May 29, 2008 by f4denz.

Revolution’s last minute salvation

So on a call that I call questionable, I did not see a lot of contact, but rather more a player losing his balance a battle between two of the powerhouses of the Eastern Conference ended in controversy. A battle that saw both teams take over a dozen shots, a lot of good chances and some nice saves, ended on what has to be one of the most entertaining goals of the season. Steve Ralston goes down, on a “foul”, and New England is issued a PK in the 89^th minute, but they are facing Will Hesmer who has made a number of PK saves already this season 3 of the 4 he has faced, stopped the shot by Shalrie Joseph but it deflected out and Kheli Dube took advantage to put the ball into the back of the net and New England picks up 3 points as they win 1-0 to hand the Crew their first home loss. As three teams in the East have 19 points but Chicago takes the lead on goal differential.

Midweek rematch, different result

TFC had to travel to RFK Stadium and face off against DC United, a team they had beat in a midweek battle. TFC struck first on a Dichio goal in the 13^th minute and it looked like it would be a repeat of the mid week match, but DC United continued to attack and had several shots on goal, but they finally took advantage of 41^st minute corner kick to draw even with the team from Canada as Peralta had a diving header to put the ball into the back of the net. Toronto wasn’t done and in stoppage time of the first half Danny D, would strike again, this time a clear shot from the top of the box went straight into the back of the net as TFC retook the lead 2-1 as the half ended. DC United all season at this point would have packed it up and simply quit fighting, as demonstrated by their 2 wins and 10 goals going into this match, but perhaps they have finally found what has been missing. United would get back in this match on a stupid foul in the box by Wynne and we know what happens for DC when they get a penalty kick, yup Mr. Cheap Goals Jamie Moreno gets his 116^th goal to further extend his all time MLS goal lead. As the smoke was still rising from Bara Brava, United struck again as Sutton could not hold onto a shot from distance and the rebound found the foot of Emilio who had no problem finishing to give United the 3-2 win.

Fire catch fire and take over first

Chicago was red hot on Sunday as they went to the Big Apple to face off against the Red Bulls who should have been drinking some Red Bull. The attack started early as the Fire got their first goal in the 8^th minute, and they never looked back. Chicago was attacking the whole match, and despite a dive from Blanco in the box as he tried to get a PK, the Fire were the far superior team leading in shots, shots on goal and goals. All told Chicago would put 5 on the scoreboard to New York’s 1, in what was one of the most one sided matches since the two RSL vs. United matches this year.

Galaxy continue to impress

So LA has taken over sole possession of first place in the West on their back to back wins over FC Dallas and then last weekend over KC, a match that was covered on HDNet, so I did not see the match. Goals from Landycakes, Buddle, and Beckham gave LA their 3 goals, while KC scored first on a goal from Claudio Lopez it simply wasn’t enough.

Rivals match up

So when Chivas traveled to Colorado to face off against the Rapids, the best thing that could happen for RSL fans, would be if both teams could find a way to lose the match, since that can’t happen our next best hope would be a draw, something these teams do more often than winning or losing when they face off in the Mile High City. I have this match on DVR, but have not had a chance to watch it yet. I may post a more detailed review later, but I wouldn’t count on it. This one ended with the goat’s picking up a 2-1 win.

RSL blows it

So I am going to place the blame for the 2-1 loss at Dallas on two people, first on Jason Kreis for making an ill advised substitution in the 77^th minute, and second on Matias Mantilla the player that was brought on. The first half was tight with Dallas getting the better of chances but great plays by Borchers and Olave, along with saves by Rimando keep the scoreboard 0-0. RSL was forced to play with 10 men after Ian Joy got his second yellow card of the match in the 38^th minute. The second foul was clear but not a yellow card offense and the end result was that RSL which had struggled for offense on the road would have to try to get a win with just 10 men. In the second half it was only a couple minutes in before the match would take another turn do to a red card, as Bobby Rhine was shown a straight red for a foul on Morales. Both teams then struggled for a bit to figure out how they would play with the sides now even at 10 men each.

