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.

Houston's Colin Clarke lashes out at a ball boy

Yep. That's right. In that video you hear Houston's Colin Clarke calling the ball boy a "fucking faggot". Some heard the slur but were unsure of whether or not Clarke was the source, but his tweets apologizing for the incident confirm that he was:

Apparently what fueled the incident was a controversial throw-in call, where the ball had been given to Houston despite the ball appearing to have come off of Clark last. As Clark went to take the throw he raised his hand in expectation that the ball would be thrown to him but the boy rolled it him instead. Seems an awfully petty reason for that sort of verbal abuse, doesn't it?

UPDATE: After review by the Discipline Committee, Major League Soccer has suspended Clarke for three matches and received a fine of an undisclosed amount. It has also ben mandated by Don Garber that he attend diversity and sensitivity training. This certainly sends the message that behavior like Clarke's is not to be tolerated.

Estrada nets another as the Sounders get their second straight win

Heading into the match, the Dynamo were riding on a two match winning and shut-out streak, having won on identical 1-0 score lines away at Chivas and San Jose in the past couple of weeks. Despite showing well early on and throughout much of the match, two early goals doomed the Dynamo as they ultimately fell 2-0 to the Sounders in front of yet another sell-out crowd at Century Link Field.

The first came in the twenty third minute, Alvaro Fernandez taking a corner kick which got headed clear straight into the feet of David Estrada. He took a crack, and the ball easily evaded Houston goalkeeper Tally Hall thanks to a rather nasty deflection on the way in. Initially the goal was ruled as a Geoff Cameron own goal, but after further review the goal was deservedly credited to Estrada for his fourth of the season. The second came just four minutes later off of another corner. This time, however, it was a penalty. As Patrick Ianni was rising to head the ball Geoff Cameron gave him a nice shove in the back, the referee making no hesitation in blowing the whistle and pointing to the spot. None other than Brad Evans stepped up to take the penalty, and despite betraying his placement, easily powered it past Hall for his first of the 2012 season.

Around the Rest of the League, Week 2

Saturday, March 17th

Montreal Impact [1-1] Chicago Fire

In front of a record crowd of 58,000 plus, the Impact fought out a well-earned draw against the Chicago Fire. The Impact struck first, captain Davy Arnaud connecting with a Sanna Nyassi cross and heading past Tornaghi the first ever goal scored for the new club. The elation wouldn't last, however, as two of Chicago's key players linked up to equalize the match, Sebastian Grazzini providing the cross to Dominic Oduro to tap in.  

San Jose Earthquakes [0-1] Houston Dynamo

A Brad Davis penalty kick was the deciding factor as Houston got their second road win in a row, matching their dismal road win total of last season. To Houston's benefit San Jose didn't look much of a threat, only putting one shot of frame the entire match.

FC Dallas [1-1] Portland Timbers

Early domination from FC Dallas paid off in an early goal, Blas Perez easily tapping in the rebound from a saved shot. Dallas, however, were not able to deny the Timbers. A defensive mistake led to the ball finding it's way to Darlingon Nagbe who easily put into the back of the net.

Sporting Kansas City [3-0] New England Revolution

An early red card doomed the Revolution. SKC scored three goals in a roughly twenty minute period to comfortably win the match, the goals coming from three of their key attacking players: Graham Zusi, Kei Kamara, and CJ Sapong.

Real Salt Lake [2-0] New York Red Bulls

Despite being up to task against RSL, mistakes continue to haunt the Red Bulls. Real Salt Lakes first goal, a breakaway by none other then Fabian Espindola, was the direct result of a turnover by Marcus Holgersson and a slip by Stephen Keel. RSL then put the game out of reach early in the second half, Luis Gil latching onto the loose ball after Espindola had created havoc in the box and firing it home.

Seattle Sounders FC [3-1] Toronto FC

Read recap here.

Chivas USA [0-1] Vancouver Whitecaps

A goal midway through the second from Vancouver's captain Jay Demerit was the decider in a fairly uninteresting match that saw Chivas control much of the run of play.

