By Ian Laird
@UneducatedU on Twitter
This is a weekly run through of all of the MLS games from the previous week where I will do a quick review of each game and then pick a top performer, top goal, top save, top disappointment, and a young player to watch.
FC Cincinnati at Philadelphia Union
Score: 0-2
The Union picked up yet another win, but it may have come at a heavy price as backup goalkeeper Matt Freese, who was starting in place of Andre Blake who was injured two weeks ago, would leave with an injury himself. The first half was full of near misses for both teams as both Spencer Richey, the Cincinnati keeper, and Freese would be forced to come up with numerous big saves to keep the game scoreless. The second half started fairly similarly with Freese’s replacement Carlos Miguel Coronel and Richey having to snuff out multiple chances once again. The Union would finally get a breakthrough though in the 63rd minute when Kacper Przybylko got a free header in the box. Their second would come in the 70th minute with Picault making an excellent run across the to of the box allowing Ilsinho to slip him in for an easy finish.
Vancouver Whitecaps at Colorado Rapids
Score: 3-2
In an attempt to jumpstart their team after an anemic start to the season the Colorado Rapids decided to move on from head coach Anthony Hudson on Wednesday. In the interim former Rapids striker Conor Casey was named head coach of the team. His debut didn’t go as planned though as after clawing back from a two goal deficit they would drop to ten men and see Vancouver score the winner. Fredy Montero would score first for the visitors after some atrocious defending from Axel Sjoberg let him in one on one against Tim Howard. Then Lucas Venuto would score ten minutes later in the 26th minute with Fredy Montero once again sprinting past the languid Sjoberg and playing the ball across for Venuto to finish. The Rapids would get one goal back in the half when Kellyn Acosta was brought down by Montero in the box allowing Kei Kamara to convert the first of two penalties. He would get a second goal from the spot in the second half when Montero pushed his teammate Brett Levis into the back of Sjoberg when he was going up for a header. Any chance of getting their first win disappeared for Colorado though when Diego Rubio picked up a red card for swiping and connecting with Doneil Henry’s face after Rubio had been fouled. The Whitecaps thought they had scored the winner in the 82nd minute through Lass Bangoura, but it was ultimately determined that there was an offsides in the build up. The Whitecaps would only have to wait five minutes though for their third goal as Andy Rose would come on to score in his return from injury.
Los Angeles Galaxy at New York Red Bulls
Score: 2-3
Amro Tarek took advantage of some poor marking and an inability to clear the ball from the Galaxy to get the Red Bulls on the board first in the fifteenth minute. The Galaxy had an excellent response though as they nearly equalized in the 24th minute, but it was determined that Rolf Feltscher was just offsides before he got a touch on the ball. In the 39th minute the Galaxy would draw level with Diego Polenta initiating an attack with his through ball finding Zlatan Ibrahimovic whose cross made its way to Uriel Antuna for an easy tap in. They would then get another goal just before half time with Polenta once again supplying a long ball for Chris Pontius who tapped the ball across the face of goal for Ibrahimovic to finish. Their lead wouldn’t last for long though as before the hour mark in the second half Marc Rzatkowski would score with a left footed shot from just inside of the box. The Red Bulls would get the winning goal just minutes later as well with Derrick Etienne covnerting a Daniel Royer cutback to give the Red Bulls a hard fought and much needed three points.
Toronto FC at Orlando City
Score: 2-0
Orlando got the better of the exchanges in the first half with Will Johnson forcing an excellent diving save on a low shot and then another shot from Robin Jansson getting pushed onto the crossbar by a diving header from Chris Mavinga. In the second half there was a complete turnaround in terms of momentum with Toronto pressing for a goal early on but getting denied by Brian Rowe and the Orlando defense. They would finally get the opening goal with Jonathan Osorio shaking multiple defenders before curling a shot into the top right corner giving Rowe no chance. They would get a second goal to clinch the result in the 77th minute with Jay Chapman squeezing a shot from a tight angle between the legs of Rowe.
