Three beauties are in the running this week, in chronological order, up first from Friday night is Seattle's
On to the results….
Midweek Results in a Sentence (or Two)
The Impact looked to stretch their home winning streak – yes, that is correct – to three matches, taking a two goal lead over the visiting Galaxy inside the first half, with Marco Di Vaio and Ignacio Piatti providing the ammunition against a reeling three-man LA back-line. But Los Angeles adjusted for the second frame, drawing one back through Gyasi Zardes on the hour with Alan Gordon leveling just five minutes later.
A controversial red card to Fabian Espindola for a slightly-raised boot that caught Dax McCarty in the 32nd minute had DC fuming, though they nearly saw out the scoreless result, courtesy some fine play from Bill Hamid. But Lloyd Sam had other plans, popping up in the area in the final minute of regulation to find the winner.
The Whitecaps may not have scored in over four matches worth of play, but a fortunate penalty decision allowed Pedro Morales to end that streak in the 39th minute after Victor Bernardez was adjudged to have shoved Kendall Waston on a set-piece. Waston himself would add the second in the 56th.
Results in Brief
Normally one would save the best for last, but Round 27 of MLS had other plans, as Friday night opened with a classic tilt, previewing a possible playoff meeting between Seattle and Salt Lake, who entered the match in first and third in the West, respectively. With the sides separated by five points, it was glorious chance for the visitors to make up some ground on the league-leading Sounders, whom are en route to a Supporters’ Shield victory.
Seattle began brightly, Obafemi Martins rattling the bar inside of twenty minutes, but it was Salt Lake who took the lead on the half hour, when Javier Morales beat Stefan Frei with a low shot from the right-side of the area. Centre-back Chris Schuler began the play, picking out Luke Mulholland with a cross-field ball wide to the right, and the Englishman squared a pass for the streaking Morales to finish.
The Sounders would respond shortly, with Lamar Neagle thumping in his finish from distance in the 38th minute. DeAndre Yedlin poked a bouncing ball forward, which was corralled by Neagle, turning away from Kyle Beckerman to sail a left-footer into the top-left-corner of the goal from some 25-plus yards.
Martins would find his goal before half-time, registering in the 43rd minute after getting involved in the neat build-up himself. Brad Evans played a ball forward to the Nigerian, who back-heeled towards Clint Dempsey, before making a run into the box for the return, which Dempsey duly poked forward. Martins’ dinked right-footer eluded Rimando to trickle over the line – it was his thirteenth goal of the season.
Not to be discouraged by relinquishing a lead to trail at the half, Salt Lake came out for the second half alight and it was tiny-heroic Joao Plata who leveled five minutes after the restart, collecting a layoff from Morales on the left before making space for a right-footer that deflected off Osvaldo Alonso, banked off the far-post and nestled inside the near-one for his twelfth of the season.
The visitors suffered a blow in the 68th minute, when centre-back Nat Borchers was caught flat-footed on a counter, hauling down Martins who was bearing down on goal, correctly drawing a red card for his effort, reducing his side to ten men. Salt Lake would ride out the remaining twenty-odd minutes, absorbing Seattle’s pressure and making occasional forays forward of their own.
That is, until the 94th minute, when substitute Andy Rose popped up in space at the right-post to get on the end of an Alonso ball in the box, falling to him having bounced off Yedlin, to right-foot in the winner deep in stoppage-time.
The win, their fourth-straight, would stretch Seattle’s current unbeaten run to five matches, securing their playoff spot and furthering their lead above LA for top spot in the conference and league – though they would have to wait until Sunday to see if it would hold. Salt Lake see their modest two-game unbeaten run end, falling to a second loss in their last four matches.
Friday’s simultaneous fixture may have lacked some of the form of the other – both sides entered riding four-game losing skids – but it provided nearly as many goals in the end.
Chivas’ season, most likely their last under that moniker and potentially their last for a while – as talk emerged that the club could be put on hiatus next season – has unraveled of late, following up a four-match winning streak with a long winless one that has them all but eliminated from contention.
Kansas City too, while not as dire, has seen a downturn in form, having dropped their last four, as well as their last three away, allowing DC to take the initiative in the hunt for the Eastern title. It may have taken them some time to work through their issues, but after forty minutes, they were the Sporting of old.
Dom Dwyer got the first, taking advantage of a rush-of-blood from Chivas keeper, Dan Kennedy, to pounce on a long Graham Zusi cross from the left, letting it run across his body to right-foot into the open goal. Kennedy thought he could cut out the service, but misread the flight of the ball, allowing Dwyer a relatively simple opener – with his nineteenth goal of the season Dwyer surpasses Preki’s club-record, set way back in the inaugural season of 1996.
Seven minutes on, in the second minute of stoppage-time, the visitors would double their advantage, Benny Feilhaber roofing the finish on the rebound. The play began with Zusi playing up to Dwyer, who touched down the right-side of the area for Toni Dovale. His low left-footer struck the base of the far-post, but Feilhaber’s late run was fortuitously timed, arriving to get a right-boot on the loose ball.
The second half did not get better for Chivas with Zusi scoring a third in the 52nd minute, receiving a ball from Igor Juliao, who drove forward and in before picking out Zusi alone on the left. The American international drifted across the top of the box towards the right, smashing a low right-footer to the bottom right-corner of the goal, past a helpless Kennedy.
Claudio Bieler would cap the rollicking performance with a fourth in the 87th minute, latching onto a weak back-pass from Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, rounding an exposed Kennedy to the right, to finish with a right-footer from a tight angle into the open net.
Back to their winning ways and given DC’s loss midweek, Kansas City would make up some ground, pulling back within two points of that top spot, but having played one additional game, whereas Chivas’ futility continued, falling to a fifth consecutive loss and stretching the winless run to ten, the longest in MLS this season. Just how tough are things for Chivas? In that winless run, they have scored three and conceded 24. Ouch.
Saturday began with an early Eastern clash, rife with playoff implications, but not until after an hour’s delay due a rain-soaked pitch. The two sides entered separated by two places – New York in fourth and Philadelphia in sixth – with just a single point behind them; a win for either side would improve their playoff hopes dramatically.
As such, and given the pitch conditions, it was a tense opening passage, neither side willing to open up, lest they be exposed. The breakthrough would come in the 37th minute from the penalty spot, Peguy Luyindula beating Zac MacMath with a right-footer low to the keeper’s right, having sent MacMath the other way after Ethan White held back Luyindula, attempting to break through and onto a loose ball in the Union box.
Then, as the rains earlier, the proverbial floodgates opened, with Thierry Henry doubling the lead three minutes later with a dipping shot from outside the area that eluded MacMath, after Luyindula had played wide to Chris Duvall, who found Henry lurking in the middle – it was his fiftieth goal in MLS.
A minute later, Philadelphia pulled one back, with Pedro Ribeiro scoring his first MLS goal stabbing an Andrew Wenger pull-back from the left to the far-side of goal. Fred played a ball out wide to Wenger, who beat Duvall with an end-line run, Jamison Olave could not clear the firmly-hit pass and Ribero was on hand to direct the finish in.
The match would settle back into a hard-fought stalemate, Philadelphia pressing for an equalizer and New York looking to see out the result, tackles and half-chances were flying. Wenger looked to have equalized, putting the ball in the back of the net in the 86th minute, only for the offside flag to deny.
But in the 91st minute, the Union were offered a lifeline when the referee awarded a penalty kick as Ibrahim Sekagya tangled with Ribeiro in the Red Bull box. The centre-back whiffed on a clearing attempt before apparently catching the foot of Ribeiro, who tumbled to the ground.
Sebastien Le Toux would maintain his perfect record from the penalty spot for Philadelphia, converting his thirteenth penalty for the Union, beating Luis Robles with a low right-footer, slightly to the keeper’s right, having sent Robles diving to his left.
Though neither side would be particularly happy with the draw – each carrying modest winning streaks into the match – points are precious, no matter how they come, this single one allowing them to keep pace with the rest of the pack, though they did not know that at the time.
The evening continued in New England, where the resurgent Revolution hosted league-basement dwellers, the Montreal Impact.
