Week 11 Recap: Sorting out this mess

By: travis | June 1st, 2009

It was another typically bizarre weekend full of MLS action. Some aspects were usual — dubious refereeing leading to late game winners, physical play, red cards, and draws. Other results came from no where — namely Dallas defeating Chicago at Toyota Park.

Hard to say anything new about officiating in this league. I could blab about it, but for the most part those are wasted words. Referees are part of the game and while they will make errors, there’s nothing to be accomplished by tearing them apart. What needs to be done is learn from mistakes made and for the league to do their utmost to prevent repeated errors. On to a wrap up from the weekend:

Chivas USA 2-3 Chicago
A match that nearly lived up to the hype that preceded it. A back and forth thriller out in California got off to a heated start when a Paolo Nagomura shot found its way past Jon Busch in the 16th minute of action. Busch perhaps could have saved it, as he looked surprised by the shot and just missed getting a hand on it. From there, the action continued to go both ways, with Blanco equalizing on a penalty kick in the second half. Chivas headed into the break with a one goal lead off another penalty kick, as Bakary Soumare took down Maykel Galindo in the box. The Cuban defector converted the spot kick, before the second half fireworks ensued. Jesse Marsch’s second caution of the game saw him receive marching orders in the 63rd minute. It almost looked like the Goats would hold onto the lead, until Patrick Nyarko scored off a fortuitous bounce. Cue referee hysterics, as Chicago were given a penalty when Brian McBride when down softly in the box. Let the complaints continue to rain down.

New England 2-1 D.C. United
The first appearance of Taylor Twellman injected new life into a struggling Revolution side, as they were able to come from behind to snatch three points from United. For all you want to argue about the dubious referee call in this one, United should pointing a finger at themselves for only going into the half up 1-0. They dominated from the first kick, hitting the frame of the goal twice and missing a few other opportunities. The good news for them was the goal netted by Fred, his first of the season. The bad is that they conceded twice in the second half, as Shalrie Joseph headed one home past Josh Wicks — setting the stage for Namoff to pull Twellman down in the box, with Ralston calmly scoring the winner. A tough loss for D.C. to swallow, but they need to take the good from it; namely, to finish their opportunities. It’s definitely not the first time to happen this season.

New York 2-3 Colorado
A disappointing way to end a four match home stand if you’re New York. Compounding matters is the paltry four points amassed in those games. The latest loss, to Colorado, followed a similar pattern to earlier defeats — not playing too badly, but squandering opportunities that could but them in a position to win if converted. Juan Pablo Angel hasn’t been himself, and it’s costing the Red Bulls dearly. He scored on a penalty, but had one or two other chances that could have altered the game if he put them away. Conor Casey’s brace vaulted him to the top of the goal scoring leader board, and while there is a great deal of time left, his fast start should earn him a long look from Bob Bradley for Gold Cup duties. The under-the-radar play of the Rapids continues to be a storyline worth following this season. They won’t dazzle anyone with their flair, but will work hard and attack you for 90 minutes.

Houston 3-0 Toronto
So much for Dwayne De Rosario’s vaunted return to his old stomping grounds. Three goals in five minutes was plenty for the Orange, who unleashed a flurry of goals from Brad Davis, Stuart Holden, Kei Kamara to easily dispatch Toronto. It was unfortunate to hang Stefan Frei out to dry like they did, as the young Swiss keeper proved his worth with some spectacular saves. There was nothing he could do on any of the three goals, as Houston proved to have that killer instinct and unleash that quick barrage on Toronto’s goal.

Seattle 1-1 Columbus
I love watching games in Seattle on TV. No other stadium in MLS can boast the kind of capacity that the lower tiers of Qwest portray during a match. The atmosphere is electric, and to me Seattle symbolizes the potential of the league. If more than half the markets could match 75% of Seattle’s game day atmosphere I think we’d be on to something. Unfortunately for Sounders fans, it wasn’t to be there day, as they went down 1-0 after a superb goal by Alejandro Moreno. Great hustle by the tall striker to head home Pat Noonan’s cross. It’s unusual to see the Sounders trailing at home, but they did have their chances. Freddie Ljungberg missed a first half penalty that would have equalized, and early second half pressure didn’t pay dividends right away. Ljungberg atoned for his miss by setting up Nate Jaqua for the equalizing score, and that would be all she wrote.

San Jose 2-1 Real Salt Lake
So that’s why they brought in Cornell Glen. The enigmatic Trinidadian opened his San Jose account in his first appearance, heading home a dangerous Mike Zaher cross. Add to that a stunning goal by Arturo Alvarez and a couple of sensational Joe Cannon saves and voila! The Earthquakes snap their losing streak. Real Salt Lake came out a bit more ambitious, electing to go with the 4-4-2 over the 4-5-1, a decision that opened the game up for both sides. RSL was not without their chances, going close on a couple of occasions in the first half. Alas, the only goal they could muster was a Robbie Findley strike which would prove fruitless by the final whistle.

Los Angeles 1-1 Kansas City
How many more times this season will I type “another L.A. draw?” Each week, the exact same script is performed out on the pitch on a weekly basis. Something to the tune of concede first, then leave it late is the same monotonous symphony put out there. The Galaxy looked the better team for the majority of the game, until losing Gregg Berhalter to another red card. Berhalter pulled on Claudio Lopez’s shirt, preventing a possible breakaway. Despite going a man down, L.A. threatened Kevin Hartman on a number of occasions. Things look bad after Davy Arnaud poked home a potential game winning goal with less that 10 minutes left. This version of the Galaxy doesn’t back down — Jack Jewsbury turned the ball over in the midfield to Dema Kovalenko, who found Donovan in the middle of the park; the captain then proceeded to find a streaking Buddle who smashed the equalizer in past Hartman. For Kansas City, it’s a result that should have been a loss that was almost a win that ended up as a draw. Does that run on sentence make sense? I thought so.

Chicago 0-3 FC Dallas
If you had money on this scoreline, go ahead and collect your thousands of dollars in winnings. Not even the bravest MLS prognosticators saw this one coming. Reflecting back on it, by recognizing that Chicago had a packed schedule, one can conclude that predicting a Dallas victory isn’t that far fetched. But the 3-0 scoreline is what impresses me the most. Goals from Jeff Cunningham, CJ Brown (own goal), and Kenny Cooper saw Dallas retain the Brimstone Cup in relatively muted fashion. While this might just be a blip on the radar for the Fire, it can be something concrete for the Hoops to build on — take nothing away from them for putting in a solid 90 minute performance.

Goal of the Week
This week’s version of the award goes to San Jose midfielder Arturo Alvarez. The feisty American unleashed a bomb to help his side break out of their funk, at least for one game.