Sunday, March 18th

Philadelphia Union [1-2] Colorado Rapids

After a fairly an even and rather boring first half, the game burst to life in the second. The Rapids surprised the Union's home crowd by striking first, new addition Jaime Castrillon finishing of a cross from  Omar Cummings. Despite going down a man after Jeff Lawrentowitz received his marching orders due to yellow card accumulation, the Rapids were able to score a second and as it turns out the winning goal, rookie Tony Cascio taking advantage of a slip by Chris Albright and thumping the ball past MacMath. The Union were able to cut the lead in half thanks to a Pajoy header, but no matter how much they pressured Colorado throughout the remainder of the match they just couldn't find an equalizer.

LA Galaxy [3-1] DC United

After a rough start to the season, which saw them eliminated from the CONCACAF Champions League at the hands of Toronto and then falling 3-1 to RSL in their home-opener, the Galaxy is back to winning ways. Robbie Keane managed a brace, while newcomer Marcelo Sarvas headed home the Galaxy's third goal. DC was able to prevent a shutout, however, Nick Deleon with the beautiful curling strike in off of the post.

Sounders dominate Toronto FC in rebound from Santos loss

Last Wednesday night was definitely one to forget, the Sounders being absolutely dominated by an in-form Santos Laguna side. Tonight's home opener against Toronto FC was seen as a rebound match from that crippling defeat and rebound the Sounders did, David Estrada scoring all three goals to lead the Sounders to a resounding 3-1 victory in front of 38,709 raucous fans.

Just last week Estrada scored his first competitive goal for the Sounders in the home leg of the Champions league quarter-final against Santos, and tonight he was the culprit as the Sounders struck first in the seventeenth minute. Alvaro Fernandez held the ball up well into the box, where he passed it to Estrada who easily stole it off of the fingertips of Toronto keeper Milos Kocic, waded further into the box and easily slid it home through a sea legs. Toronto nearly drew level eleven minutes later, but the stadium collectively heaved a sigh of relief as Ryan Johnson's header clattered off of the post.

Estrada struck once again six mintes after the start of the second half, running onto an excellent through ball and easily striking the ball past Kocic. Johnson, who came just inches away from scoring earlier halved the lead just ten minutes later courtesy of a stunning strike from just outside of the penalty area. The Sounders however, just as they did in the home leg of the Champions League against Santos, were quick to respond. Just one minute later Estrada linked up excellently with Fernandez, performing a one-two and hammered the ball into the back of the net to cap of his hat trick.

Around the Rest of the League, Week 1

Saturday, March 10th

Colorado Rapids [2-0] Columbus Crew

The rematch of last season's play-off wildcard match ended much the same as it did last November, the Rapids coming out on top over their eastern conference counterparts. Both goals were scored towards the end of each half, Defender Drew Moor opened the scoring with a header right before the end of the first and Quincy Amerikwa providing the second and Goal of the Week-worthy strike in the dying minutes of the second. 

Vancouver Whitecaps [2-0] Montreal Impact

Vancouver welcomed the Impact to the league with style, Sebastian Le Toux getting the earliest ever strike for an opening day match and Camilo Sanvenzzo capping off the scoring with a beautiful individual effort culminating from even more fantastic build-up featuring all of Vancouver's key attacking players. Looking past the scoreline and the defensive errors that led to it, though, Montreal overall kept up with Vancouver and it definitely doesn't take any sort of stretch of the imagination to see them being successful this season despite being an expansion team.

DC United [0-1] Sporting Kansas City

Last season's Rookie of the Year opened up the season for his club with a bang, CJ Sapong heading home a stoppage time goal to give SKC the road victory over a largely in-effective DC united side. The story is in the stats: SKC's seventeen total shots eclipsed DC's seven, and even more telling was the difference in shots on goal, SKC with eight and DC with only one. SKC is looking as good as ever, the same sadly cannot be said of DC United.

San Jose Earthquakes [1-0] New England Revloution

An early goal by none other than Chris Wondolowski was the lone tally of the match, ending an opening day winless run dating back to when the Earthquakes re-entered the league in 2008.

