Week Ten Recap: Of Course, More Draws

By: travis | May 25th, 2009

Physical play, red cards, and draws were prevalent in the rather pedestrian tenth week of Major League. Four of seven results were draws, and no one seemed interesting in separating themselves from the pack. Chicago remained unbeaten, Toronto FC finally picked up another win — albeit a rather ugly one — at home, and Seattle battled to a draw despite missing three of their top four midfielders.

Mental breakdowns were once again cropping up, whether it be a defensive lapse or players getting booked for violent action. Eddie Lewis was time wasting and received a stiff arm from Marcelo Saragosa. A boneheaded play on so many levels. It’s moments like that which make you ponder what goes through the mind of some of these athletes.

Apologies for the lack of highlights, it was a rather busy weekend away from the computer. There’s a lot to dive into, however, so stay with me as I jump around the results from week 10.

Toronto 3-1 New England
Who said that Amado Guevara and Dwayne De Rosario couldn’t play together? Surely it wasn’t me. Guevara’s brace led Toronto to a much needed home win and sprung them back into the vicinity of first place. If you’re the Revolution, one of their better performances of the year ends up as a two goal loss. A bit of a head scratcher, but surely when your tenacious defensive midfielder is starting at forward their are bigger fish to fry. It will do wonders for TFC if BMO truly becomes the impenetrable fortress it has the potential to be. Memo to De Rosario: learn a new goal celebration. What’s with the creepy robot/chicken dance?

D.C. United 0-0 Real Salt Lake
This match was completely and utterly forgettable right from the first kick. Real Salt Lake came to RFK and parked their 4-5-1 bus in front of their net for the duration of the match. They also ended up coming closest to score, hitting United on the counter and forcing Josh Wicks to make a number of solid saves. Jamison Olave and Robbie Russell did well to contain the United attack, but were also welcome benefits of some wasteful finishing from Fred. Dejan Jakovic did well trying to keep up with the speedy Robbie Findley. This was a match for the die-hards only. Real Salt Lake are the winners simply because this was their first point on the road.

Houston 3-1 San Jose
If you want to learn how not to defend, watch the first two goals in this game. To put it nicely, San Jose is a mess. Nick Garcia’s attempt at mind games surely did little to win him favors with his coaching staff before the match–his performance did nothing to make his coaches forget what he said. The goals for Houston game from Kei Kamara–who Garcia had dubbed a ‘mental midget’–Ching, and Craig Waibel. What can the Earthquakes do? Desperation must be at a premium as they search for answers at the striker position. Ryan Johnson’s consolation goal isn’t much to snuff at; Bobby Convey and his monster salary are rumored to be on the trading block. Can Frank Yallop save this season?

Dallas 1-1 Los Angeles
The Galaxy have got to be kidding me. Eight of 10 games drawn so far on the season? That’s got to be some kind of MLS record that I have neither the time nor the patience to look up. This one was reminiscent of Dallas’ last game against Seattle–thoroughly outplayed for 90 minutes, yet coming away with a point. Credit to Ray Burse, who was one of many goalies to shine this weekend. Considering the hoops also finished a man down, a draw is bit more impressive. The 3-5-2 needs to be taken back to the ‘experiment’ folder that Schellas Hyndman has in his office. As for LA, wake me up when they win a game.

Kansas City 1-1 Chivas USA
A wild one in the mid West ended 11 v 9, as Josh Wolff and Santiago Hirsig earned marching orders in a feisty encounter. After a scoreless first half, a beautiful Claudio Lopez freekick opened up the scoring. A poacher’s finish by Eduardo Livingston equaled the score before madness ensued. Wolff was sent off for mimicing a headbutt — it was by no means Zidane-esque, so the red card was a little bit questionable. As for Hirsig, he earned himself two yellow cards.

Colorado 2-2 Seattle
Perhaps one of the more interesting ties of the weekend. As previously mentioned, Seattle started the game against Colorado without Brad Evans and Freddie Ljungberg. Two minutes in, Osvaldo Alonso had to be withdrawn. Despite that, an excellent Fredy Montero goal gave the Sounders an early lead. Colin Clark and Conor Casey–no one seems to be able to handle Casey’s size and speed–gave the Rapids a lead that they ultimately couldn’t hold. Nate Jaqua’s goal proved to be the equalizer, though Steve Zakuani was denied a late winner by an excellent Matt Pickens save.

New York 0-1 Chicago
This was a bitter pill for New York to swallow. To play one of their best games of the season and come away with a loss is devastating. Sure, the finishing of Juan Pablo Angel left something to be desired, but the bottom line is they ran into a keeper who was on fire. Jon Busch wouldn’t let anything near his goal. A late goal from Chris Rolfe not only proves that he belongs in the line up, but also ensures that Juan Carlos Osorio’s is on the hot seat.

Goal of the Week
Claudio Lopez gets the honors this week with a world class free kick. Not a keeper in the world would have saved his shot, perfectly tucked into the upper right hand corner of the net. Make sure to vote here.