alone on another launch – signs of danger growing.
    He was shown a yellow card – his first of the season – in the 73rd minute after a tangle with Dwyer; he was booked for persistent infringement, racking up six fouls, five in the second half.
    From the ensuing free-kick, Zusi would play a ball over the head of Jacob Peterson, leading to Dwyer’s first goal from the low cross – Ouimette was a little slow to react to the movement of the striker, letting him get in front for the finish:
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    And then he gave the forward far too much space on another Zusi cross that led to his second:
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    It was a tough afternoon for the entire squad to be fair.
    The Terrebonne, Quebec-native completed 28 of 36 passes, won four headers and two tackles, losing a further two, committed six fouls and suffered one, made seven recoveries, five interceptions, and one clearance, while losing possession ten times.
    Maxim Tissot
    Tissot made his first appearance of the season for Montreal in their poor showing at Kansas City – it came a bit of a surprise, as he had not even been on the bench for a match this season.
    That rust was evident rather early, as Tissot was nearly exposed by a Feilhaber ball inside for the speedy and sharp Sal Zizzo to run onto, but Perkins was equal to the challenge – it was the first, but not the only time he would be tested by that pace.
    It was Tissot who got sucked out wide by Peterson on Zusi’s cross and was then unable to get in a block on the cross that led to Dwyer’s first and he was also as culpable as Ouimette on allowing Dwyer the space to get on the end of his second.
    The Gatineau, Quebec-native completed 28 of 37 passes, won three headers and a tackle, committed and suffered a foul, and made seven recoveries, two interceptions, and two clearances, and lost possession ten times.
    Montreal made the same mistake that TFC was guilty of at times last season – of leaving two young defenders exposed alongside each other (think Doneil Henry and Ashtone Morgan), though they had little choice as rookie Eric Miller was on the other side of Matteo Ferrari.
    The Rest
    Kofi Opare, Nana Attakora, and Jordan Hamilton were all unused substitutes on the bench for their respective sides, LA, DC, and Toronto.
    Kyle Porter was back down in Richmond, scoring for the Kickers in their 2-2 draw against Pittsburgh. It was his second match on loan (though no official word was ever mentioned in the club literature). He now has three goals through two matches for the club, having notched a brace in his first match on loan, back on April 5th, helping the Kickers win 3-1 also against Pittsburgh.
    All video and quotes courtesy of MLSsoccer.com
    Each week James takes a look at the contributions of Canadians in the league and the league as a whole.
    You can follow James on twitter @grawsee or read more of his writing at Partially Obstructed View
    Guest

    MLS Week in Review – Round 07

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    The seventh round of MLS took place over the Easter Weekend – chocolate and soccer, does it get any better than that?
    Leaving aside the midweek fixture for a moment, nine matches were played through the weekend, resulting in five draws (including a pair of scoreless ones) and the return of a sense of normalcy with just one away win.
    Goals were again at a premium with a mere nineteen tallied, including two from the spot – though Chicago fluffed the third, another glorious chance for a winner at the death – and another own-goal, this one off the head of Montreal’s Callum Mallace.
    Though some were reluctant to make the tough calls this round, the referees found another way to insert themselves into matches with 28 yellow cards and some six reds - four straight and a pair of double-yellows – most of which were controversial, raising the ire of coaches around the league.
    Before the results, the goals of the round:[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Plenty of solid candidates, but nothing really comes close to Kekuta Manneh’s late equalizer in Vancouver:
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    That should earn him a starting position soon enough.
    Hardly a stunning finish, but the pass that Harrison Shipp plays to free Quincy Amarikwa for the opener in Chicago was spectacular:
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    Shipp has a firm grasp on the short-list for rookie of the year through the early goings.
    And finally, too often the set-up man does not get the credit he deserves, but the work done by Wil Trapp on Hector Jimenez’ late-equalizer was alone worthy of nomination – and the finish wasn’t half bad either:
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    On to the games…
    Midweek Result in a Sentence (or Two)
    New York 2 – Philadelphia 1
    Mike Petke’s New York finally found their first win of the season in their seventh time of asking on second half goals from Thierry Henry and Lloyd Sam. Sebastien Le Toux would pull one back from the Union in the 80th minute on a penalty kick after Ibrahim Sekagya was dismissed for handling a Mo Edu shot on the line, but John Hackworth would still be left bemused as his side went winless through a fifth-straight match despite some strong play.
