There were plenty of candidates this weekend, with no less than seven worthy of recognition. The top three, in chronological order, go to Toronto’s
Which takes the top spot and who will take MLSsoccer.com’s Goal of the Week?
Honourable mentions for Justin Meram, Ethan Finlay, Gyasi Zardes, and Luis Silva, who any other week would have been in the top three.
On to the results:
Results in Brief
The weekend kicked off on a sweltering night in the Bayou City, or so proclaimed the commentator, with an Eastern Conference clash rife with playoff implication. Houston sat some five points behind Philadelphia, who were in the midst of a log-jam around the red playoff line that saw five teams within three points, jockey for the last two places in the East.
Having progressed to the US Open Cup Final on Tuesday, drawing in Dallas and moving on after penalty kicks, Union manager, Jim Curtain, opted for a few changes, handing MLS debuts to Pedro Ribeiro and first-overall draft pick, goalkeeper Andre Blake.
The first half hour passed without major incident – aside from a yellow card to David Horst – before Blake was called into action, getting down low to deny a Ricardo Clark effort from the top of the box. The young keeper would launch a counter-attack, punting up-field for Sebastian Le Toux, but his weak shot was straight at Tally Hall. Horst was perhaps lucky to not see a second card when he got tangled up with Ribeiro after getting done for pace – a yellow would have seen him off, as would a red.
Spared that fate, the Dynamo went to work in the 51st minute, breaking the deadlock when Giles Barnes raced onto a Brad Davis ball down the left before pulling back to Will Bruin at the edge of the six, where the striker right-footed past Blake – Houston loves those cutbacks. Bruin would nearly add a second ten minutes later, his header from a Barnes cross saved, before his rebound from a tight angle could only strike the base of the far-post.
Blake would prevent Bruin again in the 83rd minute, recovering after the striker rounded him to claw away the chance, but could do little when Omar Cummings’ left-sided cross banked off Ray Gaddis and found the gap at the near-post in the 90th minute.
The Dynamo, who has just gotten through an eight-match winless run, pick up a second win in their last three matches, inserting themselves back into the post-season reckoning – giving new life to the mantra of never writing off a Dominic Kinnear led side. For the Union, the 2-0 loss was just their second in eight matches under Curtain
Saturday kicked off early in the West hot on the heels of the opening day coverage of the Premier League with the round’s marquee match-up between the top two sides in the conference, with second-placed Salt Lake hosting league-leaders Seattle. The two entered in opposite form: Salt Lake having won their last two in the midst of a five-game unbeaten run, while Seattle had lost three of their last five, allowing Salt Lake to claw back what was once an ‘insurmountable’ lead to just two points.
Weary from a midweek win over Chicago in the Open Cup – the Sounders won 6-0 to advance to the final – Salt Lake were in the ascendancy from the off, the only Seattle talking point of the first half, aside from an appearance from DeAndre Yedlin, who looks set to wrap up his transfer to Tottenham in short order, was a Leo Gonzalez strike dragged wide of the post. They nearly opened the scoring with an own-goal in the final minute of the first half when an Olmes Garcia ball from the left was saved by Stefan Frei only to rebound to the keeper off Marshall – Frei did well to save once more.
Salt Lake would finally find their goal in the 53rd minute from what should have been an unexpected source: Joao Plata from a back-post header. But seeing as the diminutive Ecuadorean scored a header last weekend, the Sounders should have known better than to let him loose to get on the end of Luke Mulholland’s right-sided cross.
Four minutes later, Mulholland would add a second – thought initially it appeared an own-goal – when Luis Gil slotted a ball towards the penalty spot as Mulholland and Osvaldo Alonso collapsed on it. The Salt Lake midfielder, who has slotted into the team ethos seamlessly, celebrated emphatically, so presumably he knew he had gotten the last touch – or at least sold it well.
Seattle would find a goal in the 72nd minute through Chad Barrett, touching in the bouncing ball with his right boot after Nick Rimando denied Clint Dempsey and Andy Rose’s follow-up header hit the post before falling to the veteran striker.
Seattle would come to life, putting up a challenge, but it was far too late and the 2-1 win would allow Salt Lake to climb into first place in both the league and the West by a single point – the Sounders still have a full two matches in hand, but still, the race is on. And the two meet once more in less than a month back in Seattle – look forward to that one.
Saturday continued across a border and East a few hundred (thousand? – yes, 3120.23 to be exact) kilometres with lowly Montreal welcoming Chicago for a match that was more likely than not to end in a draw. Montreal were struggling, having lost their last seven-straight matches, but Chicago are the draw kings of MLS, leading the league with thirteen already through 22 matches.
