Week Four Recap: Can I spell Unpredictable?

By: travis | April 21st, 2008

Another weekend, another string of results that shocked me. No offense to San Jose, but I didn’t see them winning any games anytime soon, and to stick two goals on the supposedly resurgent Rapids was definitely impressive. Toronto got their second win in a row in front of a massive crowd. It would be nice if every stadium in the US was like BMO field for MLS matches.

Time for a quick look from around the week:

DC United 1-2 Columbus
Once again, United puts on a sham of a display at the back. If they don’t get their problems sorted out, they could be in trouble. Luciano Emilio looks a bit out of sorts right now and they miss Ben Olsen. The Crew on the other hand continue to play well and Schelloto continues to help that team play well.

Toronto 1-0 Real Salt Lake
Stop the presses! Toronto FC with their second win in a row! That came courtesy of recently signed Frenchman Laurent Robert and the defenders of RSL as they decided to get out of the way of his free kick. I expect both of these teams to continue to play well, much to the surprise of just about everyone following the league closely.

New York 1-1 New England
This game serves as part two of the “how not to defend a free kick” video that I’ll be releasing at the end of the season. After a brilliant individual goal by none other than Jozy Altidore (more below), the Red Bull looked like they just might be three points. But on a Jeff Larentowicz free kick, they decided to let the wall dissolve a bit and lo and behold, his shot went in. The I-95 rivalry ended in a draw as the Revolution finished another game with 10 men.

Colorado 0-2 San Jose
Even more surprising than Toronto winning was the Earthquakes defeating the Rapids in Colorado. Not sure what happened there, but San Jose found some offense for a change while the Rapids seemed more interested letting the game slip away from them with some shoddy defending, especially on the first goal. The second featured a great run by Kei Kamara as he out muscled the defender. Enjoy this win, San Jose fans, it won’t happen for awhile.

Los Angeles 2-2 Houston
Great passing from Beckham, brilliant finishing from Landycakes (diving header, nice!). In all seriousness, the two of them are the L.A. Galaxy. And no, Landy, your team is far from the biggest in the MLS, or whatever you said in Spanish. Houston scrapped their way to a couple of goals and would have won had it not been for some excellent one-two play from Becks and Donovan. If the two of them keep playing like this, expect Donovan to score 20 goals this season. After all, he could have had five last week. The question remains, can LA keep the ball out of their own net? On the Dynamo’s side, they should be alright if they can hang on while half their starting lineup remains out injured.

Chicago 0-1 Kansas City
Claudio Lopez continues his fine form this season, sending a beautiful ball in for Jack Jewsbury in the fourth minute, who hit it into the empty net (Joe Bursch, the Fire goalkeeper decided to come out and clear the ball, except he missed). KC hung on for the next 86 minutes to secure victory. The Wiz now hold the best record in the league, for what it’s worth. The Fire missed a number of chances to equalize (see Chad Barrett, missing from five yards out), and were also held at bay by Kevin Hartman, who secured MLS shutout number 70.

Chivas USA 0-2 Dallas
Dallas remained unbeaten as Kenny Cooper found net once again. I hope he continues to play well, and then gets called up to the USMNT. Imagine a front line of Cooper and Altidore with Adu in the attacking midfielder role. Not bad eh? I think it should at least get a long look from the powers that be. His finish against Chivas was more about his placement on the field than anything else. Enough Cooper-loving. Chivas still looks pretty unstable and were missing midfielder Sacha Kljestan due to suspension, although Ante Razov played 30 minutes off the bench. And kudos to Abe Thompson, for having a name that sounds like he would never play football and for scoring what might be the slowest goal I have ever seen. Watch it closely. It doesn’t go fast.

Goal of the week:
As sweet as the Donovan header was, this week’s honors can go to no other than Jozy. The ball literally explodes off his foot, and as the ball goes in you can practically hear him starting his “please someone in Europe buy me” campaign. Brilliant stuff from a player who I hope brings his A-game to the International level, both for the Olympics and beyond. Check it out below, with this week’s goals: