This weekend was a scrappy affair and as such highlight reel stuff was a rarity, mistakes or penalties contributed to the score-sheet more than wondrous strikes. That said, this round’s candidates are worthy of their place.
In chronological order, up first is San Jose newcomer
On to the results:
Results in Brief
The round began on Friday night with a California Clasico; one that carried a little extra importance. The league was stunned last week when Landon Donovan announced that this would be his final season in professional soccer, thus beginning his sunset-tour with a home match against the club with whom he made his name.
Donovan has made it clear his intention is to go out on top with yet another MLS championship and the last two months has seen a different Galaxy to the one who picked up a mere two wins in their first eight matches, losing just one of their next eleven matches and looking to extend a two-game winning streak against a resurgent San Jose.
The Earthquakes too appeared to have turned a corner, winning their last two and going unbeaten through three off the back of a four-game losing skid. And it was San Jose who took the lead in the 18th minute, very much against the run of play, when Chris Wondolowski latched on to a long pass from Shea Salinas to squeeze a low shot across Jamie Penedo.
The shock only served to wake up the Galaxy, who would draw level eleven minutes later when Robbie Keane’s blocked shot fell to Gyasi Zardes on the left, who swept an easy finish into the unguarded net for his eight goal in the last nine matches.
But San Jose would not go quietly to fate and debutant Matias Perez Garcia, making his first MLS appearance, made himself comfortable in the league with a long-range left-footed smash after Atiba Harris chased down a Salinas ball on the right, played in to Wondolowski, who unselfishly laid off to his new teammate.
The Earthquakes lead would survive to half-time, barely, as Zardes had the ball in the back of the net again in the 41st, but was correctly ruled offside. The second half was a different story however, the Galaxy equalizing in the 49th minute when Omar Gonzalez rose up to meet a right-sided Stefan Ishizaki corner kick at the near-post to score his first of the season.
LA would hunt for the winner, but San Jose held strong, extending their unbeaten run to four matches with the 2-2 draw as they look to make up ground on the pack ahead. Worth noting, US national teammate, Wondolowski, was the first to get a post-match Donovan jersey as the legend begins his farewell tour – a collector’s item indeed.
The Galaxy meanwhile, see their winning streak snapped, but continue their home unbeaten run – up to nine matches now – coming from behind twice to cancel out Earthquake leads.
Saturday began in Philadelphia with a resurgent Union hosting a faltering Impact. The Union have been an invigourated side since Jim Curtain took up the head coaching reins, losing just once in their last eight matches. They earned praise for their early season style, but were unable to transfer that quality into points – the last two months have been another story: three wins and four draws have seen them claw back into the middle of the Eastern pack.
Montreal on the other hand are all but done, mired at the bottom of the league on fourteen points from 22 matches – their only hope of salvation? The Champions League.
The Impact have often been their own worst enemy and once more they shot themselves in the foot after just twelve minutes as another defensive breakdown allowed Sebastien Le Toux to open the scoring for the Union. A long goal-kick from Zac MacMath was allowed to bounce by both Patrice Bernier and Krzysztof Krol, Le Toux inserted himself into the crowd, pouncing when Krol eventually tried to nod back to his keeper, Perkins, who had come out to collect, only to see Le Toux break down the right to finish into the empty net. Terrible defending.
Montreal would collect themselves, shoring up the defenses for the remainder of the half, while teasing forward on occasion, but it was Philadelphia who found the next goal: Le Toux again taking advantage of some poor play to notch his second of the night and seventh in their last eight matches. The Frenchman collected a squared ball across the top of the box from Andrew Wenger, side step two half-hearted challenges to left-foot a low shot past Perkins.
Frank Klopas would go to his bench for reinforcements, bringing on Dilly Duka, Anthony Jackson-Hamel, and Maxim Tissot. The changes would nearly pay off immediately Jackson-Hamel flicking a cross from Krol off the post three minutes after entering. It was Tissot who would find Montreal’s goal in the 79th minute, four minutes after coming on, getting on the end of a deep right-sided cross from Andres Romero at the back-post, nicking in behind a sleepy Sheanon Williams to touch past MacMath with his left foot on the volley.
The Impact would hunt out an equalizer that did not come, pushing forward and leaving gaps at the back – Brian Brown nearly added another for the home side, whiffing on a good look in the 95th minute.
The Union, who welcomed back centre-back Carlos Valdes from his Colombian hiatus, are now unbeaten through five matches, taking a grip on the fifth playoff spot in the East. Montreal, despite a solid performance, fall to a seventh-straight loss, desperate for ideas and hope in the midst of a club-worst run in MLS.
