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  • MLS Week in Review – Round 11


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    The rest of the world’s attention may be squarely on the end of the European season and the goings-on in Brazil, as preparations for this summer’s FIFA World Cup conclude (hopefully safely and in time), with players beginning to trickle into training camps, but in the US and Canada another round of MLS action took place over the weekend.

    Despite many of the league’s top players departing for their respective national teams, it was another full schedule, with a single midweek fixture followed by nine on the weekend (eight on Saturday and a single Sunday match).

    Leaving aside the surprise midweek away win from Philadelphia, the weekend proper resulted in three draws and a single away win, allowing for a sense of normalcy after last round’s madness.

    28 goals were scored, including a perfect five-for-five from the penalty spot, while some 34 yellow cards were shown, as well as three reds, two straight and one accumulative. Kansas City’s centre-back crisis saw the highly-touted Erik Palmer-Brown (subject of transfer inquiries from the likes of Juventus) to make his debut; not exactly the circumstances or result that he or Coach Peter Vermes would have liked for his introduction to the league.

    From KC blooding youth to the un-chosen responding to World Cup snubs, this weekend had a little something for everyone watching.

    Whether cracking strikes, glaring misses – from one of the most in-form strikers in the league no less, or thunderous red cards, this weekend covers the gambit from scintillating, as with the continued form of New England, to the down-right discouraging, as Dan Gargan will attest with his misconstrued throw-in.

    Many teams found themselves desperately short-handed, not just due to call-ups, but injuries and suspensions that start to bite as the schedule wears on deep into its third month.

    As if that was not enough, there was a contentious Rocky Mountain Cup clash, the first of the season, on the docket.

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

    Plenty of candidates this weekend, starting with the Jermain Defoe blast that started the weekend off on the right note, collecting a leading pass from Bradley Orr and beating Luis Robles with an unstoppable finish high to the short-side:

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    Wonder if Roy Hodgson saw that one?

    Up next, Seattle’s Obafemi Martins, another player left off his nation’s roster for the upcoming tournament, with a display of ludicrous skill, unbelievable awareness, and more than enough confidence, chipping San Jose’s Jon Busch in the most ridiculous manner:

    YouTube, “Embedding disabled by request” – wait, what? Tricky MLS, lucky there is more than one way to skin a cat…

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    And finally, if goals were a commodity (they are, of sorts), Columbus’ Federico Higuain would have the market cornered when it came to sumptuous chips. Well, he got up to it again with this stunner against Portland on Saturday:

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    Donovan Ricketts had no chance.

    On to the results…

    Midweek Result in a Sentence (Or Two; Maybe Three)

    The Union ended their nine-match winless streak in the most unusual of places, winning away to defending champions, Kansas City, on Wednesday night, courtesy of goals from Danny Cruz and Cristian Maidana, either side of a cracking Dom Dwyer strike.

    For Sporting, it was their first loss at home of the season, continuing a trend between the two sides that saw the away team victorious on each of their three meetings the year previous; the bright spot of nineteen-year old Brazilian, Igor Juliao, making his MLS debut was marred by an injury concern to Aurelian Collin that will leave them short-handed heading into the weekend.

    For John Hackworth, upon whom boos rained on the previous weekend, that Cruz and the rest of the side searched him out in celebration, will have been welcome refreshment.

    Results in Brief

    Toronto 2 – New York 0

    The weekend proper began with an afternoon match between Toronto and New York on the shores of Lake Ontario. In truth, this duo should be hard and fast rivals, the biggest cities in their respective countries, each with a claim to be an international cultural centre, but the one-sided nature of the contest has prevented such animosity from building – New York entered unbeaten in the last ten – though that all may be coming to a change.

    TFC, fresh off a penalty kick shootout win over Vancouver in the midweek Voyageurs Cup, took a mere twelve minutes to go in front, when Bradley Orr pounced on Kosuke Kimura’s errant pass and slipped Jermain Defoe down the right-channel.

    The English striker made no mistake burying the chance with a right-footed rocket to the top right corner, leaving Luis Robles hopeless as Armando tried to recover with a sliding tackle to no avail.

    Toronto should have padded that lead before half-time and their profligacy nearly proved costly, as New York emerged from the second half, after a wardrobe malfunction, to turn up the pressure, including a pair of decent penalty shouts and a dazzling miss from red-hot striker, Bradley Wright-Phillips, who entered with eight goals in his last four matches (should have saved one for this match, perhaps).