    Results in Brief
    Chicago 1 – New England 1
    For a second consecutive home match, Chicago wasted a glorious opportunity to end their winless start to the season when Juan Luis Anangono’s 91st minute penalty kick was saved by Bobby Shuttleworth after Quincy Amarikwa and Lee Nguyen exchanged goals in the first half.
    Amarikwa opened the scoring in the 16th minute when Jeff Larentowicz forced a turnover in the midfield and fed Harrison Shipp. The impressive homegrown rookie threaded a lovely ball inside the New England right-back to spring Amarikwa, who held off two recovering defenders and dragged a left-footed touch between the legs of the on-rushing keeper – it was his fourth goal of the season, continuing to repay the faith shown in him by Frank Yallop.
    Fifteen minutes later, however, the Revolution would claw back level from the penalty spot when Nguyen beat Sean Johnson after Patrick Nyarko was found guilty of clipping the heels of Kevin Alston as the full-back surged into the left-side of the box.
    Desperate for a win, Chicago pressed forward and were handed the aforementioned chance from the spot after a scramble in the box that saw Alston dismissed for handling a Victor Pineda shot, more-or-less, on the line. Mike Magee’s initial shot struck the base of the post, Anangono saw his attempt from the rebound blocked, before it fell to Pineda who had his follow-up blocked by Alston.
    But Anangono, like Magee before him, would see his poor attempt saved, dooming Yallop’s Chicago to an MLS record-equalizing sixth-straight draw. Yallop was proud of the fight in his side, but had some harsh words at the decision to send off Amarikwa in the 73rd for a second bookable offense – a raised boot on Andy Dorman after seeing yellow for a debatable ‘dive’ in the first half. Jay Heaps meanwhile was happy with the point on the road, as his side has struggled to find results away from home through the opening month of play.
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    Philadelphia 0 – Houston 0
    Playing their third match in eight days, Philadelphia could not compete with the energy of a hungry Houston side, though neither could find that crucial goal as the match would end in a score-less draw.
    Wednesday’s loss in New York stung and heavy legs prevented the Union from truly threatening – they did not have a single shot of target through the match – and saw their winless run stretch to a sixth-straight match.
    Houston, riding a three-game losing streak themselves, were glad to collect a road point from an in-conference opponent, ending that streak – though they remain without a win in four, but felt particularly aggrieved at the decision to send off Kofi Sarkodie in the 82nd minute for supposed time-wasting, with the match scoreless.
    Neither John Hackworth, who claimed that this match did not represented who they were and how they wanted to play, nor Dominic Kinnear, who was perplexed by the sending off, would be satisfied by the result.
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    Colorado 0 – San Jose 0
    Similarly, Colorado and San Jose played out a scoreless draw, after a lively start was dulled by the wind and rain that moved in fifteen minutes or so after kickoff.
    The match started very brightly for San Jose, who nearly scored within the first minute when Alan Gordon met a Shea Salinas corner kick, only to see it carom off the bar. The Earthquakes, who are still searching for their first win of the season, had tweaked their formation, solidifying the midfield with Sam Cronin anchoring, JJ Koval roaming ahead of him, and Chris Wondolowski dropping a little off the front to be more difficult to play through.
    Colorado, who were coming off a pair of fine road victories on their Canadian road trip - to Vancouver and then Toronto, looked a little toothless when confronted by a team that forced them to take the initiative and find space to mount attacks – the absence of the influential Jose Mari did not help either.
    San Jose may even have looked to press the play a little with the introduction of Yannick Djalo in the 70th minute, but a hamstring concern limited the Portuguese trickster to just eighteen minutes. An 87th minute red card for Adam Jahn after a late challenge on Jared Watts, catching the rookie with a flailing chicken-wing pretty much sealed the chances of late game heroics from the Earthquakes.
    Mark Watson will take minor solace from the keeping of a clean-sheet – their first of the season through five matches – but knows that they have some ground to make up having gone winless through five.
    Pablo Mastroeni will have wanted to extend the hot streak, but may just consider a point against a bogey team (San Jose had won their last three trips to Colorado and five of the last seven meetings) a solid result.
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    Vancouver 2 – Los Angeles 2
    Fresh off a meeting last weekend in LA, the Galaxy twice took the lead, through Stefan Ishizaki and Robbie Keane, only for Vancouver to strike back each time, via Darren Mattocks and Kekuta Manneh, respectively.