Up next was the final match of the three-game Trillium Cup between Columbus and Toronto.
With the trophy already decided, TFC having won the previous two matches, pride was on the line for the Crew having responded to a six-match winless run by picking up a pair of wins, while going unbeaten through three; adding emphasis, it was Kirk Urso Memorial night, honouring the memory of their fallen teammate.
A scrappy first half looked bound to end scoreless, but Gilberto had other ideas, beating Steve Clark with a low, left-footed drive from the left-side of the area after Dominic Oduro, playing for the first time against his former club, found Luke Moore atop the box, who moved the ball on into the Brazilian striker.
Columbus would respond four minutes later, deep into stoppage-time, when Tony Tchani’s goal-bound header appeared to strike to outstretched arm of Justin Morrow, prompting the official to point to the spot. Federico Higuain confidently dispatched the penalty with his right foot, beating Joe Bendik low to his left, having eyed the keeper the other way.
Jonathan Osorio would reinstate the visitors’ advantage in the 59th minute; following up a play he began to be in position to walk the rebound from a Moore shot into the goal.
The Crew would again draw equal in the 81st minute, piling on the pressure only for a harmless looking cross from Justin Meram on the left to sail over the head of a flat-footed Doneil Henry, leaving the service to his keeper, who was caught ball-watching, as the delivery nestled in at the far-post.
Toronto would not be denied however and it was Moore, who, having collected a pair of assists, capped off the night with the game-winning goal, rising up to meet a left-sided Collen Warner corner kick with a powerful header in the 84th minute.
The 2-3 win was their second straight, allowing TFC to make up ground on the teams above, while giving them a little breathing space ahead of those below.
For Columbus, being swept by their once lowly cup foes will have been a shock, but dropping out of the top five spots in the East may prove the worst of the result.
The evening continued in Dallas, where the red-hot home team handed Colorado a third-straight defeat, registering a pair of goals inside the first eleven minutes, before sealing the result at the start of the second half.
Dallas entered the match in good form, having gone unbeaten in seven matches to surge back into the chase for the Western crown, the Rapids, on the other hand, have struggled through the last month with just one win in their last six, including back-to-back shutout losses – they entered the match without a goal in 196 minutes of play.
A familiar worry stunned the Rapids in the 9th minute when Matt Hedges touched in the rebound from a Walker Zimmerman header after Michel sent a follow up cross into the box once his corner kick had been partially cleared – Colorado have conceded inside the first half hour in four of those last six matches, a stat no side wants to confront.
Their woes were doubled just two minutes later when Marvell Wynne lunged into Tesho Akindele on the left-corner of the area after the two wrestled for position, allowing the referee to point to the spot, somewhat harshly – Michel would convert the spot kick with a well-placed left-footer into the side-netting leaving Clint Irwin helpless, though he read the intent correctly.
Down two, Colorado nearly responded immediately, only for Michel to come up with a big goal-line clearance at the other end in the thirteenth minute to prevent a Moor header from squeezing in at the post. The match slowed into half-time under the heat of a Dallas night.
The home side would find their third ten minutes after the restart with Michel again playing provider – Tesho Akindele appeared to duck under his left-sided cross, drawing a defender away with him, allowing Fabian Castillo to arrive at the back-post for a low right-footer past Irwin.
With the match all but over, Colorado found scant consolation in the 86th minute, when Gabby Torres converted from the penalty spot, beating Raul Fernandez low to his left with a right-footer after the keeper awkwardly fooled himself, moving early and drifting to his right, opening up a wide side for the striker to find. Je-Vaughan Watson conceded the spot kick when he marked Torres far too casually on a harmless long ball before hauling him down.
The dominant 3-1 win extended Dallas’ unbeaten run to eight, winning a fifth match in that spell to challenge for the top of the West, now within one game of Salt Lake and two of Seattle. Colorado drop to a third-straight defeat, slipping out of the playoff places and must find their goal-scoring boots lest they drift even further off the pace.
It appeared as though fans of MLS were set to be granted an impressive spectacle, as the second-placed teams in each conference met in Salt Lake for the fourth match of Saturday night; anticipation was ripe, but alas, it was not to be.
Salt Lake had the lead within eleven minutes of kickoff through Joao Plata, who registered his tenth of the season with a back-post header, meeting a Luke Mulholland cross after Javier Morales was given far too much time to chip a ball for Olmes Garcia’s run, which fell to Mulholland on the right.