Like Philadelphia, who heavily rotated their side in consideration of the upcoming US Open Cup Final against Seattle, Montreal had another match in their sights: Wednesday’s crucial Champions League clash with New York, not to mention a rash of injuries that saw some ten players unavailable, thereby handing starts to homegrown rookies Anthony Jackson-Hamel and Jeremie Gagnon-Lapare.
Much to the surprise of all, it was the Impact who took the lead after just thirteen minutes, when a long diagonal ball from Futty Danso towards the left allowed Jack McInerney to take advantage of a stumble from Andrew Farrell, before squaring a ball to Callum Mallace, who scored his first MLS goal, with a neat right-footer past the figure Jose Goncalves, retreating to cover the goal-line with Bobby Shuttleworth out, closing down McInerney.
The Revolution would waste little time in responding, Kelyn Rowe taking advantage of a modicum of space above the Montreal box to whip a dipping right-footer from 25 yards past Troy Perkins in the 23rd minute. A Jermaine Jones cross was headed clear by Wandrille Lefevre, falling to Rowe, who was given far too much time and space to pick his finish.
Two minutes later, New England had put themselves firmly in the ascendancy with a wonderful bit of team interplay that sliced open the frail Montreal defenses, culminating in Lee Nguyen scoring his thirteenth of the season. Daigo Kobayashi played up to Nguyen, running the left-channel, who dropped a pass back to Jones. The influential midfield dinked a chip forward, which Charlie Davies flicked into the Montreal area, neither Impact defender could deal with the bouncing ball, allowing Nguyen to collect and move to the right, finishing with a looped right-footer that sailed over a recovering Lefevre into the right-side of goal.
Montreal would not give in without a fight, playing a tough match that drew the ire of Jones, who was forced off at the half after some run-ins with Mallace. And the Impact would nearly respond at the start of the second half, McInerney beating Shuttleworth with a low shot, only to strike the post.
Any hopes of a comeback were quashed in the 62nd minute, when Krzysztof Krol saw his second yellow of the half, first for bundling over Nguyen, then for hacking at Rowe, to reducing Montreal to ten men. Nguyen nearly made them pay immediately, walking around the Impact defense, drawing a goal-line clearance out of Eric Miller.
The win, New England’s fifth-straight - and a third-straight come-from-behind one at that – would help secure the Revolution in third spot in the East, extending their lead over fourth place from two to four points by the round’s end. It was seventh-consecutive away defeat for Montreal, who are still yet to win on their travels this season.
With New England well in control, the next three Saturday matches kicked off at the same time with two Eastern matches and a Western encounter, between Dallas and Vancouver.
Separated by five points, with Dallas firmly in fourth and Vancouver clinging to fifth, two points ahead of chasing Portland, an away win would shake up a nearly-decided Western Conference, while a Dallas result could pull them closer to challenging Salt Lake, who were vulnerable having lost to Seattle the previous night.
Undoubtedly, the story of the match was the premature return of Blas Perez from representing Panama at the Copa Centroamericana, Unsure of whether he would even be available, Super Raton, as he is lovingly known, would score both Dallas goals in a winning effort, but it was his first that had all the kids talking.
Harmlessly wide on the right, within grasp of the corner flag and largely covered by Christian Dean, Perez surprisingly hit a wicked, dipping right-footer from that outrageous location that caught Vancouver keeper, David Ousted unawares, sailing over the keeper to nestle inside the far, side-netting in the twentieth minute, opening the scoring.
Pride stung, Ousted would redeem himself with a pair of excellent saves, tipping a Victor Ulloa drive over the bar before coming up big on Fabian Castillo, opening the door for the Whitecaps to equalize in the 67th minute.
A long punt up-field was flicked on by Erik Hurtado and held up by Sebastian Fernandez, who was run over by Matt Hedges in the process. Mauro Rosales collected the loose ball and poked a stunning ball into the path of Hurtado, continuing his lightning run into the right-side of the area to hit an uncharacteristically calm finish, right-footing a blast past Raul Fernandez in the Dallas goal.