LA Galaxy [1-3] Real Salt Lake

This was arguably THE marquee match of the weekend, and while the real action didn't happen until towards the end of the match, man did it deliver. After a fairly even first half that saw the Galaxy smack a couple shots off of the woodwork, the goals began to flow early into the second half. It was the Galaxy who struck first, David Beckham provided the pinpoint service into Edson Buddle who easily headed the ball down and in past Nick Rimando. RSL quickly leveled the match, however. Just two minutes later rookie Sebastian Velasquez whipped a cross into the box that was difficult for the Galaxy to handle, leading to a Sean Franklin own goal. RSL then went on to score twice more, Javier Morales and Fabian Espindola tallying one a piece. The Galaxy poured on the pressure late, but RSL's defense stood strong and the result held.

Sunday, March 11th

FC Dallas [2-1] New York Red Bulls

FC Dallas struck early, taking advantage of the Red Bull's still dreadful set piece defending, Zach Loyd hammering the ball past rookie keeper Ryan Meara. FC Dallas doubled their advantage midway through the second half, Ricardo Villar picking up a Blas Perez pass and neatly chipping it over an advancing Meara. With the introduction of Kenny Cooper to the match, the Red Bulls seriously begun to press FC Dallas as they began to recede into a defensive shell to preserve the scoreline. Cooper managed to get the Red Bulls back into the game with a chip of his own, but despite New York's efforts they just could not find an equalizer.

Chivas USA [0-1] Houston Dynamo

Chivas USA could only remain lucky for so long, after having defended attack after attack from the Dynamo through all ninety minutes of regulation time two minutes into stoppage time Chivas could hold the Dynamo back no longer. Andre Hainault provided the match's lone goal as the Dynamo become only the second eastern conference to win over the opening weekend.

Monday, March 12th

Portland Timber [3-1] Philadelphia Union

After a fairly even and uneventful first half, the match exploded into life early on into the second half, the Union striking first thanks to Gabriel Gomez taking a free kick that found it's way into the back of the net thanks to a Jean-Baptiste own goal. The Timbers didn't let the goal stand for long, Baptiste, the victim of the own goal, the one to head home the equalizer only three minutes later. DP Kris Boyd gave the Timbers the lead just over ten minutes later, Kalif Alhassan providing the service for the target forward to flick home past Zac MacMath. Alhassan capped of the night scoring a goal of his own, a beautiful chip/cross that found it's way into goal.

CCL Quarter Final Leg 1 Recap

Monterrey [3-1] Monarcas Morelia (Highlights)

Monterrey pulled off quite the upset, topping their Primera Division counterpart thanks to a brace from Chilean international Humberto Suazo and a late goal to restore their two goal lead and put the game firmly out of reach of Morelia by A. Carreno after Morelia managed to get back into the game thanks to a J. Huiqui goal.

Toronto FC [2-2] LA Galaxy (Highlights)

Toronto, lifted by a club record and second all-time tournament crowd of 47,653, shocked the Galaxy by getting a two goal lead before the match had hit the twenty minute mark, goals coming from Ryan Johnson and rookie Luis Silva only five minutes apart. The Galaxy, however, soon got back into the game thanks to a Mike Magee goal in the twenty ninth minute. They capped off the comeback in the dying moments of the match with goal by none other than Landon Donovan, who easily latched onto the ball after it had been loose in the box following a Beckham corner and knocking it home.

Seattle Sounders FC [2-1] Santos Laguna (Highlights)

The Sounders got out to a dream start at Century Link, they dominated the match early on, keeping Santos on the back pedal and ruling much of the run of play. That dominance quickly paid of, the Sounders striking first in the twelfth minute David Estrada heading a beautiful Fredy Montero cross past Santos keeper Oswaldo Sanchez. The Sounders couldn't quite maintain the domination they displayed early on in the match, Santos gaining purchase in match as the half drew to a close. Midway through the second half Santos took advantage of their increased authority in the match and leveled the terms, Hercules Gomez gathering the ball off of a Marc Crosas cross and deftly touching the ball past a reaching Michael Gspurning. The Sounders had an almost immediate response, however. Just two minutes later the Sounders earned a free kick in close proximity to the box, Mauro Rosales providing excellent service into the box and Brad Evans catching Sanchez off of his line and heading the ball home.

Isidro Metapan [2-1] Pumas UNAM (Highlights)

Lester Blanco led the way for Metapan, tallying a goal right before halftime and another only minutes after the second half had commenced. Pumas managed to force their way back into the game, however, Eduardo Herrara getting the Mexican team's lone goal in the sixty seventh minute.