Week 30 Recap - Four Out, Some Remain

By: travis | October 20th, 2008

The second to last weekend finally saw teams knocked out for good. Done and dusted, dead and buried were the campaigns of Dallas, Los Angeles, San Jose, and Toronto. No playoffs means no playing in November, and no shot at the MLS Cup. To satiate those Beckham die-hards, it means he’s on his way to AC Milan, potentially for a loan spell. For the others, it’s a chance to look back at what went wrong and when. Due to time constraints, I’ll defer to Ives, who provides a much better look than anything I could have done; although he gets paid to write about those things. So I won’t take the time. Rather, here’s a look at what went down this weekend.

DC United 2-1 New England
A Francis Doe brace saved United’s hide. If you were a Red Bull fan last year, or a United fan this year, I don’t know who would have expected this. One of the lines of the night came from one of the announcers (Kyle Martino Galaxy fans?) who something like “a budding star is born in DC” in reference to Doe. Hard to say that about a forward with no goals prior to last Thursday’s game, but if they can get a repeat performance from him next Sunday, it might spell playoffs for the black and red. They will need some help to make it though. Meanwhile, the Revs are under pressure to lose home field in their series against the Fire.

Toronto 3-2 Chicago
The Reds sent their fans home happy, with a good showing against Chicago - denying the Fire a chance to get three points up on the Revs for home field. This game saw lots of back and forth action and two stellar finishes - one on a long distance shot from Amado Guevara, and then another from Cuatemeco Blanco later on. Unfortunately for Toronto, it was perhaps a story of what might have been - what could have happened if this team found a way to win on the road. The Fire shouldn’t be too worried, as long as they step up come the playoffs.

New York 3-1 Columbus
This was an entertaining match. Prior to kickoff, the big news was about two Red Bull players getting suspended - in the aftermath, it was all about Danny Cepero, the goalie to knock it in from 80 yards out. Credit to New York here for playing hungry. They really wanted the match from start to finish, and Juan Pablo Angel’s brace won things for them. Cepero’s goal was icing on the cake, but one can’t help but giving Andy Gruenebaum a long look at what he was thinking. But it was still a great goal, and a great win for New York, who are in the pole position to make the playoffs.

Kansas City 3-2 San Jose
Another team came up huge out in KC. This time it was the Wizards, behind the veteran Claudio Lopez, that led them to a huge win. Lopez opened the scoring and then set up the next two goals, including the game winner by Herculez Gomez with seconds left. This after a calamity in the box for KC, as they whiffed on about six separate occasions, failing to clear their lines and allowing Shea Salinas to knock in the game tying goal. If it weren’t for the heroics of Lopez and Gomez, this team would be a bit further outside the playoff hunt. However, they take a win and they’re in scenario up to New England next weekend. A disappointing end for San Jose, who showed real character in turning their season around.

Houston 3-0 Los Angeles
The flickering hopes of the Galaxy were extinguished within 23 minutes down in Houston. This one wasn’t even close either - an own goal (backheel) by Ryan Jordan started things, Dewayne De Rosario made it two on a play where the Galaxy defense decided to all fall down, and Ching got behind the LA backline - something that isn’t hard - to make it a cool 3-0. In the 23rd minute. There were glimpses of a fight from LA, but it was clear that they weren’t going to make it back. Alan Gordan went close on a couple of occasions, only to be denied by the woodwork each time. Lights out for LA, and Arena has his work cut out for him over the offseason. As for the Dynamo, can you say threepeat?

Real Salt Lake 3-1 FC Dallas
This was definitely a heated battle out west. Rio Tinto was once again showing off on TV, looking good again. It was Dallas that put a scare in RSL just six minutes in, with Marcelo Saragosa getting the first goal of the game and his first of the season. But two yellow cards later (one iffy, one not), it was a one man advantage for Salt Lake, who obliged to take advantage of it. First, it was Yura Movsisyan, getting a friendly deflection off of a Dallas defender to draw level. Then, a bit of magic from Will Johnson, whose flick and volley was world class, gave RSL the lead. Robbie Findley (reminiscent of DeMarcus Beasley) then made it the final score. Max Bretos with the incorrect coronation of Real making the playoffs soon followed. Instead, because of the Rapids’ win on Sunday, Real needs a draw or a win to play more.

Chivas 1-2 Colorado
I love watching the Sunday games in Spanish. No idea what is being said, but the enthusiasm is excellent. With that said, the Rapids have Conor Casey to thank for winning this game in the dying minutes. It was a dubious penalty call in the 85th minute that kept the playoff hopes alive for los Rapids. Casey’s penalty was one of the shortest run ups I’ve seen - and it almost was saved, just scraping past the fingertips of Dan Kennedy. As previously mentioned, it’s now a do-or-die match next weekend, in Commerce City, at the Dick, Rapids-Real Salt Lake, winner take all.

Goal of the Week
Did I forget to mention that this week saw some of the best goals of the season? From Will Johnson’s volley to Danny Cepero’s long distance shot, it was quite a weekend for scoring. Of course, this honor has to go to Cepero, even if Gruenebaum was a bit off. Anytime a goalie scores, it’s the best. Don’t forget to have your say here.