MLS Week 13 Recap

By: travis | June 16th, 2009

It was a topsy-turvy weekend, one unlike what we’ve ever seen before — there were no draws. I know, shocking isn’t it? After so much talk of draws on a weekly basis, for the first time in recent memory the 2009 season is with a draw.

Fortunately, there are plenty of other talking points to glean from another hectic weekend. A matchup of the Fire and United provided top drawer entertainment, with United now supplanting the Chicago side on the top of the East. Seattle snapped their winless streak with an antidote of San Jose, while the Dynamo continued to rampage through MLS. One of the biggest surprises was Real Salt Lake scoring and winning on the road, against a flat-looking Los Angeles squad.

Some of the norm was still around — New York Red Bulls still lost, despite playing hard on the road against Toronto. The clock has to be ticking ever closer to an end for Juan Carlos Osorio, whose squad sits on a league-worst record of 2-10-3.

D.C. United 2-1 Chicago
Perhaps the pick of the weekend’s games, this feisty conference rivalry had it all — dubious penalties, quality finishing, and sparkling free kicks. The Fire can count themselves a touch unlucky to not pull out a point, but United played well for 90 minutes. Perhaps the first time they’ve managed that all year. It’s a momentum builder sorely needed as they face two tough road games this week, and will be without Jaime Moreno for the duration. Ben Olsen might be back in the fold, however, which would provide a much needed boost. On the Fire’s side, they are now mired in a three game losing streak that includes losses to Dallas, Houston, and now D.C. The absence of Blanco hurt them, but will be important in the long run as they need the aging playmaker well-rested.

Toronto 2-1 New York
The bad season for the Red Bulls continues to get worse. Despite a valiant effort by Danny Cepero, and pretty much their team overall, they still managed to lose. That’s 20 games without winning on the road, surely something that makes you wonder how Osorio hasn’t gotten sacked yet. The only positives to note were the play of Cepero and the fact they scored their first goal on the road, a bizarre goal by Albert Celades. Unfortunately, it was all for naught. Toronto can count themselves lucky, as Sam Cronin’s first goal came off a missed penalty, and Danny Dichio’s second came after Pablo Vitti was unable to beat Cepero in a one on one situation. While this is something to build on, it wasn’t the dominating victory TFC fans probably wanted.

Dallas 1-3 Houston
Like I said in the previews: anyone surprised by the result? Houston’s MLS domination continues, as their ever impressive unbeaten streak goes to 10. And this isn’t your L.A.-like streak of mostly draws — the Dynamo have eight wins from these 10 results. A brace from Cam Weaver was accompanied from a Richard Mulrooney blast. There isn’t really anything new to say about Dallas, other then the crowd at Pizza Hut Park was once again quite paltry. And that’s not even breaking news.

Kansas City 3-1 New England
Referees in MLS were becoming insistent — they were going to keep giving the Wizards a man advantage until they could prove to win a game. And win they finally did, as goals from Davy Arnaud and Aaron Hohlbein (along with an own goal), proved to be a difference out on the microscopic CAB field. New England wasn’t convincing anyone, before or after relatively new signing Emmanuel Osei was sent to the showers. They need Taylor Twellman to be healthy in order to put a cohesive unit on the field. They’ve proved they can play without him, but have yet to show they can truly succeed.

Seattle 2-1 San Jose
A steady dose of Freddie and Fredy relieved the pains of a winless streak for Seattle. The sooner these two learn how to play well together, the more dangerous this club can be. San Jose didn’t play all that bad themselves, and perhaps could have enjoyed more of this one had Ryan Johnson decided to scuff an easy chance. This club needs Darren Huckerby to be fit and on the pitch to have any kind of chance to win. That much is blatantly obvious. I wonder what Frank Yallop is thinking after watching Cam Weaver score two goals in two games for San Jose, when all he could muster was one goal in nine appearances for the Earthquakes.

Los Angeles 0-2 Real Salt Lake
I consider this the most surprising result of the weekend — simply because of Real’s road record coming into it. After the Galaxy had a shock road result of their own in the previous week, they were undone at the Home Depot Center by goals from Yura Movsisyan and Nat Borchers that exhibited some slack defending. An Eddie Lewis red card in the 65th minute put any hopes of a two-goal comeback to bed, and for RSL a chance to actually put their fortunes on the right track. Man of the match in this one was Nick Rimando, who put together a highlight reel of saves to ensure himself a shut out. Just about a month remains until Beckham returns, and it’ll be interesting to see what that means for Bruce Arena’s side.

Columbus 2-1 Chivas USA
The solid, organized defense of Chivas went into hiding on two moments Sunday, allowing Guillermo Barros Schelotto to score twice. If a game can be summed up in one sentence, that would just about do it. Once again Eduardo Lillingston gave the Goats the lead, and it would reasonable to expect them to hunker down and protect it. Unfortunately, this isn’t the same Chivas defense, as a goal kick from Andy Gruenebaum, who has deputized nicely for Will Hesmer, bounced all the way to Schelotto who subsequently evened the score. The defensive lapse would creep up on Chivas again, leaving Schelotto unmarked for the game winning goal with just three minutes remaining. A tough way to lose, especially considering how well the Chivas defense have played this season.

Goal of the Week
The nod goes to Christian Gomez this week for his game-winning free kick against the Chicago Fire. Hats off to him for that one. Make sure to have your vote here.