Jason made a good move by brining in Espindola for a struggling Findley which sparked the offensive efforts, but it was followed by a very strange move to bring in Kenny Cutler for Kenny Deuchar with the score tied at 0-0 in the 54^th minute. It appeared to be in response to Dallas getting more attacking chances; the end result was that RSL was able to take advantage of a great pass from Morales played through the Dallas defense and to the feet of Fabian who put it far post past a diving Sala to give RSL their first lead in a road match this season. RSL bunkered back as Dallas stepped up their attack in an attempt to respond to the RSL goal, and Dallas continued to play long balls into the box trying to connect with Kenny Cooper or Dominic Oduro (who came on in the 65^th minute), they also took advantage of RSL’s weak defense on the wings (as so many other teams have done), but Olave and Borchers were there to protect the RSL lead. But then come the mistakes that cost RSL three points on the road; it was a hot, humid night in Dallas and all the players on both sides looked very tired by the 75^th minute. Jason chose to pull Olave out and bring in Mantilla, despite the fact that Olave had been a stud all night long. Within 5 minutes Dallas took advantage and played a long ball into the box that this time found the head of Oduro (I will have to take a real close look at the replay but he may have been offside), but either way he had lost both of the central midfielders (it looks like a mistake on Borchers part as he was the man closest to Dominic) and put the ball past Rimando to tie the match.

As the clock hit 90:00, the score was 1-1, but as RSL history will attest to that doesn’t mean much, and even more so against Dallas. Sure enough, it was in the 91^st minute as RSL instead of playing their guys back to protect the draw on the road, had Mantilla all the way up near midfield, and Rocha took advantage of the out of place defense and played a long ball over the top to an onrushing Oduro, and the birdman beat Borchers and Dema could not recover quickly enough to get in the way of the shot as it went past Nick to give Dallas a win that they deserved. They took more shots (16 to 8), had more shots on goal (7-2), and simply took advantage of the mistakes by the RSL defense which had played so well up to the 77^th minute.

ON MY SOAPBOX
I still think Jason will make a good coach, but perhaps he needs to spend some time as an assistant first, I am sure fatigue lead Olave coming off, but this is professional soccer and he should have been able to go 13 more minutes, when your protecting a lead on the road pull an offensive player to get some fresh defensive legs, but don’t bring in a cold player to spell a hot player. With the recent announcement of Real Madrid not coming, perhaps we should consider some drastic changes? I say we offer Bruce Arena a real challenge as RSL’s new head coach, he has shown the ability to lead teams both in MLS and at an international level, it has to be better than doing color for the Wizards. I understand we are not a major market, but with a new stadium, a DP spot to use, and some good talent on our roster, brining in a “proven” coach may be the only thing to prevent another season of less than acceptable results.

Sorry Jason, I have to embrace the honest truth, and in a year while RSL’s play may be better (most of the time), and the talent level is improved, we simply have not shown the ability to take advantage of either. Saturday against San Jose in our 10^th match of the season, a win can raise us no further than fourth in the West. We have five other home matches before the All Star break; we need a result in each of them and at least 4 wins from the six matches in order to have 22 points. Considering that after the break we have a total of five home games the rest of the season, we will need to get some points on the road and after last weekends performance that is something we will be hard pressed to do. Given the fact that we continue to struggle to get our offensive issues worked out, we have not figured out how to use Kenny Deuchar (hint see how Dallas uses Cooper, duh). Our defense continues to leak like a sieve, despite all the upgrades. Our midfield has got issues as we continue to use players that are more defensive in their playing style in a majority of midfield roles, when our options are down to using Kenny Cutler (a hell of a nice guy), it is a sure sign that we need to improve our roster, perhaps a healthy Nathan Sturgis will help (but he will most likely be gone for a large portion of July and August).

