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

The newest addition to MLS, Toronto FC, had gone three hundred and eightyfour minutes without scoring a goal, four plus games. Without scoring the most they could do was draw, but they couldn’t even do that as they lost their first four matches, conceding ten goals in their first four matches. Things would change today as Toronto knocked three past the Chicago Fire to go on for the first win in their short history.

Toronto opened the scoring in the twenty-fourth minute as Edson Buddle actually chased a ball down in the box. He sent his pass backwards into the feet of the on-rushing Danny Dichio. It wasn’t the prettiest of goals, but it was Toronto’s first, the quality didn’t matter. Toronto was playing strong and it looked as if they could hold and perhaps get one more, but it was Chicago who struck next twelve minutes later through Chris Rolfe. A Chicago corner kick was played out and the Toronto defense failed to come out and close down as Rolfe one-touched home an easy goal.

While Danny Dichio picked up TFC’s first goal, he was also awarded the teams first red card. In stoppage time of the first-half, Dichio and a number of other players went up for a ball floated into the Chicago box. Among the other players was Chicago ‘keeper, Matt Pickens. It appeared as if all players involved attempted to play the ball cleanly, however, Pickens went down and as he was scrambling to get up he lashed out at Dichio. Immediately Dichio confronted Pickens. It wasn’t your typical verbal attack you see in sporting games, both players where going head to head getting ready to have at it when Chicago’s Diego Gutierrez stepped in and attempted to pry Dichio away from Pickens. In the end Dichio was on the ground being smothered by Gutierrez and Pickens was being held back by numerous other players. The referee really had no choice but to award red to Dichio for his involvement, however, Pickens went unpunished as Gutierrez recieved the red for Chicago. Thankfully the half-time whistle was blown soon after and both teams given the chance to cool down in the locker room as this game could easily have gotten out of hand with the lack of refereeing from Silviu Petrescu.

Toronto opened the second half strong, dominating either side of the pitch, causing concern for Chicago. In the fifty-first minute Toronto’s hard work payed off as ex-Houston defender, Kevin Goldthwaite put it in for Toronto’s second. This goal was a true team goal as the ball was brought down the right wing by Carl Robinson and went through four Toronto players before finally making it’s way to the left corner of the box were Goldthwaite struck home. Again it was Buddle getting the assist.

Buddle who had been benched previously started today due to an injury to Alecko Eskandarian. Buddle needed to make his presence known, and he did, but Buddle still seemed to lack the desire to chase the ball down, or attempt to recover when he looses possession.

Toronto continued to dominate the pitch, however, Justin Mapp was continuing to cause problems down the right wing. Mapp made many overlapping runs to the corner but his crosses could only find Toronto defenders. Toronto’s continued work rate paid off once more, as Maurice Edu struck from nearly the same place as Goldthwaite’s goal. Andrea Lombardo, who had come on for Buddle and was making his debut, crossed the ball from deep inside the Chicago box. Edu took the first touch with the inside of his right, and struck with his left before the ball had time to bounce.

This was Toronto’s game. They showed what they are made of, and the possibilities their future holds. They need time to work together, and learn each other. These things do not happen overnight, and it is clear that work still needs to be done, but it is the first step in the right direction.

Chicago, who had been playing well allowing only two goals in their first four games, have conceded six in their past two matches. Clearly something is happening in the defensive end that needs to be worked out.

As a side: For many North American readers, we lust after the frenziness of English crowds; we desire the chants, and passion that the MLS just doesn’t seem to have. We have a few choices, go south and catch a Mexican League game, or try to get some tickets to see Toronto play at home. Unlike your typical MLS matches filled with sounds of blaring air horns, BMO Field is filled with the voices of supporters passionate about their team; passionate about football. If you get the chance, check them out, it’s an experience.

The second game of the Rocky Mountain Cup ended in a one - one draw. The Rocky Mountain Cup is the closest thing to a derby in the MLS, except we need a piece of silverware to mark it. Real Salt Lake, and the Colorado Rapids play four games through-out the season, and the team that comes away with the better record gets the silverware at the end of the season. There’s also one of these types of competitions between FC Dallas, and the Houston Dynamo.

Previously when the two teams met in Utah, the Rapids walked away two - nil winners. Tonight with Salt Lake under the new management of former player Jason Kreis, they came away a bit better, although they are still with out a win in nine games - going back to last season.

Both goals came early on with Colorado getting on the board in the fourth minute. Nick Rimando punched a cross straight into the thigh of defender Jack Stewart which went directly into the back of the net. Salt Lake’s goal didn’t look much better as a Freddy Adu cross was deflected off the out stretched foot of Pablo Mastroeni. The deflection caught Colorado ‘keeper, Bouna Coundoul, going the wrong way and the ball went in near post.

The rest of the game was back and forth play with Colorado enjoying most of the dominance, although no one really tested Rimando through out much of the game, if not all. Salt Lake could have gone into the half a goal up as Freddy Adu was breaking into the box with a chasing defender. Adu cut outside, shortening his own angle on goal. His shot was well taken, but Coundoul came up with a spectacular, unwavering one-handed save.

