Monday, April 9, 2012

MLS Recap - Weeks 4 & 5

So I spent the last week up in Yorktown, Virginia so I never got last week's MLS recap out. So, without further ado, here's a rundown on Weeks 4 AND 5 in Major League Soccer:

WEEK 4

DC United 4 FC Dallas 1 -  Rookie Nick DeLeon's goal in the second half broke a 1-1 tie and DC United added two more goals in a 4-1 rout of FC Dallas. Brazilian striker Maicon Santos finished with two goals and an assist and reigning MLS MVP Dwayne De Rosario added 2 assists of his own as DC United got their first win of the year. Blas Pérez got on the scoresheet for the second time this season for Dallas, but was denied two other times from close range by United's Joe Willis who finished with 5 saves.





Columbus 1 Toronto 0 - Toronto fell to 0-3 on the year after coming up short against the Crew. Toronto keeper Milos Kocic denied a first half penalty kick from Milovan Mirosevic, but there was nothing he could do to deny Bernardo Anor of the game winner. Julian de Guzman was dispossessed by Mirosevic near midfield, and Anor made a brilliant run forward losing the ball briefly in the Toronto box, but having it deflect right back to him where he was able to bury a shot for the only goal of the match. Andy Gruenebaum made 3 saves to preserve the shutout.
Photo Credit: eightysixforever.com


New York 5 Montreal 2 - The tandem of Thierry Henry and Kenny Cooper up front for the New York Red Bulls continues to be a potent one. Henry netted his first ever MLS hat trick and Cooper scored his 4th goal of the season as the Red Bulls have bounced back from a pair of early losses to even their record at 2-2. Montreal got goals from Sanna Nyassi and Justin Mapp and had a 2-1 lead at the break, but the Red Bulls erupted for 4 goals in the second half keeping the Impact in search of that elusive first victory.



Philadelphia 0 Vancouver 0 - Sébastien Le Toux's return to Philadelphia was uneventful as the Union and the Whitecaps played to a scoreless draw at PPL Park. Le Toux scored 25 goals in his two seasons with the Union, but missed a pair of really good chances against Zac MacMath and his former mates. The winless Union fared no better against the Whitecaps as Joe Cannon made two saves and Vancouver is yet to concede their first goal this season.
Photo Credit: phillysoccernews.com


Real Salt Lake 3 Portland 2 - 21 year old Darlington Nagbe scored a pair of goals for the Timbers and Portland looked poised to pull off the upset as they carried a 2-1 lead into the 89th minute. But substitute Jonny Steele equalized late and then Kyle Beckerman volleyed a cross from the top of the box past a diving Troy Perkins for the game winner.



San Jose 1 Seattle 0 - Chris Wondolowski buried a penalty kick for his fourth goal of the season, and that was all the Earthquakes would need to pick up their third win in four matches. Seattle had their chances, but Jon Busch was up to the task making 5 saves including a terrific diving stop of a Fredy Montero blast in the 84th minute.
Photo Credit: seattlesportsblog-kshell.blogspot.com


New England 3 Los Angeles 1 - The Galaxy's struggles continue as they were shocked at home by the New England Revolution 3-1. The Revs scored twice in the first 13 minutes and L.A. just never recovered. Rookie Kelyn Rowe opened the scoring with his first MLS goal when he volleyed in his own rebound, and just minutes later defender Chris Teirney doubled the lead with a well struck ball from close range. Saer Sene would then put the game out of reach midway through the second half when he scored for the second straight week. Robbie Keane would get one back for the Galaxy, but it was too little too late.
Photo Credit: revolutionsoccer.net


Colorado 2 Chicago 0 - The Rapids improve to 3-1 on the season after a 2-0 victory over the Chicago Fire. Veteran Omar Cummings netted the game winner when he hammered a Brian Mullan cross through Paolo Tornaghi just under an hour into the match. The Fire had opportunities to equalize, but Matt Pickens had an answer for everything making 5 saves in the win. Newly acquired Kamani Hill came off the bench for the Rapids and added a stoppage time insurance goal to cap off a memorable MLS debut.
Photo Credit: mlssoccer.com


Kansas City 1 Chivas USA 0 - Sporting Kansas City continues to roll winning their 4th straight match to open the season thanks to a goal from C.J. Sapong. Graham Zusi ripped a shot off the crossbar in the opening minutes of the second half, but was able to fight though the Chivas defense for the rebound heading it to an open Sapong who nodded it home for his third goal of the year. Nick LaBrocca nearly equalized for Chivas, but his effort from the top of the box struck the post and kicked wide. Dan Kennedy made 4 saves for Chivas in a losing effort.
Photo Credit: mlssoccer.com