Is it time to finally cut the half million dollar mistake called Nik Besagno? Yes, if you include his earning for this year Nik has made over half a million dollars for 440 minutes of total playing time, I know that a majority of that has been paid as part of the Generation Adidas project, but please it is either time for him to step up and become a player or time for us to send him on his way and let someone else figure it out. Perhaps a trade to Chivas, the new home of the RSL cast offs? Is it time to find ourselves a DP?

I have tried to be supportive this season, and I do see moments where RSL looks like a much improved side over years past, I do think the talent on the roster is better than it has ever been in RSL history, but the only real measure that matters is results on the scoreboard. No team has fewer wins than RSL this season, only one team (expansion San Jose) has fewer points, and it will take a huge effort in the final 2/3’s of the season to even get into the playoff race. I think it is possible, but unless the team begins to respond to Jason better, I have to start to look for a change in on field leadership.
OFF MY SOAPBOX

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May 19, 2008 by f4denz.

A classic battle in New York

While it was not the high scoring match that many consider the best MLS match in history (last years 5-4 Red Bulls victory of the Beckham led Galaxy in front of 65,000 plus fans), this weekends matchup between the Wizards and Red Bulls was one of the most exciting this season. KC started out with great possession and a calm, collected attack and for the first 10-15 minutes it looked like it would be a one sided battle with the home team getting the worse of it. Then all of a sudden the Red Bulls started attacking and forced a couple great saves by Hartman, and poured in several shots (they would have 20 on the night), but it was the Wizards who would strike first and take advantage of a great corner kick by Marinelli that Jimmy Conrad had no trouble finishing off. Once the scoring was started both teams settled down a bit and the next 10 minutes were rather boring, but then a great attack by New York, a shot by Richards, a save by Hartman but he doesn’t control it and Jozy pounds a ball towards the net but Jack Jewsbury clears the ball off the goal line to save the goal. Impressive on both sides and neither team slows down, this is a wide open match with a ton of chances for both teams, the first half would end with each team having 5 shots 2 on goal for KC, with one in, and 4 on goal for the Red bulls, but nothing on the scoreboard The first half ends 1-0 with KC in front of the Red Bulls.

The second half would be just as exciting as the first half, both teams continue to attack but the possession is a bit more limited for KC and New York seem to have started playing better as they control the pace of the match. The more time that NY plays in the final third of KC, the more chances and opportunities they get at the shots continue to rain in, but whenever Hartman makes a mistake someone covers the line and clears the ball for him, and the Red Bulls have to be pulling their hair out, since they are getting so many chances. In the 77^th minute after being pushed, pulled, held and fouled by Davy Arnauld, Dave van der Bergh throws a haphazard elbow as he tries to get away, Arnauld goes down on the contact and the official issues a straight red card to Dave and a yellow to Davy. New York is rattled for a few minutes but they continue to attack and in the 81^st minute Red Bulls rookie Danliegh Borman finally gets the Bulls on the scoreboard, and we are tied a 1 each. Another player from Africa making a difference on week 8 in the MLS, foreign players have over half the goals this season for the Red Bulls. After a foul on Jozy that was not called, Red Bulls head coach Juan Carlos Osorio is ejected from the match. New York down a man, and their head coach continue to attack and really control the match, a total of 32 shots (20-12 Red Bulls win that battle), and 10 of them on goal (8-2 advantage for the Red Bulls), but in the end the scoreboard shows 1-1 and each team will have to settle for a point in what was one of the most exciting matches of the year so far.

The Big Bang

Well if one believes the rocket scientists and such the Galaxy started with a big bang, all I know is if you ask the players and fans of FC Dallas, they would have to agree after the Galaxy explode at Pizza Hut Park. It started off slow with Dallas controlling the ball for the first 10 minutes or so, but then LA started putting long balls over the top to Landycakes and Buddle and while Dallas would try to counter attack, it was in minute 25 that everything started to go wrong for the Hoops. It was Chris Klein that would strike first on a ball served to his feet from the mid field stripe by Brandon McDonald, and Chris calmly put the ball by Sala going five hole on him. The attack would continue for the Galaxy, and while Dallas tried to counter attack it was clear that on this day the Galaxy would not be denied, six minutes later it was a play that started with a LA goal kick, played by Landon to Buddle who slipped behind the Dallas back line and put it pas Sala for goal number two for LA. But LA was just getting started, a mere three minutes later in the 34^th on a long balled played over the top to Landycakes he put a shot of Dallas DP Davino for the third goal for LA, but this one goes in the books as a own goal. Much to the agony of Dallas the half was not over and in minute 39 it was Edson Buddle putting in his second of the match. Dallas tried to continue attacking but when you are down 4-0 at the half only a miracle can save you and on this day there simply were no miracles.