Two minutes later centre-back Chris Schuler doubled the advantage, turning in a stabbed Morales ball at the near-post after the Argentine maestro laid a pass through the legs of his marker, Nick DeLeon.
And the night was over after just 24 minutes, when Schuler netted his second of the evening, meeting a right-sided Morales out-swinging corner kick with a powerful downward header helped on to the far-side of goal.
DC would compose themselves (more-or-less, Eddie Johnson was lucky to not see red for his frustration) and not concede again, though they barely threatened Nick Rimando’s net and Bill Hamid was called upon several times to prevent further Salt Lake goals. The lone positive for United was the return of Fabian Espindola, the driving force of their early-season attack.
The 3-0 win was Salt Lake’s third in their last four matches, extending their current unbeaten run to five matches and solidifying their second-place spot – Dallas had briefly taken it in the lapse between the end of their respective matches that evening.
Reason enough to celebrate, made all the more so by Rimando collecting his 113th MLS clean-sheet, putting him in sole possession of the all-time record – even former teammate and opposition coach, Ben Olsen got in on the act, despite his side’s woeful display in dropping a second-straight match.
Saturday night’s final match was an all-Western affair, as two of the conference’s bottom-dwellers looked to factor back in to the reckoning. It was a tale of two clubs headed in opposite direction; Portland having won two of their last three and Chivas dropping three-straight after that impressive four-game winning streak looked to have their season on the turn.
It was a familiar face who first got on the score-sheet, Diego Valeri collected the ball from a Will Johnson interception to charge up field down the left-channel, before cutting inside on to his right-foot to hit a dipping drive from the top of the arc that beat Dan Kennedy in the Chivas goal after ten minutes of play. The Argentine has been sensational for the Timbers, scoring in a fourth-straight match.
Portland would dominate much of the action, with Chivas struggling to keep a lid on a rampant Timbers attack and failing to threaten at the other end. Their second goal of the evening would come after 39 minutes, when Valeri picked out Fanendo Adi in the Chivas area and the big man held off the defenders with his back to goal before scooping across to Rodney Wallace, who right-footed his finish to the left-side of goal.
Even goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts showed the kind of hustle that a team scrapping for their season needs, hustling out of his area, to much amusement and applause, in order to prevent the ball from going out for a corner kick.
Johnson came close to adding a third in the 62nd minute, only for Kennedy to leap, pushing his curling effort wide of the right-post.
No such goal was required, as Portland strolled to a 2-0 win over the visiting AmeriGoats, collecting just their second clean-sheet of the season in the process – the other having come in a 0-2 result at Chivas in May.
It was a third-straight shut-out defeat for Chivas, who have not scored in nearly three hundred minutes of action as they sit at the bottom of the Western table.
Sunday night’s trio of matches began with a hard-fought affair between Chicago and New York.
Having provided a nine-goal thriller in their last meeting, expectations were high of a repeat, but just a single goal would be required to determine this match’s outcome. It would come in the 38th minute after Ambroise Oyongo was adjudged to have fouled Quincy Amarikwa in the New York box, the official harshly pointing to the spot as the two tangled.
Mike Magee would step to the spot, only to see his right-footed effort saved by Luis Robles. Magee was alert enough to left-foot the rebound past Robles before sympathizing with the hard-done-by keeper.
The goal came after a scintillating twenty minutes that saw some positively brilliant passages: Thierry Henry showing his class with a pinpoint long ball for Oyongo, only for Bakary Soumare to exhibit his strength in holding off the attacker; Soumare was again called into action, this time with a fantastic tackle when Roy Miller’s lovely long pass played in Bradley Wright-Phillips, fresh off his cracking strike against Bayern; then Henry dummied a Dax McCarty pass to let in Wright-Phillips, but Soumare was again on hand with a thunderous challenge to snuff the forward’s hopes.
Chicago would nearly add a second in a 56th minute counterattack, when Amarikwa laid Magee down the right-side of the area, but could not stretch to reach the return ball to the back-post. And the result was ensured in the 65th minute when Wright-Phillips’ drive was tipped around the post by a fantastic save from Sean Johnson.
The 1-0 win was Chicago’s first win in five matches; it was a crucial one that keeps them within reach of the playoff spots in a congested East, currently sitting in eighth, two points off of fifth-placed Philadelphia and three behind defeated New York in fourth.