    But TFC rode the pressure, finally closing out the result in the fifth minute of stoppage-time when a long Joe Bendik kick was contested by Luke Moore, Robles, and defender Chris Duvall. Somehow Moore rode the contact, staying on his feet as Robles and Duvall collided, allowing the recently-acquired striker to virtually walk the ball over the line.

    For Ryan Nelsen, it was just the sort of strong outing he was hoping for, after a start-stop beginning to the season had seen the Reds fall to three-straight losses (and four in their last five), while Mike Petke must once more lament a slow start that proved costly, as his New York continues to struggle away from home.

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    Philadelphia 3 – New England 5

    While most of the teams in the league used up all their goals last weekend, it appears as though the Revolution are just getting started, racking up another five-goal performance over a tired Union side playing their third match in a week.

    Centre-back AJ Soares started the scoring in the 13th minute, getting on the end of a whipped in right-sided free-kick from Chris Tierney with a near-post run, away from his marker, redirecting the service into the near-side of goal.

    Diego Fagundez, who notched his first two of the season last weekend, doubled their advantage in the 26th after a delicate ball over the back-line from Lee Nguyen picked out the industrious cross-field run of Teal Bunbury. Bunbury held up the play, drawing defenders towards him before laying off for the late-arriving Fagundez, who did well to get the ball out of his feet before sweeping a left-footed finish through a crowd and under the on-rushing Zac MacMath.

    Philadelphia would draw one back before half-time, with a cracking finish from Vincent Nogueira, blasting an unstoppable right-footer past Brad Knighton - in for the concussed Bobby Shuttleworth - after Danny Cruz collected a half-cleared Sheanon Williams long-throw and laid off to the Frenchman.

    But the rout resumed in the second half with Nguyen, Tierney, and Patrick Mullins scoring in the 49th, 57th, and 67th minutes – Nguyen after Daigo Kobayashi played him down the left-side of the box to cut inside onto his right-foot around the challenge of Gaddis and put his finish to the short-side through the legs of Austin Berry; Tierney from a devastating free-kick inside the arc (what a left-foot he has); and Mullins after a cheeky back-roll from Fagundez as the two crisscrossed inside the Union box, allowing the rookie to beat MacMath with a left-footer to the left-side of goal.

    Philadelphia would draw back a pair - first from Williams after a Cristian Maidana free-kick, having been cleared, was put back in by Sebastien Le Toux, flicked down by Berry, and pounced upon by the defender with a left-footed finish and then from Le Toux, via the spot, after Antoine Hoppenot was adjudged to have been taken down by Andrew Farrell as he surged into the box; Le Toux is a perfect nine-for-nine in Union colours from the spot, with a right-footed blasted high, down the middle having sent Knighton to his right – either side of a red card to Maidana for a lunging challenge on Steve Neumann in the 82nd minute, but it was too little, too late, as the boos once more poured down from the Philly faithful.

    For John Hackworth, it was a disparaging outing, having risen to such heights midweek only to crash back at home. Jay Heaps, on the other hand, must be licking his lips at the prospects of such a dynamic attacking team, who won their fourth-straight match - stretching their unbeaten run to six, though the late concessions will trouble a defender and competitor such as himself.

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    DC 1 – Montreal 1

    Another of the Eastern Conference’s strugglers looked to build off their controversial midweek win – on a last-minute penalty kick against FC Edmonton in the Voyageurs Cup – as Montreal travelled to DC.

    The two sides have, more-or-less, swapped positions this season, with DC touching the upper reaches of the table, while Montreal plumb to its deepest depths.

    The tea leaves did not portend well for the visitors, who have never won in DC, while the home side had triumphed in the last four meetings between the sides, but the Impact, after a rather quiet first half – aside from a near-own-goal off the head of Wandrille Lefevre – took the lead in the 56th minute through Jack McInerney.

    Hassoun Camara played up-field to Patrice Bernier who swept the ball immediately behind the DC back-line for Justin Mapp to chase from the right. Getting in front of Christian, Mapp drove towards the near-post before neatly pulling back to McInerney, who controlled the hard pass and touched in to the far-side of goal for his first league goal in four matches, having found his scoring boots, with goals in both legs of the Canadian Championship.