Dallas would have a couple highlights in the second half as Oduro got a goal in the 54^th minute on a great cross by Cooper to get Dallas within three, but in the 75^th minute any chance for a comeback were ended as Adrian Serioux was shown a straight red card for a hard studs up slide tackle that was late and from behind on Golden Balls, it was a well deserved red card. LA had one more trick in their bag and in the 85^th minute they did something that no other team has done this year, yup for the second time this year a Galaxy player got a hat trick as Buddle got his 3^rd goal of the match which is also his 3^rd of the year on a great headed ball served up by Beckham (his 5^th assist so far this year). The last few minutes were ugly as LA played keep away and Dallas ran after the ball with very little in the way of offensive chances. Two things are clear in the 5-1 Galaxy victory, first it should have been more like 8-1, but Landon did not finish a couple of chances that on most days would have found the back of the net, the second thing is that LA is finding out how to take advantage of teams that overplay the superstars. While both Landon and Beck’s were a big part of the effort, it was a guy making $150,000 a year that almost single handed got the win, on most teams Edson would be one of the top paid players, but on LA he is number 5 on the earning list.

RSL travels to Dallas next weekend, can RSL shake their road issues and play up to the quality they have shown at home? Will Morales be healthy enough to play, can RSL finally figure out how to use Kenny Deuchar, can RSL take advantage of Serioux being out on red card suspension? That match preview will be coming up on Thursday evening.

OFF MY SOAPBOX

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May 18, 2008 by f4denz.

Houston makes it two in a row

In what normally would be an expected result with the Dynamo beating Chicago, this one was a real surprise given Houston’s struggles and Chicago’s hot start. Houston from the starting whistle were in the attack and not looking like a team with only 1 win in their first 7 matches, the confidence of last weeks victory has made a huge difference in how they played all match long. A shot from distance by Clark, took a couple bounces and ended up in the back of the net, credit was given to DeRo the last Houston player to touch the ball, but this one deserves to go to Clark it was his effort that gave the lead to Houston. Calen Carr answered back for Chicago in the 28^th minute to tie the score at 1-1, the assist goes to Blanco. Both teams really did play a fairly aggressive style and chances were had by both sides but the defense and keepers were up to the tasks, Houston was the more attacking side and in the 82^nd minute off a free kick Bobby Boswell headed the shot into the back of the net as the Dynamo took the lead 2-1. Chicago had a final chance to get a point at home and keep soul possession of 2^nd place in the East, but a Blanco free kick from 30 yards out with time running out fell helplessly into an Onstad basket catch to end the game. It was a wet night in Chicago and the Fire could not keep pace with Columbus who remain atop the MLS at the end of week 8.

Dead on prediction

OK I had a bad week with my picks but I did get one dead on, the New England Revolution faced off against expansion side San Jose who are looking more and more like an expansion team as the season move along. In the 6^th minute the Rev’s had a free kick from about 40 yards out it dropped into the box and another of Steve Nicol’s imports from Africa Kheli Dube put it into the back of the net for the first goal of the night. The second goal should be the goal of the week, it won’t because it was James Riley heading the ball over his own keepers head for one of the greatest own goals in MLS history, wow as if San Jose didn’t have enough other problems. 2-0 Revolution at the half, and in the end it stayed that way, but this match was very one sided as San Jose got off just 4 shots and only 1 on goal, the only areas that San Jose put up bigger numbers was in fouls (16-6), and yellow cards (3-2). So the question remains what Revolution team will show up next?