It was bitter loss for the Red Bulls, who see their three-match unbeaten run ended a week after a potential season-turning win over New England, fighting back from a goal down despite being down a man – tricky how quickly things can change.
At the same time as Chicago and New York were battling, Vancouver laid a beating on one of the best teams in the league, systematically dismantling Kansas City en route to a 2-0 victory.
Pace is deadly and the Whitecaps have it in spades; add the quality service and vision of a player like Pedro Morales and, on their day, Vancouver can compete with any team in this league.
That said, it was a defensive mistake that handed the home side the lead, when Igor Juliao and Andy Gruenebaum got their signals crossed on a hopeful Morales punt up field. The defender tried to cushion a header back to his keeper, who had come darting off his line; the two watched helplessly as the ball dribbled into the unguarded cage.
Morales, buoyed by the early fortune, attempted to catch the KC keeper off his line from half and then nearly squeezed a free-kick past Gruenebaum at the near-post in the 31st minute having bent his attempt around the outside of the wall, but the keeper was alert to the danger.
Vancouver would double their lead in the 39th minute when Matias Laba sprung a counterattack intercepting a Matt Besler ball and feeding up to Morales on the right, the Peruvian skipped over the challenge of Besler before squaring to Darren Mattocks, who beat the KC keeper with a low right-footer.
And they nearly added a third in first-half stoppage-time, when Sebastian Fernandez’ effort caught a piece of the keeper and looked to dribble over the line. Aurelien Collin showed why he is widely considered one of the premier defenders in the league, exhibiting the hunger and tenacity to track it down and clear off the line. The Whitecaps should perhaps have earned a penalty kick on the play, as Besler upended Fernandez with a desperate challenge that was lost in the fracas.
Kansas City would compose themselves to find a few fruitless chances in the second half and could consider themselves unlucky to concede a penalty kick in the 84th minute, when Collin wrestled with Omar Salgado just inside the area, bringing the attacker down and prompting the official to point to the spot. Perhaps justly, Mattocks’ attempt was read all the way by Jon Kempin, who replaced Gruenebaum at half time to make his first MLS appearance.
Kempin tipped the effort onto the post after diving to his right and Besler was on hand to clear any danger.
The 2-0 win ended a run of four-straight draws for Vancouver and was just their second full points in their last ten matches, finally clawing into the top five in the West. For Sporting it was dismal end to their fine run, having gone unbeaten through their previous eight matches and won their last five away from home.
The 22nd round of the MLS season came to an end with one final match late Sunday night in Seattle, with the stumbling Sounders hosting a Dynamo side looking to turn the corner of their season.
Seattle, after surging into a massive lead atop the league, had plummeted down on the back of consecutive losses, against LA and San Jose. Houston, on the other hand, had finally ended an eight-match winless run last weekend and were unbeaten through two.
It was the visitors who had the first chance, earning a penalty kick in the 24th minute when a sliding Djimi Traore handled an Oscar Boniek Garcia attempt, forcing the official to point to the spot. Brad Davis stepped up to convert, but his left-footed effort was far too close to Stefan Frei, who made the save low to his left. Ricardo Clark found the next good look, getting free on a Davis corner kick, only for his header to sail over the bar.
As is so often the case, when one team wastes chances, the other will punish; doubly cruel, it was a horrible deflection off Houston defender, David Horst that allowed Marco Pappa’s shot in the 69th minute to wrong-foot Tally Hall, giving Seattle the lead.
Six minutes later the Sounders doubled that lead from the penalty spot after Obafemi Martins’ arm was tugged by Clark in the Houston area, allowing Gonzalo Pineda a free go at goal, which he took, sending a left-footer to Hall’s left. The Dynamo keeper got a piece, but could not prevent it was finding the back of the net.
Despite Martins’ dismissal for a second booking in the 86th minute, Houston could not respond, falling 2-0 to the Sounders.
With the win, Seattle retake first place, having watched Salt Lake leapfrog them with Saturday’s result, responding to those two losses with a solid, if unspectacular outing. Having had to wait two matches, head coach Sigi Schmid could finally celebrate the 200th win of his MLS coaching career.
For Houston, the loss was a failure to keep pace with the East, losing the minor progress that came with last weekend’s win.
CanCon
The extended review of the Canadian performances this round will be posted early afternoon tomorrow (Tuesday) featuring goals from Jonathan Osorio and Maxim Tissot, further solid outings from Will Johnson and Tesho Akindele, a strong cameo from recent homegrown signing, Anthony Jackson-Hamel, and an MLS first for Russell Teibert.