    It looked as though Montreal may indeed, against all odds, see out the victory – spared blushes by Luis Silva’s rasping drive caroming off the bar, only for ice-cold Eddie Johnson, who, without a goal in some 700-plus minutes of play, was left off the US roster for the World Cup, to level in the 84th minute.

    Defender Jeff Parke began the play with a ball up the left-flank that was helped on by Christian in-field to Chris Rolfe.

    Rolfe, in turn, laid a ball down the outside left of the area for DC spark-plug, Fabian Espindola to chase. His searching cross, too high for Jeb Brovsky’s stretch, found Johnson untouched at the back-post, for a downward header from the edge of the six-yard box.

    That Johnson, whose controversial comments about the quality of his teammates and their service rang around MLS circles recently, was mobbed on the side-line for nabbing his first of the season is indicative of a club that has banded together in harsh circumstance.

    Ben Olsen reiterated that sentiment post-match, going so far as to agree that they have not provided their target man with much to feast upon this season, secure in the knowledge that his side has lost just once in their last eight matches and that Eddie’s prowess will be important in the tough times.

    Frank Klopas, who was forced to make do with just six players on the subs bench due to injuries, including those to veterans and supposed leaders, Matteo Ferrari and Marco Di Vaio, will take heart from the durable performance, but knows that a win would have meant so much more.

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    Houston 1 – Los Angeles 0

    Up next was a grudge match of sorts, as finalists of two of the last three MLS Cups met once more, with twice runner’s-up Houston hosting Los Angeles in their sole meeting of the regular season.

    And it was the vanquished who took the spoils on the night, thanks in large part to a defensive breakdown by the Galaxy.

    Dan Gargan misread the signals from his keeper, Jaime Penedo, urging him to hold his throw-in as a call for the ball, putting the keeper under pressure from hard-working rookie Mark Sherrod. Penedo could not pick it up, allowing Sherrod to nick in and lay-off a pass to Giles Barnes, who deftly placed a right-footer in off the inside of the far-post for the game’s lone strike.

    Were it not for a stellar bit of defensive work earlier on the other end, it may not have been so, as David Horst retreated to the goal-line, backing up his keeper, to head a Samuel drive away from the Houston goal.

    Both sides were missing prominent pieces – with Brad Davis, Landon Donovan, and Omar Gonzalez away with the American national team – while, another soon to depart, Honduran Oscar Boniek Garcia, was forced off in the 23rd minute with an injury scare that required a lot of ice, but was reportedly more a precaution than a concern.

    Perhaps the lone bright spot for Bruce Arena and the Galaxy, who saw their winless run extend to four matches, was the debut of homegrown standout, Raul Mendiola, who did not look out of place in his half-hour run-out, though that another defensive breakdown was their downfall will be very concerning.

    For Dominic Kinnear, who saw his side rebound from that dreadful performance last weekend against Salt Lake, with a third-win in their last four matches, the ability to seize the moment, whether up top with a predatory strike, or at the back with game-saving plays, will be some encouragement after an earlier six-game winless skid had them resting towards the bottom of the conference – they now sit comfortably in third.

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    Dallas 1 – Chivas 1

    At the same time, the other LA-based team was asserting itself on the road, having finally ended an eight-match winless run with last weekend’s result in Colorado.

    Chivas USA, the red-headed step-child of the league, has found new life under head coach Wilmer Cabrera, and they looked to build on that first win in nine, away to a struggling Dallas, who entered the match on the back of four-straight losses, equaling an unwanted club record.

    Dallas’ results have been a microcosm of last season, surging to the top of the table, only to fall off a cliff – injuries to Mauro Diaz and Hendry Thomas amongst others, have not helped, but Oscar Pareja will know they are only part way through a long season; twists and turns are par for the course.

    Neither side could find much during the first half, but come the hour-mark, the visitors found a breakthrough when Martin Rivero hit a searching cross-field ball for Mauro Rosales attacking the right-side of the box.

    The ever-dangerous Argentine drove to the end-line before pulling back a goalmouth cross for Marky Delgado, a day off his nineteenth birthday, at the near-post. The youngster managed to get a right-footed stab on the high-velocity service, redirecting it past Raul Fernandez in the Dallas goal, to give the Ameri-Goats a lead.

    But a second-straight win on the road was too much to ask, with Colombian Fabian Castillo finding the equalizer for Dallas in the waning moments.

