Week 24 Recap – Let’s honor international week please

By: travis | September 8th, 2008

As expected, it was a rough week for those teams hit hard by international call ups. Toronto barely put together a squad. For others, such as DC and New England, injuries and the heavy schedule are really putting a crunch on players this late in the season. Then there are those squads lucky enough to have a good team still together, like Columbus, who look quite dangerous. All that and more from another stirring week of MLS action. Please leave all thoughts, comments, questions, suggestions, or corrections as well.

FC Dallas 0-1 Colorado
I’ll be the first to admit that this result had me a bit surprised. But the Rapids managed to eke out a 1-0 win in Frisco thanks to a goal from Captain Mike Petke, coming off a Terry Cooke corner kick. Good defending Kenny Cooper. Dallas had a few chances through Cooper and Jeff Cunningham, but Preston Burpo was up to the task and secured a clean sheet. It was a must win game for both teams, but Colorado’s win keeps their hope for a playoff run alive. Wouldn’t rule out the Hoops, but they are looking like longshots. Interim coach Gary Smith, a former Arsenal scout in Spain, has to like his chances more than Schellas Hyndman, who has not seen the kind of turnaround he would have liked to since taking over.

Toronto FC 1-3 Chivas USA
You have to give credit when its due. And the undermanned Toronto squad deserves it, fighting for 90 minutes against a much stronger and cohesive Chivas team. When your starting XI has three players who you’ve signed earlier in the week, your chances of winning aren’t good to begin with. Throw in the fact that your strikers (Dichio and Barrett) are coming off recent injuries, and well, hard to see what good can materialize. But Toronto came out to play, with a Tyler Rosenlund goal given them an early lead. Superior skill and depth eventually won out, as Ante Razov set up two goals before netting himself one in the dying seconds to give the Goats a rare road win.

Columbus 4-0 New England
If you’re looking for the class of the league, look no further than the Crew, who are playing in a league of their own right now. I don’t like stats much, but Guillermo Barros Schelotto has 18 assists on the season. And like I’ve said before, as he goes, so go the Crew – hence the demolition of New England over the weekend. You can’t fault Steve Nicol too much, as he was missing a number of players through injury, he had a thin squad out there. Check out this stat line too: 27 shots for the Crew, while just 4 for the Revs. Not good. Former Maryland star Jason Garey netted a second half brace with two nice runs to get behind the New England defense. But by that point the game was already out of reach. Let’s see if Columbus can keep this up going into the playoffs.

Chicago 1-0 New York
The major storyline this time around was former Fire coach Juan Carlos Osorio came back to Toyota Park, now in charge of the Red Bull. New York defender Diego Jiminez was simultaneously the hero and the goat, saving a certain goal off the line one minute, then later in the match trying to clear the ball, but hit it straight to Fire midfielder Stephen King who knocked it in past Jon Conway. No Blanco? No problem. Juan Pablo Angel looked the most dangerous for the Red Bull, hitting one off the post. Another shut out for Jon Busch (league leading 10th), which also is good news for my fantasy team.

San Jose 2-1 DC United
Another busy and injured squad fell on the road, with United coming up short against the streaky Earthquakes. Goals from midseason acquisitions Arturo Alvarez and Darren Huckerby were all they needed to secure the win. DC was missing a number of key players including Jaime Moreno, Luciano Emilio, and Fred and weren’t able to break through. United is a team to keep an eye on, as they begin the group stages of the CONCACAF Champions League and the rest of the regular season still to go. Meanwhile, out West, the Quakes are fighting for that last playoff spot. It’d be quite a turnaround if they could make it.

Los Angeles 2-2 Real Salt Lake
No wins in 11 games will most likely means no playoffs. While it was impressive for the Galaxy to come away with a point sans Becks, Donovan, and Eddie Lewis, they now sit at the bottom of the West, tied for last in points with FC Dallas. Real thought they took a lead early on, with a Kyle Beckerman laser going in off the head of Fabian Espindola. Espindola then proceeded to injure himself celebrating the goal that was correctly disallowed. RSL would have more chances, and took a 2-1 lead through a great one-two between Will Johnson and Yura Movsisyan (Espindola’s replacement and scorer of RSL’s first), with Johnson finishing off the move with a shot that went off the post and in. Arena’s squad dug deep and it was none other than Edson Buddle who bundled home a close range shot to secure the draw. What happens if the Galaxy can’t make the postseason again?

Houston 3-1 Kansas City
The Dynamo’s late season streak continues, even without Brian Ching and Dewayne De Rosario (among others). Brad Davis added one and Nate Jacqua had a brace as they eased past a woeful Kansas City squad, who seems to be fading fast. Mustering only one goal against Houston after adding two new strikers in Abe Thompson and Herculez Gomez isn’t an encouraging sign. While no team is dead and buried, it’s hard to see the Wizards making a run for the playoffs. They’ve managed just one win since July 10.

Goal of the week
Will Johnson’s goal against the Galaxy. It was superb one-two that came with a great (while a bit lucky) finish. Remember to head over to MLSnet and vote for the goal of the week.