Both teams had looked to the summer transfer window to heal their ails, Chicago bringing in Romanian all-around midfielder Razvan Cocis and chasing Jermaine Jones, while Montreal looked to Argentine Ignacio Piatti to spark their dormant attack. Cocos had already featured three times for the Fire, but took up a new position, pushed up top, playing off the shoulder of Mike Magee, while Piatti made his debut for the Impact on the left-side of the three-man attacking midfield.
It was the Fire acquisition who nearly made his presence felt first, slipping in a lovely ball for Magee, but the two, not knowing each other’s tendencies yet, made a mess of it, taking the wrong route to the pass which came to naught. Then it was Piatti’s turn to show his class with a threatening run up the flank after linking up well with Marco Di Vaio, only for Jhon Kennedy Hurtado to recover.
The sides settled into a crunching contest, Piatti being welcomed to the league by Brazilian Alex with a hefty shove that raised the ire of the Impact and the home fans, as the projected draw drew closer into sight. But Di Vaio, buoyed by the arrival of Piatti - and his family being in town – had other plans, finding the bottom right-corner of the goal in the 84th minute after Maxim Tissot played a ball down the left for Eric Miller and the full-back poked to the savvy Italian lurking at the top of the box.
The 1-0 win, only their fourth of the season, snapped the losing-streak, and may just be the spark that Montreal needed to close out their season with pride. Chicago would see their modest three-game unbeaten run ended, stranding them ahead of only Montreal in the Eastern basement – though tied with Houston and three point shy of the hallowed playoff line; this loss will have hurt, nearly as bad as the 6-0 mauling at Seattle in the Open Cup on Wednesday. Confidence is not high in Chicago at the moment.
As that match worked into the second half, the first of two simultaneous cross-conference matches was getting underway in Columbus. Stung by the loss to Toronto last week - and TFC’s sweep of the two-team Trillium Cup - Columbus were looking to right the ship with a result against a Los Angeles side who have looked every bit the dominant club of recent seasons of late, unbeaten in three, having won four of their last six matches.
Prior to kickoff, Landon Donovan’s retirement victory lap began to take shape, as he was honoured in a prematch ceremony that included the gift of a piece of the net from the last Dos-a-Cero match he played in at Crew Stadium, a place that as the first soccer-specific stadium and site of so many Mexico matches, held a special place in his memory.
Commemorating over, the Crew’s role as gracious hosts came to an abrupt end in the 23rd minute when Justin Meram, who has had a penchant for the spectacular this season, opened the scoring with a cracking strike from the top of the arc spinning away from Juninho after Tony Tchani forced a turnover to find the top right-corner with a blistering right-footer.
Meram would turn provider eleven minutes later, slipping a counter-current ball to Ethan Finlay on the left, who finished with aplomb, roofing his left-footer high to the near-post, in off the underside of the bar.
Red hot Gyasi Zardes would respond four minutes after the restart with a superb right-footer on the volley, doing well to sweep a right-sided Dan Gargan cross that was a little behind him into the bottom right-corner, leaving Steve Clark no chance to make the save – scoring in a third-straight match and notching nine in his last ten.
Undaunted, the Crew pressed on, with Federico Higuain – riding a three-match scoring streak of his own – testing Jaime Penedo with a blistering shot, which was tipped over by the LA keeper, before Aaron Schoenfeld beat Penedo from distance, striking his shot off the top of the right post. It would be Ben Speas who added Columbus’ third of the night after Finlay found his teammate in space on the left-side of the area and his left-footed strike beat Penedo to the far-side of goal in the 75th. Centre-back Giancarlo Gonzalez would round out the romp in the 84th, powering in an out-swinging, right-sided Higuain corner kick with a downward header.
The 4-1 victory was Columbus’ first over LA since 2009 and their third in five matches, placing them back into the playoff spots. The loss was just the Galaxy’s second in thirteen matches, temporarily halting their march up the table.
The other East-versus-West match of the night pitted a struggling New England side against a Portland squad making a push of their own. The Revolution were the league’s darlings through April and May, but June, July, and August have been far from kind, with just a single win and nine losses from their last ten matches. The Timbers meanwhile had won three of their last four to climb within two points of fifth in the West when the round began.
It was New England however, who struck first through Charlie Davies in the 27th minute. The play began with Kelyn Rowe collecting a weak Donovan Ricketts clearance up the right before playing up to Diego Fagundez, who drove into space towards goal. Spotting the curled run of Davies from the blind side, Fagundez slotted a lovely pass down the left-side of the area for his teammate to finish from a tight-angle with a low left-footed effort that beat Ricketts and kicked in off the far-post.