    Castillo, now in his fourth season with the club, has started to look every bit the designated player he was intended to be – stronger, faster, more devastating; what were before mere flashes have grown into a constant threat.

    Jair Benitez’ right-sided, in-swinging corner kick was cleared by Carlos Alvarez, but the Dallas left-sided defender collected the rebound and hit another ball across the face of goal, where Castillo managed to turn it in with a right-footed redirect inside the six.

    For Pareja and Dallas, salvaging a point and ending that losing skid were positives, though laced with disappointment. Cabrera, on the other hand, who could be discouraged at the late equalizer, took the positives of another solid outing, on the road no less.

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    Salt Lake 2 – Colorado 1

    There are few on the league’s manufactured rivalries that carry the kind of ill-will embedded in the Rocky Mountain Cup, contested by Salt Lake and Colorado.

    As the league reaches maturity, whether the majority of these prefabricated clashes will fade into history with the shoot-out and peacockishly garish uniforms, is unknown, but at least a few, those that have blossomed, reinforced by actual events, will undoubtedly flourish – this is one of those.

    Colorado, who finally retook the silverware last season after six-years of dominance by Salt Lake, had quite the task on their hands. True, they entered unbeaten in the last four meetings, but Salt Lake were yet to lose this season and the home side in this contest has not lost since 2007 – that is a very long time in MLS.

    It took just 23 minutes for a short-handed Salt Lake – with Kyle Beckerman, Nick Rimando, and Alvaro Saborio away on national duty - to put themselves into the lead.

    As they are wont to do, Salt Lake compressed the play on one side of the pitch, the right on this occasion, before exploiting the created space on the other side. Tony Beltran played into Devon Sandoval, Saborio’s replacement, who in turn moved in-field towards Javier Morales.

    Morales fed the ball wide to the left, outside the Colorado right-back, for the run of Joao Plata, who finished across Clint Irwin for his sixth goal of the season and fourth in as many matches, since returning to the starting lineup from injury.

    Controversy would hand Salt Lake a second, with Morales himself converting from the penalty spot, after Sandoval was apparently taken down as he ran across the face of goal, attempting to round the Colorado keeper. Irwin protested that he made no contact; Drew Moor, the defender tracking Sandoval did appear to give a slight shove, but was it enough to warrant the penalty?

    Either way, Morales dispatched it coolly, eyeing the keeper to his right before placing a high right-footer the other way.

    Colorado, in search of a way back into the match, would find consolation in the 83rd minute, setting up a tense finish, when Moor made amends with a powerful header from a right-sided Dillon Serna free-kick, curled to the back-post.

    Jeff Cassar, whose ability to replace Jason Kreis at the helm was widely questioned, has proved himself more than equal to the task, guiding his side to a third-straight win, while extending their unbeaten start to the campaign to an impressive eleven matches.

    Pablo Mastroeni, who has endlessly tinkered with his lineup, rarely fielding the same eleven in back-to-back matches, hailed the combative effort of his side, undone by an inability to find the necessary goals to swing the tide.

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    Seattle 1 – San Jose 0

    No match this round was as affected by the international absences as the Western Conference tilt between Seattle and San Jose, missing a combined five players – Seattle’s trio of Clint Dempsey, Brad Evans, and DeAndre Yedlin, and San Jose’s duo of Chris Wondolowski and Clarence Goodson.

    Add suspensions to Shea Salinas and Victor Bernardez (who may have been off for Honduras anyways), as well as injuries to Alan Gordon, Steven Lenhart, and newcomer Yannick Djalo, and the visiting Earthquakes were at a severe disadvantage, dressing only sixteen players for the match.

    Despite that lack of choice, Mark Watson’s San Jose put in a brave performance, only undone on the night by a touch of sheer class from Obafemi Martins, responding to being snubbed from the Nigerian squad announced for the upcoming tournament.

    In the eighth minute of play, Marco Pappa played the ball wide left to Gonzalo Pineda, who put a ball to the near-post area for Martins to chase. Holding off the attentions of defender Jordan Stewart, Martins sized up the turf-bounce of the ball and somehow hit a looping touch virtually over his own head with his left-foot that sailed towards the far-post, falling inside the net, much to the bemusement of keeper, Jon Busch, who could only grimace in response.