Score first and win

This year in MLS only one time has a team scored first and not won the match, it happened last week when San Jose lost after scoring first against Columbus, and it happened again on Saturday night as DC United got an early goal from their DP Gallardo got his third goal of the season in the 30^th minute of a match that DC United appeared to be back to their old form in the first half. The second half however would be a very different story starting in the 73^rd minute when RSL castoff Atiba Harris kept a ball alive by rushing the keeper, and Jessie Marsh cleaned up the lose ball and put it in the back of the net to get Chivas on the board. In the next 9 minutes Chivas would score two more times and each time the goal was facilitated by the play of Atiba Harris (Jason he is a striker not a defensive midfielder). The first came 3 minutes later as Atiba put a great pass on the feet of a rushing Sasha Kljestan who put it past the keeper for Chivas goal number two, Chiavs continued to attack and almost scored again just 3 minutes after their second goal on another play started by Atiba. The final nail in the United coffin came in the 82^nd minute when a very clearly offside Atiba Harris (horrible MLS officials continue to influence match outcomes) passed the ball to Jorge Flores for the third Chivas goal of the night. Chivas had a couple more chances in a match that saw Chivas pick up their second win of the MLS season and pull even with RSL in the West with 8 points.

More to come

I will be watching the KC vs. NY match here in a bit and later tonight the Galaxy’s romp of Dallas, I will post those reviews later this evening.

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May 17, 2008 by f4denz.

TFC stand tall against the Crew

In what might be considered an upset Toronto and Columbus battled on a very windy day in Canada, the match was very chippy as the players were not afraid of physical play. Toronto controlled most of the possession and had more shots, and shots on goal, but the match also featured the very questionable officiating of Kevin Stott (RSL will remember him from the Galaxy match), who missed several calls and was very inconsistent in on many others. Columbus had a couple chances but truly TFC played a better match in what ended up as a 0-0 draw which when your facing the best team in MLS has to be considered a victory, if even just a moral one.

RSL News

Real vs. Rapids Reviews

Rapids emerge victorious in the ‘battle of the West’ merinews.com
REAL SALT Lake (RSL) and the Colorado Rapids (CR) played in the ‘battle for the West’ for first blood and a first place berth in the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The match took place in Commerce City, Colorado, at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, on May 15, 2008. The match was played before 11,414 spectators.

Real Salt Lake blows chance to climb on top of conference race deseretnews.com
Three-quarters of the MLS season remains, but Real Salt Lake definitely missed a golden opportunity at putting its stamp on the Western Conference race Thursday night. Knowing that a victory would’ve pushed it to the top of the diluted Western Conference heap, RSL played an awful second half and the Colorado Rapids capitalized with a 2-0 victory at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

Rapids double up RSL at home sportsnetwork.com
The Colorado Rapids claimed the top spot in the underwhelming Western table with a 2-0 home win over Rocky Mountain rivals Real Salt Lake on Thursday night at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Major League Soccer action. Omar Cummings and Christian Gomez scored in the second half to lead the home side to its fourth win of the season. With the two late tallies, the Rapids have scored 12 of their 13 goals this season after the break.

Bad News gets worse

Real Madrid pulls out of Aug. 9 visit to SLC sltrib.com

Real Madrid backs out of exhibition with RSL deseretnews.com

Official communication to fans from RSL President via Client Experience newsletter
Royal Club Members,

As Season Ticket holders, I wanted to personally communicate this message to you before it becomes public knowledge later today.

We have recently learned that Real Madrid has decided not to make their U.S. Tour this summer; instead they will be traveling to South America and Europe for pre-season.  Unfortunately, they will not be stopping in Salt Lake City as previously planned, but we are hopeful they will return here in 2009 to play in our new stadium. 

With this said, we are in final negotiations with a handful of first division European and Mexican clubs to play us in Salt Lake City this season.  Please know, we will continue our commitment to bring world class soccer clubs here to Utah as we have done in the past.  The bonus tickets that you hold in your package, as well as the Real Madrid ticket will be fulfilled with these future game announcements.