Overheard
Nick Rimando celebrated his record with an old friend, as former teammate and DC manager, Ben Olsen, reportedly ran on to the pitch for a congratulatory hug: “It doesn’t really make a difference that I got it against D.C. It’s good to have a friend in town, in Ben. We had breakfast this morning. As much as he didn’t want me to get that shutout, I know he’s proud of me. It shows that he is a class guy that losing the way he did, that he still came over and congratulated me. Obviously getting the win is very important. D.C. is a team that I have a lot of respect for and have a lot of memories there. D.C. or any other team in the league; as long as I got the record.”
Olsen was much more sanguine in the post-match interviews, responding with a presumably flat, “no”, when asked if the altitude was a factor in DC’s dismal outing.
Mauro Rosales adds a new word to lexicon describing the isolation endured by striker Cubo Torres, who has gone three matches without a goal, starved of service: “He was too lonely in the attacking part of the field. Having four defenders against one is not always good. He needs help from us coming from outside. If you are in a good shape, organized, you can have more chances, you can get more second balls that are going to help you to move forward. It’s our job to give options to him. Coming down from 2-0, just running from behind is not easy anymore, you have to work double.”
And finally, it was an emotional and celebratory night in Columbus, as the Crew family remembered and celebrated Kirk Urso.
Justin Meram, who scored, said as much: "Playing for Kirk is something special. You never forget these moments. Scoring that goal, of course I'm going to kiss my armband with his initials. Everyone that scores, I'm sure for them as well, you score for Kirk. We love their family. It was so good to see his father and his brother here", before summing up, “No matter the result, you play for Kirk, and we'll always remember."
Long may the tradition continue.
See It Live
The KU armbands and the grass-cut patterns in Columbus were a very nice touch; even the TFC coaching staff honoured Kirk, as did LA.
Nat Borchers beard is epic, it’s not even playoff time yet and his ‘wild man in the mountains near Sasquatch Pass’ look is in full effect – pretty sure a bird flew out of there. Terrifying
Donovan Ricketts hustling out wide to prevent corner kick and getting a big cheer in the process was worth a smile and chuckle.
Some brilliant saves this round: Bill Hamid gets down low to deny Salt Lake’s Olmes Garcia; Dan Kennedy on Will Johnson; Andy Gruenebaum denying Pedro Morales’ cheeky bender around the wall bound for the short-side; Sean Johnson on golden boot leading Bradley Wright-Phillips; and finally, Aurelien Collin’s hustled goal-line clearance.
And there were several excellent passages of New York attack – enjoy Thierry Henry while he’s around, he’ll be missed when he retires: his pass to Ambroise Oyongo was not in the highlight pack, nor was his dummy off a Dax McCarty ball, but Roy Miller’s ball to Wright-Phillips and Bakary Soumare’s tackle is available.
Controversy
Plenty of minor controversy, nothing egregious, except for perhaps the penalty in Chicago:
Toronto’s Justin Morrow was called for a handball against Columbus.
Colorado’s Marvell Wynne suffered a similar fate when he lunged in on Tesho Akindele.
Should Roy Miller have been penalized for his hand on the shoulder of Chicago’s Alex or was it a blatant dive; then New York’s Ambroise Oyongo was indeed penalized for his tangle with Quincy Amarikwa – is there a foul there?
Did Matt Besler’s challenge on Vancouver’s Sebastian Fernandez deserve a penalty after Aurelien Collin’s stunning clearance?
Eddie Johnson took out his frustration at trailing 3-0 in the 29th minute by kicking the ball into a prone Carlos Salcedo in Salt Lake, earning a yellow card – Columbus’ Bernardo Anor was sent off for less vicious play, though it was overturned on appeal this season and Jonathan Osorio got two games for clearing a nasty ball into a prone Kosuke Kimura last season. Have to wonder if the DisCo (disciplinary committee) will be having a look at this one.
Upcoming Fixtures
The US Open Cup returns this week with the semifinal round set to be played on Tuesday and Wednesday with Dallas hosting Philadelphia and Seattle taking on Chicago.
Before a full slate of weekend fixtures litter the docket for Round 23, beginning on Friday night:
Friday: Houston-Philadelphia. Saturday: Salt Lake-Seattle; Montreal-Chicago; New England-Portland; Columbus-Los Angeles; Kansas City-Toronto; Chivas-Vancouver; San Jose-Dallas. Sunday: DC-Colorado.
All video & 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