But Perez would not be persuaded away from the win, finding himself open on the left-side of the area when Michel lofted one of his ever-dangerous free-kicks into the Vancouver area. Midweek hero Kendall Waston and Dallas forward Tesho Akindele combined to knock down the service to the lurking Perez, who right-footed into the left-side of goal, catching Ousted wandering towards the unwinnable delivery.
Vancouver were perhaps unlucky to not be given a stoppage-time penalty kick of their own when Waston’s header from a Russell Teibert corner kick appeared to strike the outstretched arm of Zach Loyd in the 92nd minute. Cruel though it may have been, it at least spared viewers yet another draw – there were plenty more of those in the offing.
One of the oldest and most unused clichés in football is the so-called ‘game of two halves’ – aside from being blatantly obvious, as the game is divided into two halves, it emblemizes how significant that half-time break can be for momentum.
When Houston met Columbus, it was truly a game of two halves.
Desperate to make their expected late run up the table – they had indeed won their last two and four of the last six to remain relevant, though still mired five points off the thin red line – Houston put the sword to Columbus in the first half, taking the lead after twelve minutes through an Aaron Schoenfeld own-goal before adding a second from Giles Barnes in the 38th.
It appeared as though it was AJ Cochran who rose up to meet a left-sided, out-swinging Brad Davis corner kick, directing a well-placed header down to the far-side of goal, but replays revealed the first-year defender did not make contact, the service instead rebounded off the face of the Crew forward, tucking neatly inside the post.
Cochran had the right to be disappointed, but the football gods – another of those oft-used memes – repaid his patience, twice changing the mind of the referee, who had pointed to the spot for infractions from the centre-back, only to waive off the decisions having conferred with his assistants.
At risk of falling out of the playoff five – the Crew entered the round tied with Philadelphia, but in via tie-breakers – Columbus would rebound, drawing one back within three minutes of the restart and leveling six minutes after that.
The much-heralded Wil Trapp is best known for his ball-movement and tenacious hounding deep in the midfield, but teams should be warned: if given space, he can indeed bite further up the field. The Dynamo defense was caught napping on a Crew throw-in, Waylon Francis finding Trapp in acres of space above the area, from whence he found the bottom right-corner of the goal with a low right-footed blast above the arc.
Costa Rican left-back Francis has been a mainstay in the lineup – aside from his World Cup absence – and it was he who set up the second as well, hitting a lovely cross from his side to the back-post, serving up on a platter for Ethan Finlay, who found himself unmarked off the back-shoulder, to head into the goal.
The remaining forty minutes were a battle, each side went looking for a winner that would not come. Columbus were awarded that second potential penalty kick in the 82nd minute, only for the referee to determine that the ball had indeed struck the face of Cochran and not his hand.
The draw would better serve the visitors, who maintained their position, level on points with Philly, but ahead and in the playoffs. Houston would remain five points adrift with one less match to make them up.
Speaking of draws, there is no team in the league as familiar with the bittersweet point that comes after a winless contest than Chicago, though they should perhaps consider themselves lucky to have kept that point in the end.
And it all started so positively, taking the lead in the eleventh minute over a dispirited Toronto side when Lovel Palmer met a left-sided short-corner kick routine with a header, darting in-front of Mark Bloom at the near-post to direct on to the far.
The Fire, who entered the round seven points off the pace, sitting in ninth in the East, desperately needed the full points. To all and sundry, it appeared as though they had them wrapped up in the 56th minute, when a woeful TFC were cut open by a Matt Watson ball that put Grant Ward in alone down the left-side of the area. Joe Bendik, Toronto’s most reliable performer the past month or two, raced off his line, but could not win the ball, upending Ward, prompting the referee to point to the spot.
The sure-footed Jeff Larentowicz stepped to the spot, only to under-hit his right-footed attempt, placing it far too close to Bendik, who got down well to save the penalty and alertly denied the follow-up from Quincy Amarikwa as well – it was the fourth missed penalty kick of the season for Chicago.
Spurred by Bendik’s heroics and a pair of substitutions that saw Dwayne De Rosario and Luke Moore enter the match, Toronto would string together some purposeful passes, aspiring to put a tough month in the rearview.