As an organization, RSL values your loyalty and we appreciate your continued support.  We look forward to an exciting MLS season and to another set of compelling international exhibitions.

Sincerely,

Bill Manning
President
Real Salt Lake

ON MY SOAPBOX
Coming off a commanding season in the Spanish league to claim another championship their 31^st, I am not really surprised that Real Madrid is chasing money versus keeping promises. How much does the Spanish organization really value the partnership deal they signed less than a year ago with SCP Worldwide (read about it here)? So what is the response of the RSL organization, to pack the stadium with fans of some Mexican teams that most RSL fans have little or no interest in seeing, I hope that they put forth a solid effort to get a better replacement than that. Here are a couple suggestions; Barcelona just signed a deal with MLS, how about them, West Ham United, as much as I really could care less about the hammers, they are a team with a huge worldwide following and besides what would be better than hearing “forever blowing bubbles” at RES, perhaps a revisit of the USMNT, what about Roma, Inter, or a team from Italey, how about this get us a DP who is either a incredible forward or a great attacking midfielder, and if you can’t do better than a couple teams from Mexico, how about allowing a $50 refund or $50 credit towards next year season tickets?

I am sure in the next few weeks and months that we will be offered a number of solutions, but I expect more in the way of excuses which would be a big step back in the progress the RSL front office has made in recent months. Add this to the impending debacle of the seat transfer process to the new stadium and not much could be worse for RSL, a team that continues to struggle on the pitch, and now a PR black eye that will be hard to cover up. There are a lot of options for Manning, Lagerwey, and Checketts, none of them are going to be cheap, none of them are going to be easy, too often the fans have been given the same lemons that the team is supplied with, this time fans deserve and should demand the very best lemonade money can buy.

OFF MY SOAPBOX

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May 11, 2008 by f4denz.

Predictions

So I got the results right on the Crew, Fire, Revolution, and RSL wins, and got the Dynamo and Galaxy matches wrong. So 4-2 this week, not too bad.

Crew take back first place

This match was closer than I thought, with San Jose not giving up after they lost their first half 1-0 lead by allowing Columbus to score 3 goals in 10 minutes. San Jose got back into the match a Ryan Johnson goal in the 89^th minute, and continued to attack until the final whistle. In fact San Jose outshot the Crew 19-14, with the two sides being almost dead even in shots on goal 8 for the Crew and 7 for the Quakes. The Crew dominated two statistical areas in the match, corner kicks 18-7 and the final score 3-2.

Not so Golden Balls

Well last week Beck’s almost single handedly got his team a point on the road, but this week the superstar wasn’t him or Landycakes, it was Juan Pablo Angel. It was in the 77^th minute that the Galaxy’s Gordon turned a ball in the box and scored to even the match 1-1, but when you have super players, you sometimes get rewarded for it. Angel, answered Gordon’s goal just sixty seconds later as he got the ball after a superb run by Dane Richards that sliced the Galaxy midfield and defense, then it was the crafty Angel, responding to the keepers aggression by putting the ball into the back of the net for his first goal of the 2008 campaign. Despite the Galaxy throwing everything but the kitchen sink at the Red Bulls for the last 10 minutes, plus stoppage time, one of the leagues best defenses stayed tough and got their team 3 points on the road. New York Red Bulls 2- LA Galaxy 1.

Winless no longer

Well we all knew that the last team in the MLS to get a victory this season would not stay winless for long. Houston solved not only their winless problem, but would solve a couple other issues in doing so. The Dynamo came out will all pistons firing in front of their home crowd, and the Rapids were up for the test, as each team tried to get an early goal and put weak efforts on goal. Houston controls possession for most of the first half and have the better of the chances, including a DeRo effort from a 12^th minute free kick that is too high and the flag is up for an offsides call, then in the 18^th minute Ching gets a 1 on 1 with the keeper and chips it over the top of the goal, another DeRo effort comes in the 24^th minute from a free kick, but goes wide. DeRo leads the MLS in shots the season with 24, 9 of which have been on goal, but not a single one has found the back of the net. Colorado wasn’t without their efforts as Cummings had a great effort, but as shut down cold by Pat “ice, ice” Onstad. The first half however did not end scoreless, in the 44^th minute a failed offside trap by Colorado, left Ching with another 1 on 1 with Bonda, but this time Ching gets by him, and rolls the ball into the back of the net for his first goal of the 2008 season, 1-0 Houston.