Earlier in the first half, Herculez Gomez should have put Colorado up as the ball was played in past the defenders, however, Gomez skied his shot on his first touch despite having time to control. Gomez looked to put the Rapids up later, but was ruled off ides, when in actuality he was onsides. Colorado had two more goals denied due to offsides. The later two were in certainty offsides. Gomez looked to have the most chances for Colorado on the night, but many of his chances would have done better had he distributed. He took shots with difficult angles, and put them into the arms of Rimando. Gomez has continued to be unimpressive making numerous poor decisions.

Really not much to say about this game. Neither team really looked like they should have won, although new coach Jason Kreis introduced some new tactics that saw better use of the skill on his squad. Unfortuatnely for Kries and Real Salt Lake, it doesn’t look like it will be enough to have much of a season.

On a side note, if you saw this game on the ESPN as I did and forgot to turn off the volume, you were assaulted with nearly forty-five minutes of praise for Freddy Adu. Needless to say, it’s undo praise. For me at least. Adu has been, and will continue to be over-hyped. He speaks of his dreams of playing in Europe, but currently he’d ride the bench at most Fizzy Pop sides. Perhaps in time he will develop, but to hear this garble spew forth from the likes of Eric Wynalda for that long was really quite awful. Next time I catch a game on ESPN it will be muted.

Attendance: 13,458

An early Colorado goal on a rain drenched night was not enough for Fernando Clavijo’s men to see of the Houston Dynamo.

The opening five minutes of this game were the most exciting of the first half with Kyle Beckerman and his hippie-dreadlocks picking up a yellow card for a semi-rash tackle two minutes and twenty-four seconds in. In Beckerman’s defense, the tackle wasn’t nearly as bad as teammates Jovan Kirovski in the first minute of play. The early stages of this game were peppered with harsh tackles: professional and reckless, but it wasn’t until the end of the first half that referee, Andrew Chapin, would feel the need to brandish it again.

The first goal of the night came to the Colorado Rapids a bit freakishly mid-way through the fifth minute. A Greg Vanney free kick from just outside the area was deflected into what looked to be the path of a Houston defender who unfortunately turned around looking for the ball, only to knock it backwards to a waiting Roberto Brown who could do little else but slot home for his third of the season.

The remainder of the first half saw Colorado being a bit dominant, until the final ten minutes or so when the Dynamo began to open up and play the football they’re capable of. For reasons unknown, it seems as if Houston has had difficulty getting into games early on. They play sluggishly for most of the first half, but then seem to pick things up going into the second half.

Colorado’s twenty-five year old Senegalese doorman, Bouna Coundoul, showed some very intelligent decision making coming off his line at the appropriate time, and reading crosses as well as any goalie that has been in the game for numerous years. The Dynamo didn’t do much to test Coundoul in the first half, but none-the-less he looked good in net. Unfortunately for Coundoul and the rest of the Rapids, the second half would see them unravel.

Colorado came out ready to go as did Houston, and the tempo of the game picked up quickly with the ball skidding across the wet turf. It appeared as if Colorado were trying to slow the pace, but were unsuccessful in doing so, as shortly in Brian Ching would link up with Brad Davis for his second of the season. The ball was played in long to Davis who’s low cross found a sliding Ching who just slipped it into Coundoul’s near post. The goal was a bit sloppy and it was evident in the lack of celebration from the Dynamo players who did little to congratulate Ching.

Houston were not done scoring, and they would strike again through Dwayne De Rosario eight minutes later. De Rosario who has recently been out of form, performing poorly against Pachuca in the CONCACAF Champions’ Cup and in previous MLS matches, looked much better today as he knocked in his first and second of the season. DeRo who had been eyeing the goal all night carried in and cracked a bending left footed shot from the arc into the upper nintey. Unlike the first, this was a goal of class, and no one could be happier than DeRo himself as it would appear that he had finally found where he left off last season.

DeRo struck again five minutes later in the sixty-eighth minute, however this time it was simply another goal from slop. A few errors, miscommunications, and falling bodies allowed DeRo to sweep the ball into the net as it was rolling along the goal line, but it was a goal all the same.

The game finished in similar fashion as Houston dominated the pitch. If Houston hope to do anything this season, they need to begin playing at least seventy-five minutes of each game. It’d be nice if they could play the whole ninety, but as of late they really only seem to be available to play sixty or so minutes of quality football. Perhaps this is due in part to the lack of form from their two striking figure heads: Brian Ching and Dwayne De Rosario. Ching who netted four in Houston’s opening game last year has only scored twice so far this season, and De Rosario was looking poor before tonight. They are a capable team who has played together for sometime now, and they shouldn’t be too pleased with the way they had been playing.

Colorado is doing well for themselves. They are a team that finished poorly last year, and no one really gave much thought to this year. The Rapids were near the bottom of everyone’s list with the exception of Real Salt Lake, and although the season is only five games old, the Rapids sit proudly atop the Western Conference with Houston and FC Dallas. Roberto Brown has really made his presence known, and the recent signing of Connor Casey from Toronto FC only gives their forward line more depth.

Attendance: 10,719