Just as it appeared that Chicago would see out the result, dooming TFC to a fourth-straight loss, Jackson hit a promising corner kick from the right that was met by Nick Hagglund high at the back-post, putting it back across the high slot. Gilberto would rise up to nod a second header forward, where De Rosario pounced inside the six yard box to sweep a right-footed finish past a stunned Sean Johnson in the 89th minute, snapping Toronto’s goal-less drought after 370 minutes.
Toronto buoyed, Chicago stunned, the visitors should perhaps have taken the victory in final ticks of regulation, when Gilberto took on two Chicago defenders, losing out, only to poke a rolling finish in with a deft touch through Bakary Soumare, who attempted to hold off the hungry Brazilian. Much to TFC chagrin, the referee whistled for the subtlest of fouls, chalking off the goal, sending Michael Bradley – and many others – into a fury of incredulity.
The draw, Chicago’s fifteenth of the season, equals an MLS single-season record for ties, but does very little to improve their playoff chances, closing the weekend still in ninth, still seven points behind. For Toronto however, the point and the kick of being hard-done-by could just be the catalyst they need to evacuate their current funk, snapping the losing streak, though still winless, just barely, in six.
Saturday’s round of draws, (er, matches) concluded with a third-straight draw and the fourth of the day.
The two sides entered in opposite form, with hosts Colorado stumbling down the table on a run of seven-straight losses, dipping down to seventh place, all but ending their chances of a playoff berth. Portland meanwhile were surging, scrapping to put themselves back in the reckoning for that final spot in the West, trailing Vancouver, who had lost earlier that night, by a pair of points.
It would take 43 minutes, but the Timbers would find their much-needed opener through Diego Valeri left-footing in a volley after a deft passage of play. Diego Chara drove inside and towards goal before playing up to Fanendo Adi, who with his back to goal, cushioned a neat-flick to the left, into the path of Valeri, who finished with aplomb.
Three minutes after the restart, their fortunes would change however, as the referee awarded a penalty kick to the Rapids for a Deshorn Brown shot that clearly struck Liam Ridgewell in the chest and not the arm, as the referee convinced himself. Dillon Powers would unabashedly step to the task, right-footing a low finish past Donovan Ricketts, going to the keeper’s right having sent the big Jamaican guessing in the other direction.
Encouraged, Colorado would take the lead in the 66th, when Marvell Wynne surged up the right, playing in to Powers, who moved further in-field and towards goal, finding Marc Burch in space on the left. The Colorado full-back then hit a lovely cross towards the back-post, where Brown had drifted off the shoulder of Jorge Villafana to direct his header past Ricketts.
Portland would not concede defeat, finding the equalizer in the 76th minute. Valeri once more provided the impetus, putting a ball forward to Max Urruti, who touched it into the path of the Gaston Fernandez, surging into the right-side of the box. Fit-again Shane O’Neill did his best to put off the attacker, but the ball stuck to the foot of El Gato Fernandez, who would beat John Berner in the Colorado goal with a left-footer.
The Timbers would nearly find the winner in stoppage-time, Berner coming up huge to tip a Ben Zemanski drive over the bar in the 92nd minute, but a single point would have to do.
Colorado would be glad to end the franchise-record losing streak after seven matches, but the single point would do little to make up ground with six points between them and the playoffs with six matches remaining. The same could be said of Portland, who drew within a single-point of Vancouver, holders of that fifth-spot – that will be one of the many interesting battles remaining, and, as fate would have it, they meet next weekend.
Not to be left out, Sunday’s lone fixture ended in a draw, with San Jose coming from behind to steal a point from visiting Los Angeles.
The always combative California Clasico had a little extra emphasis, as recently-traded and former bash-brother, Alan Gordon returned to face the club who deemed him surplus to requirements. His bashing compatriot Steven Lenhart too would make his long-awaited return to the pitch, having missed nearly two months with knee surgery, while AJ DeLaGarza, so recently struck by tragedy, returned to playing. Disappointingly, Landon Donovan, the patriarch of the match, was suspended, having picked up a yellow card midweek in Montreal.