    Andy O’Brien declared the home side’s intentions inside the first minute, clattering into Keane from behind and Vancouver would see the better of the early chances come their way. But, as so often happens, Los Angeles would open the scoring, far too easily too, before half-time.
    Right-back Dan Gargan was unleashed into acres of space down the flank to chip a cross to the back-post, playing towards the end-line for Baggio Husidic, who nodded back into the middle for the untracked arrival of Ishizaki to snap a header down and past Jordan Harvey attempting to cover at the near-post in the 38th minute.
    Carl Robinson would ring in the changes at half-time, replacing Russell Teibert and O’Brien with Manneh and Johnny Leveron respectively, but it was Mattocks, who near-single-handedly clawed the Whitecaps back into the game in the 67th minute.
    A long Steven Beitashour-ball up the right was poked towards goal by Erik Hurtado. LA keeper Jaime Penedo was a little slow out, as centre-back Leonardo sought to shield any pressure, but Mattocks did not give up, getting a foot on the ball, touching away from the Galaxy duo as they got in each other’s way, freeing Mattocks to face an empty net alone.
    Though the angle was tight, the Jamaican finished, leveling the match at ones.
    Ten minutes later LA would reinstate their lead, when Omar Gonzalez picked out Rob Friend with a long ball put back into the box and Friend knocked it down for Keane at the right-post. His attempt to settle the quick-arrival was less-than-smooth, but he still managed to get a left-foot the bouncing ball and past David Ousted – his fourth goal of the season and second in as many games against Vancouver.
    But the hustle and unselfishness – yes that is correct – of Mattocks would again play a role when Vancouver responded in the 86th minute. Beitashour again provided the initial service, hitting a cross-field ball from the right that found the Jamaican on the left-side of the box. Faced with a pair of defenders, Mattocks pulled the ball back to Manneh outside the box, who placed a wonderful, dipping right-footed shot beyond the outstretched dive of Penedo and into the bottom right-corner of goal.
    Robinson would praise the fighting spirit of his side and will value the point, while Bruce Arena and his charges will be concerned at twice relinquishing leads, especially in the final fifteen minutes of a match – a problem that plagued them last season.
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    Columbus 1 – DC 1
    Red-hot DC United – hyperbole, but two wins in a row ain’t bad – nearly took their winning form on the road after Fabian Espindola handed them a lead, but Hector Jimenez, with a hearty thanks to Wil Trapp, had other ideas leveling in the final minute of regulation time.
    Three weeks ago United finally ended a winless run that lasted some fifteen matches, stretching back to last August – and since, a pair of home wins, over New England and New York, have sparked a bit of confidence in the once-down-trodden outfit.
    Riding that high, Espindola would capitalize on an unforeseen error to open the scoring in the 31st minute.
    Nick DeLeon pounced on a shockingly poor touch from Federico Higuain in his own half and ran at goal to expose the massive gap in-between the Crew centre-backs. Their recovery opened up far too much space out wide, and DeLeon found Espindola streaking down the left. Despite the tight angle, Espindola blasted a left-footed finish past a helpless Steve Clark to give DC the lead they desired.
    And perhaps they should have been allowed to kill off the match in the 73rd minute, when Giancarlo Gonzalez wrapped his arms around Eddie Johnson, who was breaking in alone – but the officials decided a yellow would suffice.
    Eight minutes later Columbus would indeed be reduced to ten when Bernardo Anor lunged into a sliding challenge on Perry Kitchen, but that only served to wake up the Crew, as in the final minute of play, Trapp stopped an Espindola attack in its tracks and charged up-field before picking out Jimenez on the left with a long, raking cross.
    Jimenez cut inside onto his right-foot, abusing Alex Caskey in the process and placing his effort across the keeper, inside the far-post to level the match.
    Gregg Berhalter was elated with the equalizer – unintentionally screaming into the camera – though that covered what was an underwhelming, even lucky, performance. Ben Olsen will take the point, continuing their turnaround, but knows there was more to be had from the match.
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    Dallas 2 – Toronto 1
    Toronto would take the lead against the run of play through Issey Nakajima-Farran, but Matt Hedges would level shortly thereafter before Blas Perez muscled in a late-winner to hand Dallas a well-earned victory at home.
    Both sides, highly-thought of through the first six rounds, were coming off losses and eyes around the league were curious how they would respond to the setback.