Another Diego nearly responded in short order, with Portland’s Valeri breaking the offside trap on a Sebastian Fernandez ball, only to whisk his chipped finish wide of the post in the 37th minute. Portland would have to wait until the second half to find the equalizer and when it came, nobody would have predicted the goal scorer.
Liam Ridgewell was recruited and signed to shore up their leaky defense – a task he has fulfilled admirably; what few would have expected were forty-yard dashes capped up with a thump of a finish, collecting a loose ball after a poor Andrew Farrell pass, galloping up the left-side, slipping past the tackles of Rowe, then Farrell before right-footing past Ricketts and celebrating with the classic, stop-drop-and-roll mimicry. Well played.
New England too were stunned by the event, nearly losing the match three minutes later when Fernandez had the ball in the back of the net, only to be spared by the linesman’s flag. Valeri had played in his compatriot, Max Urruti who unselfishly squared to Fernandez, only for the controversial flag to spare Revolutionary blushes. Bobby Shuttleworth would ensure the point, getting down quickly to deny Urruti after Darlington Nagbe’s cutback was sent towards goal in the 82nd minute.
The 1-1 draw would assist, but satisfy neither team, as both move from seventh in their respective conferences to sixth come the round’s end, but still south of that playoff line – New England by one point and Portland by two.
The evening’s next encounter was a rematch of sorts. When last they met, TFC felt hard done by after a controversial refereeing decision did not penalize Aurelien Collin for an obvious red card infraction and Jacob Peterson haunted his former employers, scoring the winner for Sporting.
Not only was there a little ill-feeling, but precious points in the battle for the East were at stake. KC sat in first, two points ahead of DC, with Toronto lurking a distant third. Entering in good form – having won their last two – and encouraged by injuries to two keepers that ensured third-stringer, Jon Kempin would make his first start, Toronto’s hopes were all but dashed after eighteen minutes.
Forced into fielding the attack-minded Jackson at right-back, Ryan Nelsen would feel the brunt of that decision when the Brazilian lunged needlessly into Benny Feilhaber, offering Sporting the lead from the penalty spot, which Dom Dwyer duly took, left-footing high into the net past Joe Bendik – ending his five-match scoring drought.
Fifteen minutes later another rash defensive lunge would prove equally costly, gifting Dwyer another look from twelve paces when Doneil Henry thundered into a challenge of his own, taking out Dwyer in the process, allowing the official to once more point to the spot – again Dwyer converted with his left foot, beating Bendik low to his left. Fittingly, given TFC’s repeated run-ins with referees, the danger had become acute when a harmless ball was redirected by the official, falling to Dwyer on the left-side of the area prompting Henry’s aggressive tackle.
All but over, Toronto would find some life before half-time, when Dominic Oduro spotted the run of Gilberto, picking out the Brazilian, who finished neatly with a deft flick in stoppage-time – his third goal in as many matches. Six minutes into the second frame, Gilberto would have a chance to level, breaking in alone on a long counter attack after pushing the ball past Igor Juliao to race in on goal, only for Kempin to come up big with the huge save to preserve the lead.
Lucky, as thirteen minutes later, Soony Saad met a half-cleared, right-sided Graham Zusi corner kick at the top of the box, hitting a stunning right-footed juggled half-volley into the top left-corner of the Toronto goal to reinstate Sporting’s two goal advantage in the 64th minute. CJ Sapong would complete the rout in the 77th minute, meeting a left-sided Zusi corner kick at the back-post for an easy sliding finish as three KC players converged on the unprotected back-side.
The 4-1 win reasserted Kansas City’s dominance over a not-quite-ready-for-primetime TFC, KC having won two of three meetings and drawing the other. With the loss, Toronto fails to keep pace and sees Columbus draw within two points of their third place spot.
The evening would close with a pair of all-Western contests, the first of which saw Vancouver travel to LA to face Chivas. Both teams were eager for the points, Chivas looking to make up ground as a run of four-straight losses had seen them drop to the bottom of the conference, while Vancouver’s insistence on drawing has prevented them from solidifying position, entering the round in fifth, but just two points ahead of Colorado and Portland.
Chivas had not scored a goal in their last three matches, a goal-less run that stretched to 276 minutes before kickoff; their quest made all the more difficult against an opponent who had kept clean-sheets in their last two matches. Both made changes to their lineup as well, Los Ameri-Goats handing a debut to the recently arrived Felix Borja, while the Whitecaps rested influential midfielder Pedro Morales who is nursing a knee concern and gave a rare start to Omar Salgado.