WEEK 5


Real Salt Lake 1 Montreal 0 - Paulo Jr. converted a first half penalty kick and that goal would be all Real Salt Lake would need as they improved to 4-1 on the season in a midweek clash with Montreal. Nick Rimando made a pair of saves for his second shutout of the year. Meanwhile, the Impact remain winless through their first 5 MLS matches.
Photo Credit: goal.com


Dallas 1 New England 0 - The Revs saw their two game winning streak snapped when Dallas captain Ugo Ihemelu headed in a Zach Loyd free kick 5 minutes into second half stoppage time. The goal was just Ihemelu's 6th in 180 career regular season games and it propelled Dallas into the win column for just the 2nd time this year. Kevin Hartman, the MLS all-time leader in saves, made 5 saves to record his 107th career shutout.
Photo Credit: boston.com


Montreal 2 Toronto 1 - It took six games, but finally the Montreal Impact finally have their first MLS win. The Impact knocked off their Canadian rivals 2-1 thanks to goals by Siniša Ubiparipović, who was making his Impact debut, and 2012 number one overall draft pick Andrew Wenger as they disposed the CONCACAF Champions League semifinalists. Toronto FC has now lost all four of its MLS regular season matches this year. Danny Koevermans did add a late goal for the Reds.



New York 4 Columbus 1 - In the three games since Kenny Cooper was inserted into the starting lineup, the New York Red Bulls are 3-0 and have scored 13 goals. Thierry Henry and Cooper each scored twice against the Crew Saturday giving them 7 and 6 goals on the year respectively. 21 year old rookie keeper Ryan Meara made a career high 7 saves for the Red Bulls as they moved into second place in the Eastern Conference. Chad Marshall scored his first goal of the season in a losing effort for the Crew.



Kansas City 1 Los Angeles 0 - Sporting KC improved to a league best 5-0, the best start for any team since 1998, as they handed the struggling Galaxy yet another loss. The Galaxy finally had Landon Donovan back in the lineup, but were without David Beckham and could only muster 3 shots against the hottest team in MLS. Kei Kamara scored the only goal of the match when Bobby Convey hit him for a wide open header. Sporting has outscored their opponents 8-1 so far this season. 
Photo Credit: msn.foxsports.com

San Jose 3 Vancouver 1 - Vancouver's run of 4 straight shutouts came to an abrupt end thanks to Chris Wondolowski. Wondo and the Quakes rallied from a 1-0 second half deficit to score 3 times in the final 22 minutes with Wondo scoring his 5th and 6th goals of the year. Sébastien Le Toux gave the Caps a 1-0 lead in the opening minutes of the second half, but San Jose captain Ramiro Corrales sprung Wondo with a long throw for the equalizer and then it was Corrales again minutes later setting up Alan Gordon for a brilliant diving header for the game winner. Wondo added an insurance goal 5 minutes later when he was left open on the backpost on a free kick by Tressor Moreno. The Quakes have now won three in a row.
Photo Credit: soccerbyives.net


DC United 0 Seattle 0 - The Sounders were shutout for a second straight match after failing to find the back of the net against Joe Willis and DC United. Substitute Marc Burch nearly won it late, but his stoppage time header smashed off the bar in the closing seconds. Fredy Montero's struggles continue in 2012 as he has been held scoreless and without an assist through the Sounders' first 4 matches this year. Montero had 12 goals and 9 assists in 2011. Eddie Johnson made his first MLS appearance in nearly 5 years when he entered as a second half substitute for Seattle. Johnson scored 15 goals in 24 matches for the Wizards (now Sporting KC) in 2007 before inking a deal with Fulham.
Photo Credit: seattletimes.nwsource.com


Real Salt Lake 2 Colorado 0 - Real Salt Lake won its third in a row and second match of the week as they knocked off Colorado 2-0 Saturday night to take an early lead in the Rocky Mountain Cup. Álvaro Saborío gave RSL an early 1-0 lead with a brilliant finish after bringing down a Tony Beltran cross with his chest and then hammering a shot past a helpless Matt Pickens. Fabián Espindola would double the lead in the second half, but not without some controversy. Replays showed the ball clearly hitting Espindola's elbow prior to the goal, but the handball went unseen by the referees much to the dismay of Pickens who received a yellow card for his protests. Nick Rimando needed to make just one save in earning his second consecutive shutout in goal.




Chivas USA 2 Portland 1 - The Timbers failed to hold onto a 1-0 lead and dropped their third straight match Saturday night. The Timbers scored first for the first time this year when Dan Kennedy collided with James Riley and the rebound dropped right to Kris Boyd. But Chivas would rally getting second half goals from Alejandro Moreno and Nick LaBrocca. Ryan Smith, a former youth national team player for England who started his career at Arsenal, assisted on both Chivas goals as the Goats won for just the second time this year.
Photo Credit: mlssoccer.com

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