    Toronto, riddled with injuries to such a degree that Ryan Nelsen dressed two keepers to fill his bench, would take the lead in the 21st minute by sustaining pressure after a Kyle Bekker free-kick.
    Bekker cut a short-corner back to the high, near-post for Michael Bradley to flick towards goal with the bouncing ball eventually blocked and rebounding outside the area. Jackson would beat David Texeira to that loose ball and feed Issey down the left.
    His first attempt was blocked, but ricocheted right back for a second whack that this time redirected off the shin of Je-Vaughan Watson and past Chris Seitz to open the scoring.
    Dallas may have been largely stifled through the midfield, but Toronto was conceding corner kicks at an alarming rate – the sixteen won would set a new club record for Dallas – and in the 37th minute Hedges made them pay by rising highest at the near-post to get a flick on the latest Michel delivery to beat Julio Cesar with a sharp header.
    Dallas would draw several fine saves out of the Brazilian keeper, with Michel testing his fellow countryman with a laser from distance that was tipped over before the Hedges equalizer and three minutes after squaring the match, Texeira was denied the go-ahead by another fine save.
    Toronto would bunker and perhaps should have been given a chance for a winner from the spot when Gilberto was shoved in the back by Kelyn Acosta, but the referee waived play on and Jackson sent the follow-up wide.
    Then in the 88th minute another Michel set-piece proved troublesome as Stephen Keel helped it on and Hedges again won a header, popping it up high in the box, prompting a mad scramble. The ball would fall to Perez, who managed to whack a right-footer past Cesar to win the match for the home side.
    Oscar Pareja’s side, with their fifth win of the season, strengthen their grasp on the top of the table, three points ahead of Seattle, while Nelsen was left fuming at the non-call, thankful that his side now has two weeks to recover and regroup.
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    Kansas City 4 – Montreal 0
    It took an own-goal from Callum Mallace to open the scoring and then nearly forty minutes for the damn to burst as Kansas City added three more through a Dom Dwyer brace after an Aurelien Collin strike in the final twenty minutes to hand Montreal a soul-sapping loss.
    The Impact would navigate the first half-hour of a tricky fixture, including Marco Di Vaio scuffing a good chance to put Montreal in the lead when his weak shot was blocked on the line by Collin inside fifteen minutes, before being undone by that most fretful of weapons: the long throw.
    Matt Besler, purveyor of such mayhem, launched towards the near-post for Colliin, but Mallace rose up with him, only to see his backwards header loop up and find the far-side of the goal in the 31st minute.
    Collin celebrated as though it were his own – it was not, but forty minutes later he had something worth celebrating when another long Besler throw bobbled around the box. Andres Romero looked to be shepherding it clear, but Lawrence Olum poked it away, back to Collin atop the area, who hit a low left-footer than beat an unsighted Troy Perkins, sneaking into the bottom left-corner in the 71st minute.
    The rout was on and three minutes later Dwyer sealed the result. Graham Zusi played a long, cross-field ball for Jacob Peterson, who let it sail over him into the right corner. Having retrieved the ball, Peterson hit a low cross to the near-post, where Collin sagely dummied, leaving it to the trailing Dwyer, arriving for a right-footed finish across Perkins.
    Dwyer would add his second and KC’s fourth in the 86th minute when Alex Martinez was allowed to work up the left side of the field and dish off to Zusi, who picked out Dwyer with a lovely cross to the back-post for a fade away header down past Perkins once more.
    With the win, Peter Vermes’ charges stretch their unbeaten run to five matches and take a share of the top spot in the Eastern Conference. Frank Klopas’ Montreal, on the other hand, are now winless through seven matches to start the season, and have just one victory in their last fifteen league matches – a troubling sign, though not all that should rest at the feet of the newly-installed Klopas.
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    Salt Lake 1 – Portland 0
    The premier fixture of the weekend proved to be a tight affair, decided by a single-goal as Ned Grabavoy exploited a gap in the Portland defenses in the 78th minute to decide the outcome in Salt Lake’s favour.
    Two of the better foot-balling sides in the league met to produce a rather thrilling contest, though, as the score-line indicates, goals were hard to come by.
    The return from injury of Nick Rimando carried good portents for Salt Lake and he was repeatedly called upon to make the big save - denying Darlington Nagbe, then Max Urruti, before a huge toe save on Alvas Powell, and finally Sebastian Fernandez with a stunning finger-tipper after a rare Kyle Beckerman midfield turnover.