To be expected, when a team that does not score faces a team that does not conceded, there were not a ton of chances throughout. Cubo Torres, who has not scored since his six-game streak was ended three matches earlier, had a good look when a poor Andy O’Brien header fell to him, but he could not beat an alert David Ousted in goal; a later weak header from an Akira Kaji cross was straight at the Vancouver net-minder.
Vancouver’s best chance would come after Morales entered in the 68th minute, picking out Kekuta Manneh – another substitute – with a cross-field ball, only for the speedster’s right-footer to whip over the bar.
Thought the scoreless draw satisfied no one, it was enough for Chivas to stop the rot, ending their losing streak at four. For Vancouver, their twelfth draw of the season – one shy of league-leaders Chicago, was a point on the road, which is never a bad thing, but a missed chance to solidify their hold on a playoff spot while keeping within reach of the top sides; given Los Angeles’ loss to Columbus earlier, it was a chance to leapfrog the Galaxy, one that was passed upon by a lack of firepower.
The final match of the evening looked set to be an entertaining affair – which is was – though few would have predicted how one-sided it would end. San Jose were in good form, looking to make up ground with their games in hand, while Dallas were the form team in the league, unbeaten in their last eight to climb back into the reckoning for the top spots.
The first half hour passed without major incident, but then the flood gates opened. Fabian Castillo netted the first in the 30th minute, chasing down a long Michel pass, shirking the attentions of Jason Hernandez, before driving to the left and dinking a tidy finish over Jon Busch. Tesho Akindele added the second before half-time, holding off Victor Bernardez and turning to the outside to hit a slow-rolling left-footer that was perfectly placed beyond the reach of Busch to bank in off the right-post in the 43rd minute.
San Jose were handed a glorious, yet dubious chance to get back into the match in first half stoppage-time, when Victor Ulloa was called for a foul on Matias Perez Garcia, but Chris Wondolowski sky-ed his effort over the bar.
Akindele got the third as well after Ulloa forced a turnover out of Jean-Baptiste Pierazzi and found Castillo who streaked up the right drawing Jordan Stewart to the inside before skipping outside to send a right-footer on goal. Busch would make the awkward save, but off balance, could not corral the rebound allowing the Dallas rookie to pounce on the rebound, right-footing into the gaping net in the 58th minute.
Castillo would find his second in the 74th minute, Blas Perez forcing the turnover in midfield before slotting the speedy Colombian down the left, who cut inside to send a low right-footer to the far-post. Akindele would complete the devastation in the 86th minute, finishing his hat-trick at the back-post after Michel’s corner kick was met by Perez in the middle; Busch would make the save by the Canadian was quickest to react to the rebound, right-footing in the fifth goal.
A 5-0 win, away from home, was as clear a signal of intent as Dallas could provide, stretching that unbeaten run to nine matches with a third-straight win. Interestingly, like Columbus’ win over LA, 2009 was the last time Dallas had won in San Jose – funny how history tends to turn in bunches. For the Earthquakes, the loss was a night to forget, but one they never will, as it was the worst defeat in the 519-match history of the club. Ouch.
Sunday’s lone fixture saw yet another cross-conference duel, with DC United and Colorado meeting in the American capital. The road had been unkind to United, who lost two-straight on their travels, but a return home looked promising, facing a Rapids side who had lost their last three.
With Eddie Johnson suspended for petulantly kicking the ball at Carlos Salcedo – and in the dog house for his twitter effusions – Luis Silva paired with the fit-again Fabian Espindola in attack, and what a duo they have become.
Silva got the first after twelve minutes, when left-back revelation Taylor Kemp intercepted a ball that Nick LaBrocca let run across him and played up to Silva down the left, his neat stop, cut, and chip left Colorado defender Drew Moor in a heap – he would leave injured – and Clint Irwin perplexed at the loveliness of the finish.
Colorado would compose themselves for the rest of the first half and score a beauty of their own in the 52nd minute, Jared Watts powered a header forward from a Bill Hamid goal-kick, playing in Dillon Serna down the left, and Serna let loose a dipping half-volley from distance that looped over Hamid to find the back of the net - excellent finish.
Silva would respond fifteen minutes later with his second of the match after some nice build up the right allowed Sean Franklin to poke in his teammate down that side of the area. Silva let the ball run across his body before hitting a right-footer to the far-side of goal, reinstating DC’s advantage. Chris Rolfe would seal the result in the 81st, getting on the end of a good run from Kemp down the left, stabbing a low right-footer to the far-post from the back end of a pull-back to the top of the box.
