Out of all the games played in the MLS this weekend only 1 away side got a point. Yes all the other games resulted in a win for the home side, remarkable. Over in England the Premiership got underway this weekend but in our own backyard it was week 27. As teams all across the MLS try to kick on and get a good run of results going for the sprint to secure playoff places or even named Conference Champions.
Courtesy: NBC Sports
So as predicted the Montreal Impact downed DC United on Saturday night, but it wasn’t by the 4-0 score line I had predicted. Marco Di Vaio got both of the Impacts goals either side of the Connor Doyle strike. Dennis Iapichino came on for his new club against his old club, but not until the 89th minute. The result leaves Montreal a point off top spot in the Eastern Conference whereas DC United would have stayed bottom no matter what the result.
Just above DC are Columbus and Toronto. I predicted a boring draw but it turned out that Columbus took all three points with a brace from Higuain. That result brings them to within two points of Chicago who dropped all three against New England. Even more worrying for the Toronto side is that although they had slightly more possession, their total shots were way below that of the Crew and they only registered two shots on frame.
New England snapped their two game losing streak with this 2-0 win against Chicago on Saturday. The result now puts the Revolution only 6pts behind top spot. Chicago on the other hand will have to pick themselves up and dust themselves off. Prior to this game they had two victories so it is essential they are in the right frame of mind for the visit of Kansas.
Sometimes score less games can still be exciting but I don’t think so in the case of New York against Philadelphia. Fifteen fouls between the two sides overshadowed the 6 combined on target shots. Going into the game either team could have made a statement to Eastern Conference Leaders, Sporting Kansas City. As it was neither grabbed the initiative and as a result points were shared.
Clint Dempsey would not have enjoyed his return close to his home town as Houston put Seattle down 3-1. Giles Barnes had scored a brace in the space of four first half minutes before Shalrie Joseph pulled one back twenty minutes into the second half. Nine minutes later Will Bruin restored the Dynamo’s two goal advantage and rocketed them to only three points behind 1st place.
Colorado’s 2-0 win against Vancouver was a no brainer by the end. More tackles than Vancouver. Almost double the amount of shots as their opponents and the majority of the possession. Goals from Brown and Buddle gave them the points and Colorado gained ground on RSL and now boast a nine game unbeaten run.
Speaking of Real Salt Lake they now have only picked up 8 points in their last seven games after the 4-2 defeat to LA Galaxy. Robbie Keane scored a hat trick in 30 minutes second half minutes with Omar Gonzalez adding the third of Galaxy’s four.
The Salt Lake fans must have thought it was going to be their day when they opened the scoring 8 minutes after the start of the second half. Robbie Findlay got on the score sheet to secure a consolation goal 5 minutes into stoppage time.
The game between Portland and FC Dallas I didn’t find to be all that attention keeping. To be fair though it had been a long day of watching sports, so maybe it was just my tiredness. What didn’t help was all three goals coming in the space of 7 minutes.
Portland scored first with a header from Ryan Johnson before it seemed Dallas went straight down the other end to score the equalizer. Diaz scored with a right footed shot and maybe a game was back on. Five minutes later Portland had restored their lead through Nagbe and that was the end of the scoring.
San Jose keep their unbeaten at home run going after defeating Sporting Kansas City Sunday night. Wondolowski scored ten minutes into the second half with a header. With that result San Jose are now only 8pts away from conference leaders and that days opponents.