The Galaxy would dominate the opening salvos, drawing several fine saves from Jon Busch and hitting the post through Baggio Husidic, before finding the opener in the 28th minute, when Omar Gonzalez rose up to meet a right-sided Stefan Ishizaki corner kick, out-leaping both Atiba Harris and Jean-Baptiste Pierazzi at the back-post to head back down to the near-side. Tommy Thompson could not clear the go-ahead off the line.
Los Angeles earned the chance to double their lead in the 36th minute, when Busch failed to corral a long ball from Robbie Keane, spilling to the foot of Gyasi Zardes. His meek touch towards goal was blocked by Ty Harden, falling to Husidic atop the area; his blast caught the arm of a prone Jason Hernandez and the referee pointed to the spot.
Keane himself would step to the pressure, calmly lifting a right-footer toward the top, right-corner of the goal, but he was a little too casual, striking the woodwork with his effort, sparing the Earthquakes a two-goal deficit – it was the fourth penalty kick that LA has squandered, with Keane a prime culprit, converting just one of his four tries.
Handed that lifeline, San Jose would bring on Lenhart, who immediately inserted himself into the mix, getting fouled by Gonzalez and retaliating with a shoulder-punch for which he was lucky to only see yellow. Three minutes after Lennie’s introduction, in the 66th minute, San Jose would find their equalizer, when a Cordell Cato cross from the left was partially cleared by Gonzalez, falling to Jordan Stewart, who alertly put a low drive to the right-post, where Chris Wondolowski was lurking, unmarked and in space.
He may have been offside, but how Wondo finds himself so open on such occasions is a mystery, taking the chance to roof a right-footer over Brian Rowe, equalizing the match at ones.
Stifled by the baking sun of a California afternoon, the match descended into a random barrage of fouls, with seven bookings handed out in the final half hour of play, bringing the game total to nine; miraculously both teams finished with eleven men on the pitch.
With two draws this week, Los Angeles would pass at the chance to surpass Seattle into the top spot – thereby securing their playoff appearance as well – to sit a full three points behind the Sounders come Monday’s tally. Equally, it would do little bar raise the confidence of San Jose, who sit a full nine points shy of fifth, all but eliminated with seven matches to play.
CanCon
As usual, the extended look at the Canadian performances of the round will be posted midday tomorrow (Tuesday) featuring a Dwayne De Rosario goal, first starts for Impact duo Anthony Jackson-Hamel and Jeremie Gagnon-Lapare, as well as a debutant appearance Louis Beland-Goyette, slightly more than a day after signing for the first team. Noteworthy, was a severe lack of Will Johnson, though for happy reasons.
Overheard
A selection of the best soundbytes from the round:
LA’s Bruce Arena, shoulders the blame, while pointing squarely at his player’s lack of refinement with some mildly, veiled criticism after a failed back-three experiment in Montreal on Wednesday: “We don't have players that are capable of making the kind of adjustment I asked them to make to a back three, and that's my responsibility. I'd like to see that we have players that have a little bit of a better tactical feel, but it's obvious that some of them don't and it's not the appropriate formation to play, so that's my responsibility.” Interestingly, Arena apparently played some lacrosse in Montreal back in the 70’s, which is kind of awesome.
Vancouver’s Carl Robinson is so tired of trying to do math that he has given up thinking about the playoffs, at least in terms of what is required: "Every week it seems to change; every result it seems to change” (editor’s note: yes, yes it does). “All I've said all along is take care of your business; that's all we can control. We can't control what San Jose, what Colorado, what Chivas, what Portland do unless we're playing them. We've got to control ourselves and today we did that. I just want to be above that red line. That's what we've got to aim for. If I knew a points total I'd be able to tell you. It could be high, it could be low. It could be two wins, it could be five wins; it could be seven wins. I don't care how many it is, as long as we try and get above that line."