    Busch would be called upon again, making a series of fine saves throughout, while Martins and Pappa sent efforts just off target, and were it not for an alert clearance from Shaun Francis in the 84th, Ossie Alonso may have sealed the match.

    Sigi Schmid would have entered the match unsure of how his side would respond to last weekend’s five-nil drubbing in New England, without the services of three regulars, but exits knowing that he has the pieces to plug those gaps, though a short-handed San Jose was hardly the stiffest test.

    Watson, expressed his pride at his team putting in a good account of themselves, given the tough circumstances, but will need a some players to return to health in short order, least the absences really haunt.

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    Portland 3 – Columbus 3

    Two sides who missed out on last weekend’s goal-fest made amends in Saturday’s nightcap, notching three apiece in a six-goal, back-and-forth thriller.

    Max Urruti opened the scoring after six minutes when Will Johnson forced a turnover in midfield and fed Steve Zakuani down the left. The tricky winger poked a pass for Urruti, who wrestled control of the ball after a miss-touch and slammed a left-footer past Steve Clark at the short-side, roofing into the top corner.

    But Portland, as they often have this season, failed to stay sharp, allowing Wil Trapp to waltz through two defenders in the centre-circle before playing up to Hector Jimenez, who in turn found Federico Higuain sauntering down the right-channel. When he was not pressured, the Argentine did what he does best from those positions, abusing the opponent’s keeper with one of his trademark chips that sailed beyond a helpless Donovan Ricketts and off the underside of the bar in the 14th minute.

    The home side suffered a further blow when young right-back, Alvas Powell took a heavy touch and tried to make amends with a ridiculous sliding tackle that sent Chad Barson somersaulting through the air, drawing the most obvious red card of the season to date.

    Reduced to ten, Portland were stung in the fifth-minute of first-half stoppage-time when Futty Danso recklessly hauled down Giancarlo Gonzalez in the box, preventing him from getting on the end of a Columbus free-kick, prompting the referee to point to the spot, from which Higuain notched his second of the evening.

    Down a man and a goal, Portland emerged determined, but it was not until the 80th minute that they found their equalizer, when captain Johnson pounced on a Columbus mistake.

    Diego Valeri hit a long cross-field pass for Jack Jewsbury, who lost out as three Columbus defenders collapsed on him. But a heavy touch from Tyson Wahl, allowed Jewsbury to touch into the path of Johnson, whose right-footed drive deflected off Gonzalez en route to goal.

    Columbus would respond less than a minute later when Ethan Finlay reinstated the advantage with a deflected strike of his own, after twisting up Jorge Villafana as he cut in from the right-side to unleash a left-footer that took a massive redirection off Danso, nestling into the right-side of goal as Ricketts dove to the left.

    The Timbers would not let their heads drop, brining on recently-acquired, towering Nigerian striker Fanendo Adi in the 83rd minute and the big man, on his debut, would not disappoint.

    Valeri hit a deep, central free-kick, lofted towards the left-post, where Adi rose highest, knocking down to the other-post where Gaston Fernandez, of course, arrived for a simple right-footed touch to equalize in the 85th minute.

    The frustration at repeatedly shooting themselves in the foot is wearing on the Timbers, as Johnson’s post-match interview illustrates, but Caleb Porter know that their current four-match unbeaten run (with just one loss in their last seven) contains within the signs of life that will see them correct their current trajectory in due time.

    Gregg Berhalter, whose Crew remain winless in eight matches, will take heart in ending a three-match losing streak and lengthy (335 minute, to be exact) goal-less streak, while wondering why they could not close out a ten-man opponent.

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    Chicago 2 – Kansas City 1

    Sunday’s lone fixture saw a rested and enthusiastic Chicago, fresh off the nine-goal drama in New York, host a depleted Kansas City.

    International call-ups for Matt Besler and Lawrence Olum, (Graham Zusi as well), and injuries to Ike Opara and Aurelien Collin, had KC scrambling for centre-backs, Peter Vermes, opting to run out seventeen-year old, Erik Palmer-Brown for his MLS debut in a make-shift back-line.

    Seven minutes in and Chicago’s deadly trio of Harrison Shipp, Quincy Amarikwa, and Mike Magee exploited that weakness, when Shipp threaded Amarikwa in down the left-side of the box and goalkeeper, Eric Kronberg was judged to have tripped up the forward, allowing Magee to strike from the penalty spot – after the usual confusion from the Fire as to who would take it.