FC Dallas at Houston Dynamo
Score: 1-2
The Dynamo would emerge victorious from the Texas Derby behind a brace from Mauro Manotas. They would get their first goal by way of a penalty after star man Alberth Elis was chopped down in the box by Carlos Gurezo allowing Manotas to put Houston ahead in just the 20th minute. He would complete his brace in the second half redirecting an early cross from Memo Rodriguez past Jesse Gonzalez. An 87th minute goal from Dominique Badji would make things interesting late, but they squandered their only real chance with Santiago Mosquera just drifting offsides prior to scoring deep into stoppage time allowing the Dynamo to see out the game.
NYCFC at Montreal Impact
Score: 2-0
This was a dominant performance from NYCFC who took an early lead in the sixth minute, and never relented. Maximiliano Moralez got NYCFC started early putting home a rebound from a Ben Sweat shot. Their second goal would come four minutes into the second half with Ismael Tajouri capping off an excellent run from Anton Tinnerholm with a looping shot into the upper 90. After struggling to finish games earlier in the season when they drew five of their first six games, NYCFC have now won three of their last four games and are starting to move up the table.
New England Revolution at Philadelphia Union
Score: 1-6
With Anthony Hudson getting fired in Colorado it is clear that teams are comfortable moving on from coaches at this point in the season, and as the Revolution continue to flounder it seems like this beat down could potentially be the nail in the coffin for Brad Friedel. The Revolution actually managed to entire halftime tied 1-1 as after Jack Elliot inflicted the first wound with a goal in the eleventh minute, Juan Fernando Caicedo got an equalizer in the 35th minute. The second half was a different story though as the Union would go on to score five unanswered goals. The first would come two minutes after the restart with Ilsinho being allowed to dribble in on Cody Cropper virtually unchallenged and then firing a shot past Cropper at the near post. The next goal would come in the 69th minute with Sergio Santos getting on the end of a Kai Wagner cross for the first of his two goals. The second goal from Santos would be even easier as he would tap a rebound off a Kacper Przybylko shot into an empty net. Przybylko would get the fifth goal in the 82nd minute, and then David Accam would cap off the evening for the Union with an 88th minute goal.
Columbus Crew at D.C. United
Score: 1-3
The Crew lost their fourth game in a row, though the match would’ve likely played out a lot differently if not for a poor refereeing decision by Ted Unkel early in the first half. With just over 21 minutes on the clock Unkel got caught up between Luciano Acosta and Wil Trapp leading to a D.C. turnover at midfield, and with Columbus playing directly they managed to score within seconds of the turnover through Pedro Santos. After going to VAR though Unkel overruled his initial decision calling a foul at midfield where he had collided with Acosta rather than any Crew player fouling him. That decision was made in the 25th minute, and in the 27th minute Acosta would score a goal to give D.C. the lead. It doesn’t take much to think that that call helped swing the momentum D.C.’s way and if not for the baffling decision Columbus would’ve likely gone on to take control of the game and possibly win. D.C. would score again just before half with Trapp being called for a handball in the box giving D.C. a penalty that Rooney would convert in the fourth minute of stoppage time. They would get their third and final goal in the 61st minute when a deflected shot from Paul Arriola managed to sneak past Zack Steffen. The Crew would get a goal back in the 75th minute when Bill Hamid let a cross slip through his hands and into the net, but at that point the result was already in hand for D.C.
Seattle Sounders at Minnesota United
Score: 1-1
The Sounders got some good news earlier this week when they learned that Cristian Roldan’s red card from last week against LAFC got rescinded, and Roldan would ultimately play a massive role in their performance to earn a draw. Minnesota dominated attacking possession, but they could only manage one goal which came in the 26th minute. It came on a Jan Gregus free kick which was floated to the back post where Ike Opara was the player to rise up the highest and head the ball past Stefan Frei. In the game the Sounders only got one shot on goal, but they took advantage of it with a clearance to the top of the box setting up perfectly for a Roldan rocket off the half volley to equalize in the 42nd minute. Seattle would then go on to hit the woodwork twice in the second half, but they will be happy to just get out with a point knowing that some of their injury issues from recent weeks have started to subside and they are once again fully healthy.