New England’s Jermaine Jones was not best pleased with how he was treated by Montreal’s combative midfield, with one player in particular drawing the ire – he was forced off at half-time with foot swelling due to getting stepped on: “I don’t know the name of the player, but he tried maybe two or three times, without the ball, to kick me. It’s not nice when you feel like you have players that try to hurt you and this guy tried to hurt me.” He continued ominously, “We got a second game we will see what happens there. He hurt me...I can take it and I’ll see him again.” Is the DisCo allowed to take action on threats? If so, that would be hilarious… the player in question is Callum Mallace
Carl Robinson continued to drop some wisdom, completely dismissing the middle of the pitch (where he played): "The game is about both boxes. It doesn't really matter what you do in the middle of the field. It's about being precise and being detailed in the two boxes." While very true in one sense, one cannot get to either box without the middle.
On a more serious note, AJ DeLaGarza was asked about his return to the pitch: “I think when you step between the lines, you’re so focused on what’s going on in the game. I can’t say that I didn’t think about my son, but I don’t think it hampered me in any way.”
Karl Ouimette too returned to action after a difficult time. Marco Di Vaio scored the opener and dedicated it to his young teammate and his sister, Julie, prompting Ouimette to state: “It was great for Marco to come and see me, and everybody on the team gave me support before the game. I just came back, so it was the first time I saw them since my sister passed away. It was great to have the guys show they're there for me and have my back. It's a big gesture for my sister. The one that was most difficult was the minute of silence before the game. I was away, I'd been thinking about other things, trying to get past these emotions. It's hard not to have my sister next to me.”
See It Live
To lighten the mood after a serious round and some difficult quotes, Dave Gantar dropped his red card mid-play in Chicago – if only that was the most hilarious thing he did that night…
A handful of the best saves of the weekend: Bill Hamid on Thierry Henry; Nick Rimando on Obafemi Martins; Luis Robles on Maurice Edu; Eric Miller clears off the goal-line; Troy Perkins on Charlie Davies; David Ousted on Fabian Castillo; Eric Gehrig’s block on Omar Cummings; Donovan Ricketts on Nick LaBrocca; and John Berner on Ben Zemanski. Nevermind, Joe Bendik denying Jeff Larentowicz.
Then there was Robbie Keane’s poor attempt in San Jose.
Even better, was Atiba Harris trying to leave the pitch before referee could book him – leaving the ref chasing down the player to get in the yellow card.
Controversy
Fittingly on the week that MLS restated, more formally, their interest in being a testing ground for the use of video replays, the league found itself mired in a whack of controversy:
There was Fabian Espindola’s harsh red card – given by World Cup standout ref, Mark Geiger no less – for a slight, raised-boot on Dax McCarty, whereas Nick LaBrocca avoided a similar fate for this uglier challenge on Portland’s Ben Zemanski.
Some odd penalty kicks given: San Jose’s Victor Bernardez ‘shoved’ Vancouver’s Kendall Waston; New York’s Ibrahim Sekagya ‘tangles’ with Pedro Ribeiro; and Portland’s Liam Ridgewell was called for this ‘handball’ in Colorado, while Zach Loyd’s handball was not called. At least this call on AJ Cochran was overturned.
Then there was the disallowed goal in Chicago, for a phantom foul from Gilberto – having 'watched the replay', it is still not clear exactly what the problem was.
And finally, what was Steven Lenhart thinking?
Upcoming Fixtures
Tuesday sees the US Open Cup Final contested between the Union and the Sounders in Philadelphia, while the CONCACAF Champions League returns with five MLS clubs involved in the fracas. DC travel to Jamaican side Waterhouse FC on Tuesday, while Portland host Honduran club, CD Olimpia. Wednesdays pits Montreal and New York against one another in a crucial all-MLS Champions League tie that will go some way to determining which moves on and Kansas City host Costa Ricans, Deportivo Saprissa on Thursday.
The league returns for a full round of weekend fixtures on Friday, followed by seven on Saturday, and a solitary Sunday contest.
Friday: Salt Lake-Colorado. Saturday: Portland-Vancouver; Philadelphia-Houston; Montreal-San Jose; New York-Seattle; Columbus-New England; Chicago-DC; Los Angeles-Dallas. Sunday: Toronto-Chivas.
Monday (today) is roster deadline day in MLS. Teams have until 5 pm to finalize their squads for the remainder of the season.
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