    Considering he had been denied by Philadelphia, Magee struck confidently, eyeing Kronberg one way and finishing low to his right.

    Eight minutes on, Chicago were gifted a second penalty, when Benji Joya battled with Palmer-Brown near the end-line and an unfortunate touch off the ankle of the young defender gave the attacker a route, to goal, prompting a panicked shoved.

    Again Magee would take, placing his right-footer to the exact same spot, having frozen Kronberg, who went correctly, but could not reach after a slight hesitation.

    Chicago would clamour for another mintues later, when Palmer-Brown clipped the heels of Dilly Duka, but a third spot kick would not be forthcoming.

    The youngster’s night went from bad to worse, when a pair of second-half yellow cards fifteen minutes apart, saw him dismissed from his debut – a tough introduction no doubt, but plenty of room to grow in his burgeoning career.

    Dom Dwyer, who had hit the post in the first-half, found some consolation in the 68th minute, getting on the end of a curling, right-sided Benny Feilhaber free-kick at the back-post with a powerful header, collecting his fourth goal in the last three matches.

    With the win, Frank Yallop’s charges, who had gone eight matches without a win to start the season, picked up a second-straight victory, lifting themselves out of the mire at the bottom of the East.

    Vermes’ side, playing their third match in eight days, shorn of too many starters to adapt, fell to a second-straight defeat and must regroup for a Friday night fixture.

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    CanCon

    As usual, the extended review of the Canadian performances of the weekend will be posted midday, tomorrow, and feature some notes from the second legs of the Voyageurs Cup, as well as strong outings from Will Johnson, Jonathan Osorio, and Patrice Bernier, amongst others.

    Overheard

    Toronto’s Luke Moore how often he gets to walk the ball into the opponents net: “Not enough, to be honest with you! I think any striker would take three or four of those a season. I kind of gambled and got out of the way a little bit and was lucky it dropped into my path. You just say a little thank you to the gods. It’s a bit of a gift. You’ve got to be there to put it in so I was happy with it. It was a great little gift for me.”

    Colorado’s Drew Moor implores his side to come out fighting, rather than waiting until after their bell has been rung to respond:"We can't wait to take a punch in the face before we start playing in a game like this."

    While his manager, Pablo Mastroeni, admired that they responded, at least: “I think our guys battled like warriors out there today. I think we were able to impose ourselves for the better part of 60 minutes. The lack of finishing was what let us down in the end.”

    Then there was Jon Busch’s reaction to Obafemi Martins’ finish: "You tip your cap to him. That's a big time finish from that angle. The only place you expect him to put it is at the near post. That's the only angle he's got and he finds the back post. You tip your hat to him because there's nothing you can do. Doesn't matter who you are or where you play, that's a good goal. He's a world class forward and he proved it tonight on that one."

    And what about this one: “…Heart of a lion, but the brain of a goldfish…”

    Want to know who said that quote of the season candidate? Tune in to tomorrow’s CanCon review.

    See It Live

    A moment of minor hilarity when New York’s Chris Duvall had his MLS debut held-back by three minutes due to a wardrobe malfunction. It appeared he (or the kit manager) forgot his jersey in the dressing room and he had to wait on the sideline at the start of the second half for it to be found and then for play to stop before he could enter the fray.

    Hilarity of a different kind came in the form of Bradley Wright-Phillips’ epic miss that same match:

    <script height="300px" width="533px" src="http://player.ooyala.com/iframe.js#ec=tqdm94bToDRdWfMXUptA_OJnUpx1h6dL&pbid=4bfc225f82bf46c48dfb065eda97f74f"></script>

    What about Jon Busch’s reaction to that Obafemi Martins goal?

    BuschFace.gif

    And then there was Alvas Powell’s rush of blood to the head.

    Controversy

    Not much on the controversy front this weekend, aside from the usual handball pleads that litter any tense match.

    But a pair of penalties were awarded when attackers went to ground after attempting to round a keeper; always a contentious play:

    ?

    What about when

    ? Contact?

    Upcoming Fixtures

    A pair of midweek matches before the twelfth weekend of MLS action gets underway early, with an interesting Friday night fixture, followed by six matches on Saturday and a further pair on Sunday.

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

    All video and quotes (and gif) 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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