    Both sides would strike the woodwork, with Urruti’s blast caroming off the bar and Javier Morales beating Donovan Ricketts but not the post with a low shot.
    As he often does, Grabavoy found himself overlooked in the shuffle.
    He received a square ball from Sebastian Velasquez on the left and charged into a gap in the Timber’s defenses. Nagbe tried to track his run, but a subtle burst of pace earned the space for a shot and Grabavoy’s low left-footer found the bottom right-corner of the goal for what turned out to be the game-winner.
    For Jeff Cassar, the win extends their unbeaten run to seven matches as they remain the only side in the league to have yet tasted defeat. Caleb Porter’s Timbers must confront the opposite, that through seven matches they are still winless – plenty of games to still be played, but not how they had hoped to start the season.
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    Chivas 1 – Seattle 2
    And finally, Erick Torres may have continued his goal-scoring feats, but he alone could not overpower the surging Sounders, who struck through Lamar Neagle and Obafemi Martins to take the only road win of the round.
    It took just five minutes for the hosts to open the scoring.
    A poor touch from Ossie Alonso – this weekend’s theme of unexpected poor touches proving costly continues – allowed Leandro Barrera to pounce, nipping it away as the Cuban defensive midfielder lunged in on the edge of the area, bringing down the Argentine and prompting the referee to point to the spot.
    Torres would step to the challenge; coolly slotting a right-footer to Stefan Frei’s left having eyed the keeper the other way – it was his sixth goal of the season and third from the spot.
    Then in the 24th minute, another unforced error would level the match. Victor Pineda swung in a free-kick from the left that Dan Kennedy rushed out to collect, only to bobble the ball, which fell to Clint Dempsey, whose poked effort bounced off Chad Marshall and fell to Neagle to smash in with a left-footer - an unfortunate mistake from such a solid keeper.
    Chivas would suffer further from such a rush of blood, when Marky Delgado, making his first start of the season, lunged in on Pineda and was sent off for his troubles, reducing Chivas to ten men in the 73rd minute.
    And Seattle would again punish the error when eight minutes later Pineda played up to Martins, who touched in-field to Dempsey and then made a diagonal run into the space that Delgado had covered to receive a return ball and chip his left-footed finish over Kennedy for the winner.
    With the loss, Wilmer Cabrera’s Chivas slump to six matches without a win, stretching back to opening day and the questionable red card was too much for the manager, who decried such decisions as scandalous.
    Sigi Schmid’s Seattle take a second-straight win from the road and maintain their dominance over Chivas, having won the last five and gone unbeaten through twelve.
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    CanCon
    As always, the extended Canadian review will be posted tomorrow (Tuesday) – those featured include Will Johnson in the return to his old stomping grounds; Issey Nakajima-Farran for notching his second goal of the season; Rob Friend, who made an impact from the subs bench; the return of Jonathan Osorio and the Montreal trio of Patrice Bernier, Karl Ouimette, and Maxim Tissot, who made his first appearance of the season.
    Due to time constraints, the Overheard and See it Live sections will remain unused on the bench this review.
    Controversy
    A litany of complaints all around the league this weekend:
    Non-calls – Columbus’ Giancarlo Gonzalez evades a red card for taking down Eddie Johnson, while Kelyn Acosta shoves Toronto’s Gilberto in the box (no video, check Simon Borg’s Instant Replay.
    Second Yellows – Quincy Amarikwa saw his first yellow for this ‘dive’ and Kofi Sarkodie was shown a second for ‘time-wasting’.
    Red Cards – Marky Delgado’s tackle on Victor Pineda sounded bad, but did it warrant a red? What about Bernardo Anor’s on Perry Kitchen? Adam Jahn probably earned his for barging into Jared Watts, even if it could be seen as a little harsh.
    Penalty Kicks – Did Oswaldo Alonso make contact on Leandro Barrera inside or outside the box?
    Upcoming Fixtures
    Another midweek match featuring New York is set for Wednesday, while with the weekend another hectic flurry of eight matches, with seven on Saturday and a sole Sunday fixture.
    Wednesday: New York-Houston. Saturday: Seattle-Colorado; Montreal-Philadelphia; DC-Dallas; New England-Kansas City; Columbus-New York; Salt Lake-Vancouver; San Jose-Chivas. Sunday: Houston-Portland.
    All videos courtesy of MLSsoccer.com
    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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