After two outstanding weeks in MLS, week three returned us to Earth a little, starting with a snowed out Friday night match on Unimas, continuing with a goal drought, and some more red cards. Lets get stuck in...
Philadelphia Union 0-2 FC Dallas gave us one of the worst fouls in recent MLS history, when Zach Pfeffer lost his mind during a hard fought and hard foul filled match, when he intentionally (no matter what he says after the event, the evidence is crystal clear) threw and elbow/forearm into the head of Mauro Diaz. Going down to ten men threw Philly into tailspin and allowed Dallas to gain control of the match, as Tesho Akindele and Ryan Hollingshead keep Dallas perfect through the early season. Overall, it wasn't a pretty match, and we can all be grateful that when the snow vanished and this match finally happened, its the only time this season these two sides will face off.
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION 0-0 MONTREAL IMPACT saw two winless and goalless clubs leave as they entered. While Montreal has been fantastic in CONCACAF Champions League, for two weeks in a row they have stuttered in league play, and took a massive blow to their season and CCL hopes when young up and coming forward Cameron Porter went down with a knee injury that will see him miss the rest of the season. Jack McInerney took his place and continued to disappoint. New England also has stumbled out of the blocks this season, and look lost without DP Jermaine Jones. They have kept clean sheets, but look lost in transition.
COLORADO RAPIDS 0-0 NEW YORK CITY FC gave us a Colorado side finally coming to life, though still unable to get more than a point, and a NYCFC side still trying to find the right chemistry. While Colorado had the better of the first half chances, it was a more even competition through most of the second half, until loanee from Manchester City Shay Facey saw a second yellow and got sent off in his NYCFC debut. Overall, a pretty dire affair with poor finishing.
ORLANDO CITY SC 0-1 VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC while no thrilling encounter, gave hope for the matches ahead. The vast majority of the match was rather lifeless with only brief glimpses of promise, with Vancouver even resorting to time wasting tactics in added time. Near the death, Orlando had a few half chances that just didn't fall. In the 6th minute of 5 added minutes which was added to in part due to silly fouls on Orlando combined with Vancouver's time wasting saw a cross into the box flicked on by new boy Octavio Rivero to give Vancouver the full share of the spoils. Easily the most exciting end to a match in week 3, it helped us forget the first 90 minutes.
SPORTING KANSAS CITY 0-0 PORTLAND TIMBERS FC was yet another goalless draw where finishing was lacking and the game only sprang to life in brief spells. What I had predicted to be a match of the week, was more of the same of what we had seen in the first four matches. Zusi, Adi, and Nagbe all attempted to bring their teams to life but failed. Both of these teams seem to still be trying to find their way, which is interesting for two of the teams with the least change during the offseason. Portland can say that injuries have weakened them early in the season, but KC really can't make such excuses.
LOS ANGELES GALAXY 1-1 HOUSTON DYNAMO gave us a fun and exhilarating first 11 minutes, then petered out to a finish. Robbie Keane opened the scoring after just three minutes, with former Galaxy (among several others) man Nathan Sturgis equalized for the Dynamo. While the match became stop/start for the majority of the next 80 minutes, Dynamo may have paid a heavy price for the point, with midfielder Ricardo Clark and defender Demarcus Beasley both going off due to injury. Houston seems to be settling in well under Coyle, but summer still can't come soon enough, when El Cubo Torres arrives, hopefully bringing goals. For LA, also awaiting a key summer addition in Steven "38 second" Gerrard, they are a solid team built for the long haul, but still missing a little something in the midfield without Landon Donovan and Marcelo Sarvas.
NEW YORK RED BULLS 2-0 DC UNITED saw Bradley Wright Phillips and countryman Lloyd Sam put their bitter rival to the sword in one of the better matches of the week. The scorers all put in quality performances, as did McCarty, Robles, and Felipe for the home side, while Rolfe and Hamid both had decent performances for the road team, which clearly misses talisman Fabian Espindola and DP Eddie Johnson.
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES 2-1 CHICAGO FIRE opened Avaya Stadium in the final match of the week, a match which started strong, hit a lull, sprung to life again, and was a bitter battle until the final whistle. Fatai Alashe scored the first goal in stadium history, while defender Ty Harden scored his first ever MLS goal in his 100th match to double the lead for the Quakes. The game then settled down before Harry Shipp got one back for the Fire, their first goal of the season, and then the Quakes got tense before the rabid home support and the Fire pushed on for an equalizer. It didn't quite come off, and San Jose got the result they desperately wanted. San Jose is still a work in progress under the returned Dom Kenner, while Chicago continues to struggle. They showed signs of life finally, and got DP David Accam on the pitch for the first time in the second half, but their other DP's have still failed to ignite. Amarikwa and Shipp are still the best players in the side and need to be featured until the DP's perform.
WEEK 4 PREDICTIONS:
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION 0-0 SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES
MONTREAL IMPACT 1-0 ORLANDO CITY SC (If Piatti returns, they should get the points)
DC UNITED 1-1 LA GALAXY
NEW YORK CITY FC 0-0 SPORTING KANSAS CITY (Look for a hard fought battle on a tight Yankee Stadium pitch, with Roger Espinoza playing a key role for KC, and Mix Diskeruud the key man for NY)
VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC 2-2 PORTLAND TIMBERS FC (A match of the week contender, the Cascadia rivalries are always fun, and you never know what might happen)
DALLAS FC 2-2 SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC (FC Dallas is off to a flyer, trying to prove they are a real contender in the West. With Dempsey out of action this week, a win would seal their position as early season favorite in the conference for Dallas. A win for Seattle would lay down a marker that they are still the team to beat in the supporters shield race.)
HOUSTON DYNAMO 1-0 COLORADO RAPIDS
CHICAGO FIRE 0-0 PHILADEPHIA UNION (ESPN2 Sunday night match)
REAL SALT LAKE 1-0 TORONTO FC (FS1 match of the week, Toronto is without Bradley and Altidore who are with the US, so look for Cassar's men to sneak the points at home)
COLUMBUS CREW SC 2-1 NEW YORK RED BULLS (My pick for match of the week, the Crew return to action after a bye week looking to make some noise at home against a conference rival in the Red Bulls. New York had a quality result against a bitter rival last week and looks to push on under Jesse Marsch against the Crew. Expect quality football and entertainment, no matter the result.)
I hope you enjoyed my review/preview, and I hope you have been getting stuck in with season 20 of MLS. This week brought news of a new addition in 2018 with NASL side Minnesota United FC joining the league. Things are looking up. we just need to hope as the years progress, we won't have MLS playing a full 10 match schedule again when 57 players are out with their national teams.
Until next time, remember, MLS Matters.
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