Espindola, making his first start in two months, had fired a warning shot earlier, beating Irwin with a chip, only for the bar to prevent the visionary effort. He would find his goal in the 86th minute with a left-footed rip from the top of the area after David Estrada pressed a weak header from Watts, drew Marvell Wynne towards him and slipped out to Espindola in space on the left. Deshorn Brown would grab minor consolation in the 91st minute, nodding in a ball at the left-post after Dillon Powers muscled to the end-line to hang a ball up to the back-side.
The 4-2 win would see DC keep pace with Kansas City for the top spots in the East, while ending that losing streak in its tracks. For Colorado, it was a fourth-straight defeat, made all the more frustrating by yet another goal against inside the first fifteen minutes – they have conceded five in that time frame through their last four matches; expect the riot act on slow starts to be read in training this week.
CanCon
The extended Canadian Content review will be posted as soon as possible, most likely on Wednesday – technical difficulties and other commitments made this weekend a tough one. The top spot undoubtedly goes to Tesho Akindele, whose hat-trick has him in serious consideration for end of season honours, while Maxim Tissot played a role in Montreal ending their poor run, and Toronto’s Doneil Henry had a mixed performance in Kansas City.
Overheard
Kyle Beckerman was as surprised as anyone that Joao Plata has become an aerial threat: “I couldn’t believe it was him again. He can score goals from any way and he has shown that this year - left foot, right foot, and now with his head. He’s a special player. We’ve been leaning on him for goals this year and we’re going to continue to lean on him. I think he’s got a couple more in him, with his head or with his feet, it doesn’t matter. He’ll find a way to get it in. They’re going to have to put Chad Marshall on Joao next time we play.”
Jon Busch summed up San Jose’s night against Dallas perfectly: “They kicked our ass from minute one to minute 90.”
With DC challenging for the top of the East, the partnership of Fabian Espindola and Luis Silva could be just the push they need – the duo have combined for six goals in the 118 minutes played together, with Silva netting five goals and Espindola one with three assists.
Ben Olsen commented on the duo: "I think sometimes when you are tight with someone it translates onto the field. I think they have a good relationship in the locker room and outside of the game. I think they just have an understanding." But was diplomatic with Eddie Johnson in the mix: "I’ll consider it next game [when Johnson is still suspended], that’s for sure. We’ll keep moving forward. If they continue to do well, it’ll be tough to take them off the park. We’re gonna need everybody. This isn’t about one or two players, and tonight was a team response."
See It Live
Philadelphia’s rookie keeper Andre Blake showed his athleticism, recovering superbly to prevent Will Bruin from scoring after round him – he also displayed some excellent reflexes to prevent an embarrassing back-pass/own-goal when Carlos Valdes touched a loose ball back and the keeper flicked it out with a back-heel.
Salt Lake’s
Sean Johnson gets down to deny Montreal’s Andres Romero.
Columbus Crew fans welcomed the Galaxy with an excellent and creative tifo display; who does not love retro video games?
Be sure to cast a vote for Save of the Week.
Ryan Nelsen took out his frustration, yelling at the teenage-looking fourth official – it was saves like this one from Jon Kempin on Gilberto that had him so riled up, while
Nelsen was light-hearted about it afterwards: “It was good for Bright to get on the score-sheet and it was nice for the referee in Kansas City to play on as they saw his boot go into the back of the net. That sort of summed up our night, to tell you the truth.”
Jackson’s epic miss is the sort of play that makes a manager go grey – though Aurelien Collin should be applauded for his heroic recovery.
Controversy
David Horst’s pull on Pedro Ribeiro could have seen him off, altering a desperately needed result for Houston.
Was a penalty kick warranted for Victor Ulloa’s pull on Matias Perez Garcia or was it a dive? Not that it mattered, as Chris Wondolowski sportingly sailed his effort over the bar.
Upcoming Fixtures
A quartet of MLS sides take part in Champions League play this week, with Portland and Kansas City travelling to Alpha United of Guyana and Real Esteli of Nicaragua, respectively, on Tuesday. While DC hosts Jamaican side, Waterhouse and Montreal heads to El Salvador for their return meeting against CD FAS on Wednesday.
A pair of midweek Western Conference clashes on Wednesday night make way to a full slate of weekend matches. Friday night’s opener looks a treat, while a top of the East encounter on Saturday should be a cracker; Sunday sees another Cascadia Cup clash – they are always worth a watch
Wednesday: Colorado-Los Angeles; Seattle-San Jose. Friday: Dallas-Salt Lake. Saturday: Toronto-Chicago; New York-Montreal; Columbus-Houston; New England-Chivas; Kansas City-DC; Los Angeles-Vancouver. Sunday: Portland-Seattle; Philadelphia-San Jose.
All video & quotes courtesy of MLSsoccer.com
Each week James takes a look at the league as a whole.
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