The second half saw Colorado play much more aggressively in an attempt to equal the score, but Houston is still the better team and control much of the second half as well. Colorado does get a great chance in the 68^th minute on a free kick just outside of the box, but it gets headed over for a goal kick, but Colorado gets the ball back off the goal kick and counters as Gomez plays a great ball to Cummings, who finds the back of the net to tie the match at 1-1. Houston starts playing more aggressive as they move their back line higher into the attack, and Colorado tried to take advantage of it, but neither team really gets much of a chance. In the 80^th minute Medhi Ballouchy comes into the match, it is his first action of the 2008 season. Houston is still the more aggressive side and win a corner kick in the 85^th minute, on the kick the ball is handed inside the box by Ihemelu and a PK is issued. DeRo is going to take it, and without much trouble puts it into the back of the net to give his team a 2-1 lead, but more importantly he gets his first goal of the year. Now things get interesting, McManus who went out of the match in the 65^th minute, appears to get a second yellow card while on the bench and is shown a red card (this was clear while watching the match, but isn’t showing up on the MLS website yet), and should not be eligible for the Thursday matchup with RSL. Colorado has a few minute of frantic attacking, but nothing gets by Onstad and Houston wins the match 2-1, to get their first win of the season, and both Ching and DeRo get their first goals of the 2008 season.

The goats continue to struggle

This was an interesting match up as New England got many of their injured players back, and Chivas continued to struggle, Chivas was the more aggressive side to start the match and a couple efforts were easily stopped by Reis. Mendoza was all over the pitch in both attack and defense and all match was the best Chivas player, but Galindo also put forth a good effort. Chivas had a number of early chances but their finishing problems continued as the defense of New England bent but did not break, the Revolution did attack but they did so with a much more deliberate effort, in the 18^th minute Mansally gets a great ball from Albright and makes the most of the match up with Guzan and finds the back of the net 1-0 Revolution. Chivas continues to get chances created by their midfield, but their forwards simply do not capitalize on them as New England’s defense continues their bend not break approach to the match. Both sides are battling in the midfield, but play is sloppy on both sides, Chivas controls more of the possession, but as the half ends the Rev’s have the goal.

The second half sees a welcome site to all MLS fans, the return of Taylor Twellman. Chivas again is the more aggressive side and in the 51^st minute Mendoza makes a great pass to Galindo who fires a shot into the wrong side of the net, another blown chance. New England is controlling more possession in the second half and twice get the ball in the box, but only one weak shot to show for it, but in the 59^th minute one of the New England counters ends with a great pass by Steve Ralston find Twellman, who finishes it to give New England a 2-0 lead. A scare for the Rev’s as Shavar Thomas steps on Twellman, who crumples to the pitch in pain, but Taylor walks it off and continues. Chivas get’s another chance in the 76^th minute as they have some great passes in the attacking third, but Sasha’s touch fails him and nothing comes of it. Both teams play some fairly ugly ball for the rest of regular time as Chivas continues to try to attack, but the New England defense is up to the task. In the 93^rd minute after several minutes of aggressive attacks, Chivas gets something to show for it, as Galindo gets Reis to follow him to the endline and passes the ball back to Braun, who puts it into the back of the net a few seconds before the final whistle 2-1 New England is the final score.

RSL vs. FC Dallas

I am working on a summary of the match, but as is my new habit, I want to watch the match again, so the emotions of last night do not cloud my opinions. It should be up later this evening or early Monday morning.

OFF MY SOAPBOX

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