Portland Timbers at Real Salt Lake
Score: 2-1
Portland got goals from each of its stars to pull off the win away from home and make it three wins on the trot after failing to win any of their first five games. Blanco got the first goal of the game scoring in the 34th minute, but RSL had the chance to open the scoring eight minutes earlier when they were awarded a penalty for a Zarek Valentin handball. Steve Clark came up big with a save though to deny Albert Rusnak and keep the game level at 0-0. Blanco’s goal would come shortly after with the momentum swinging the Timbers way, and the Argentinian playmaker followed up his own shot to smash a half volley into the roof of the net. Sam Johnson would get an equalizer just past the hour mark after getting just enough on a shot to sneak it past Clark, but Valeri would restore the Portland lead just minutes later with his outside of the foot shot bending inches inside of the post.
FC Cincinnati at San Jose Earthquakes
Score: 0-1
Cincinnati’s streak of losses continued this weekend after losing earlier in the week with a 1-0 loss to the Earthquakes who have started to look better recently after their slow start. The lone goal in the game came in the 22nd minute with Nick Lima hitting in a cross that was also on target hoping to freeze goalkeeper Przemyslaw Tyton with indecision about whether to commit to the ball or hold back in case a player redirected it in front of goal. The ball ended up getting through untouched, but by the time Tyton realized that it wouldn’t be deflected it was too late for him to make a save. Cristian Espinoza would pick up his second yellow in the 51st minute giving Cincinnati a lifeline, but Cincinnati would fail to capitalize.
Chicago Fire at LAFC
Score: 0-0
It was a surprise to see this game end 0-0 given the attacking firepower LAFC have and their excellent record at home of fourteen goals in five games. LAFC came close to scoring in the first half during a goalmouth scramble in the 28th minute, but the Fire managed to clear the ball off the goal line. The Fire had an even better chance in the second half when Nemanja Nikolics put the ball over the crossbar of an empty net from just a few feet away. Other than those two chances though the game was fairly quiet with not many clear cut chances and not a lot of action.
Atlanta United at Sporting Kansas City
Score: 3-0
After a slow start to the season Atlanta finally seem to have gotten the ball rolling a bit as they picked up their third win in their last four games. They would get their first goal when Josef Martinez crashed the net following an Ezequiel Barco shot that was saved and rebounded straight to him. The second goal came in the 47th minute with a bad turnover from SKC at the top of the box allowing Barco to fire a shot into the bottom left corner. The third and final goal came in the 76th minute with Martinez working himself free at the top of the box and then placing a shot in the top left corner sealing the game away.
Player of the Week
Josef Martinez
Martinez started off the season slowly with only two goals in his first seven appearances, but this weekend he showed signs of returning to the form of his first two seasons in the MLS. He scored two goals and forced the turnover that led to Ezequiel Barco’s goal this weekend, and was extremely active in the attacking third wreaking havoc and causing problems for the SKC back line.
Goal of the Week
Cristian Roldan
There was some thought that Roldan wouldn’t even be playing in this game after he received a red card last weekend, but the Sounders managed to get his red card rescinded and he responded by scoring this absolute screamer to pick up a point for Seattle.
Save of the Week
Spencer Richey
There have been very few highlight worthy plays recently for Cincinnati, but midweek in their 2-0 loss to Philadelphia Richey managed to come up with a few amazing saves including this beauty where he had to go full stretch.
Young Player to Watch
Auston Trusty
The Philadelphia Union have moved up into first place in the Eastern Conference, and Auston Trusty and their defense have been a big part of their success. So far the Union have managed four shutouts and Trusty has been one of the best performers for them so far. The 20-year-old center-back has extensive experience with the U.S. youth national teams having competed with the U-20 side at the U-20 World Cup and scoring a goal at the tournament. He also received a senior call up in December of last year for the U.S.’ friendly against Panama.
Further Reading
Where All the Major Title Races in Europe Stand and Who Still has Something to Play For
Ranking All Barcelona and Liverpool Players Head to Head
Contact me at uneducatedandunqualified@gmail.com if you have any questions.
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