BC Pangie

Somehow the New England Revolution were able to beat the Houston Dynamo by a score of one - nil, in Houston. This seems amazing, not because Houston is a stand out team - they were, but seem to be lacking this season - but because Houston controlled the ball so much. Houston really owned this game, they dominated all spaces of the pitch with the exception of the two yards in front of New England’s goal. Houston truly deserved to win this game.

The only goal came from Grenada native, Shalrie Joesph who picked up sloppy clearance and blasted home from just outside the eighteen. This was the only goal of the game, and really, New England’s only chance of the game. Houston had some decent chances in the first half, but nothing to convincing. At half-time the New England coach expressed his amazement that they were ahead.

The second half was no different. Houston owned the field. New England had very little possession, seldom stringing more than four passed together before the ball went out, or switched possession. Houston should have drawn level through Ricardo Clark, and probably should have put in another towards the end. The first chance came from some good work around the edge of the box. Houston kept their touches nice and neat which allowed for Clark to work a little one - two with Brian Ching who popped his pass over the defense. Clark looked like he was in the clear with only Revolution ‘keeper, Matt Reis to beat, but it was not to be. Had Clark been more comfortable and taken the shot with his left foot he almost certainly would have scored, however he struck with his right foot which made for Clark’s shot to be off balanced and straight at Reis who did well to smother it.

New man on the pitch, Houston mid-fielder, Corey Ashe, came on as a substitute and looked to be Houston’s hope. He sent numerous balls into the box which Ching should have finished, but simply couldn’t. Ching sent most of his shots well over the bar.

When we think of Houston, we think of Brian Ching, and Dwayne DeRosario. We also think of a good team. This Houston team has been under-performing with out doubt, and it’s under-performance comes from these two players. Neither Ching, nor DeRo have looked like anything this season. These players are sleeping on the pitch. If Houston wants to do anything this season they need to find new Talismen, or those players need to get their heads in the game.

Final Score: New England 1 - o Houston

Attendance: 18,232

The MetroBulls took on the lowly Columbus Crew at the Meadowlands. New York opened the scoring early on through John Wolyniec who was able to beat Andy Gruenebaum rather easily. The first half some the MetroBulls with some good possession and good movement both on and off the ball. Juan Pablo Angel, formerly of Aston Villa, was playing only his second game with the MetroBulls but it was evident he was commanding the pitch.

The first half saw a Columbus team that cared. They continued pushing forward and attempted to create chances. Alejandro Moreno looked to have the best chance, however the other Columbus forward made an awful run that dragged an extra defender closer to Moreno, rather than further away. To top it off, his own teammate took the ball off of Moreno’s feet and proceeded to - it looked - trip over the ball.

Despite being down one nil at half, it looked like Columbus was still in this match. Little did anyone know how wrong that thought would be. Only six minutes into the second half and Columbus doubled their lead through a close range Clint Mathis goal. Much like their first goal, it was Juan Pablo Angel in the background setting up the goal. Angel continued to have a commanding game and got a goal of his own ten minutes later. Angel was continually pressuring the Columbus defense when they were in possession and his heckling paid off as he snaked a sloppy pass and put away his first MLS goal of his career. The MetroBulls continued to pressure and look suprisingly good, and they would score again in the final seconds of stoppage time through rookie Sal Caccavale.

The Columbus Crew didn’t look like they came to play in the second half. They were slow to move off the ball, and their offense was disorganized. New York deserved to win this match, and after watching it is truly no wonder they are sharing a position atop the league.

This game wasn’t a joy to watch. Far from it. This is not because of the lack of quality of football - I shall not comment on that - but because it was a MetroBull home game; it was played at the Meadowlands. For those of you that don’t know, the Meadowlands is the home stadium of the American football team, New York Giants. The real football match is played with both football lines and American football lines on the pitch, and it makes for an incredibly chaotic viewing. It’s amazing the players have any idea where touch is. Thankfully, this use of American football stadiums is coming to a close as more and more “soccer specific” stadiums are being built.

Attendance: 10,321