Around the Rest of the League, Week 3

Friday, March 23rd

Seattle Sounders FC [2-0] Houston Dynamo

Read recap here.

Saturday, March 24th

Toronto FC [0-3] San Jose Earthquakes

It's pretty clear that without Torsten Frings to clean things up in the back Toronto is going to continue to struggle defensively as they did against the Sounders after the German international had to be sent of with a hamstring injury. Chris Wondolowski accounted for two of San Jose's goals while Shea Salinas accounted for the other. Things definitely aren't looking too good for Toronto heading into the CONCACAF Champions League semi-finals this Wednesday.

New England Revolution [1-0] Portland Timbers

A goal only twenty eight seconds into the match by Revolution newcomer Saer Sene was all New England needed to top the Portland Timbers and record their first victory of the 2012 season.

Columbus Crew [2-0] Montreal Impact

The Impact continued their first year struggles as they fell 2-0 to the Crew, of which newcomers Milovan Mirosevic and Olman Vargas were the goal scorers. Being down a man since the nineteenth minute certainly didn't help Montreal's chances.

Chicago Fire [1-0] Philadelphia Union

The Union keeps on floundering. Big holes in the defense thanks to injury and international call-ups as well as a seemingly shaky rookie goalkeeper keep the losses piling up. Dominic Oduro scored the match's lone goal.

Real Salt Lake [0-1] Chivas USA

Chivas was at the positive end of most likely one of the most unexpected and surprising results of the weekend. Their defensive play paid off against arguably one of the league's strongest teams, as rookie Casey Townsend cleaned up a rare spill by Nick Rimando to give Chivas the late lead and subsequent victory.

Vancouver Whitecaps [0-0] DC United

Despite having one of the most potent offenses in the league, the Whitecaps struggled to produce many scoring opportunities as they went on to post the season's first nil-nil draw against a struggling DC United. The Whitecaps now lead the Western Conference with seven points.

Sunday, March 25th

New York Red Bulls [4-1] Colorado Rapids

While still only the third match of the season, this one was seen as a must win by many for the Red Bulls after a rather uninspiring 0-2 start to the season. New York made a statement early on, netting two goals in the first six minutes of the match (one gifted to Thierry Henry thanks to an awful backpass by Ross Labeaux and the other put in by Kenny Cooper on the assist from Henry). Early into the second half Henry put in another, easily evading the offsides trap and shaming the Rapids' defense. The Rapids were able to put one back thanks to an excellent curling chip by Omar Cummings, but sadly their offense couldn't muster any more than that. Cooper added the fourth to cap off the night.

Sporting Kansas City [2-1] FC Dallas

The season have been going quite well so far for SKC, but until this weekend they had yet to face Western competition. While not definitive at this point in the season, this result certainly validates how much of a threat SKC is. After falling behind to Dallas on a fantastic free kick by Ricardo Villar, they responded just before the half through an Aurelien Collin goal to draw level. SKC then completed the comeback late in the second half, Kei Kamara redeeming himself after having his earlier penalty stopped by Kevin Hartman.