MLS Midweek July 23rd-25th, 2014

Three games over three days. We begin with...

Wednesday's game in San Jose as the Earthquakes host the Chicago Fire. Sean Johnson and Jon Busch are the goalies. San Jose picked up a yellow card for a Jordan Stewart foul in the thirty-second minute. The Earthquakes began in the forty-fifth minute with a Shea Salinas goal, via Yannick Djalo. San Jose added on in the fifty-second minute with an Atiba Harris goal, going in unassisted. The Earthquakes extended the lead on a Chris Wondolowski goal, assisted by Djalo in the sixty-second minute. Chicago got a yellow card in the sixty-seventh minute for a foul by Gonzalo Segares. Grant Ward put the Fire on the board in the seventy-fifth minute with a goal, passed from Matt Watson. San Jose shot back with a seventy-ninth minute Djalo goal, set up by Cordell Cato. Chicago's Matthew Fondy had a yellow card shown to him in the eighty-first minute for his foul. The Earthquakes padded the lead on a Cato goal in the eighty-fourth minute, made possible by Wondolowski and Djalo. This made it 5-1, the final, with the man of the match being Djalo for his goal and three assists.

On Thursday, Real Salt Lake welcomed the Montreal Impact. Evan Bush and Nick Rimando are the keepers. Salt Lake started in the third minute with a Luke Mulholland goal, guided in by Chris Schuler. Real was visited by the referee in the eighteenth minute for a foul by Chris Wingert. Montreal tied the game in the thirty-first minute on a Hassoun Camara goal, via Calum Mallace. The Impact went down a man in the sixty-fifth minute as Issey Nakajima-Farran was shown a red card for a fight. Salt Lake cashed in with a seventieth minute goal by Olmes Garcia, courtesy of Javier Morales and Joao Plata. Montreal was shown another yellow card for a foul in the eighty-second minute by Jeremy Gagnon-Lapare. Real iced it with another Garcia goal in stoppage time, thanks to Morales, for a 3-1 win. The man of the match was Garcia for his brace. 

Finally, on Friday, the Colorado Rapids brought in Chivas USA. Dan Kennedy and Clint Irwin are in the six-yard boxes. Colorado opened in the sixteenth minute with a Nick LaBrocca goal, passed from Dillon Serna. The Rapids added on as Drew Moor scored in the twenty-sixth minute, via Dillon Powers. Chivas picked up a yellow card in the thirty-sixth minute for a foul by Nathan Sturgis. Colorado extended the lead in the seventy-fourth minute with a Gabriel Torres goal, assisted by Carlos Alvarez. This was good for a 3-0 win, with the man of the match being LaBrocca for his sharp early tally.

Follow me on Twitter @KipperScorpion. 

MLS July 18-20, 2014

Nine more games spread throughout the weekend, beginning with...

The Portland Timbers hosting the Colorado Rapids on Friday Night. Steve Clark and Donovan Ricketts start in goal. Colorado started with a sixteenth minute goal by Deshorn Brown, coming off of a set piece. The Rapids were given a yellow card for a foul by Dillon Powers in the thirty-seventh minute, followed by a Portland yellow card given to Danny O'Rourke in the forty-fifth minute, also for a foul. The Timbers tied the game in the seventy-second minute as Maximiliano Urruti scored, thanks to Jack Jewsbury and Will Johnson. Portland took the lead with a seventy-seventh minute goal by Diego Valeri, passed from Diego Chara. This was good for a 2-1 win, with the man of the match being Ricketts for turning aside seven of the eight shots directed at him.

On Saturday, the first game had Sporting Kansas City welcoming the Los Angeles Galaxy. Jaime Penedo and Andy Gruenebaum are the keepers. Kansas City led off with a tenth minute goal by Benny Feilhaber. Sporting added on in the sixty-first minute with an unassisted Lawrence Olum goal. In the sixty-sixth minute, Olum had a transgression in the form of a foul that earned him a yellow card. Los Angeles got on the board in the seventy-ninth minute with a goal by Robbie Keane, made possible by Bradford Jamieson. Keane also got into trouble after scoring, by picking up a yellow card for a foul in the eighty-eighth minute. Kansas City's Jacob Peterson had a yellow card for a foul in stoppage time, but his team won 2-1. The man of the match was Olum for the game-winner.

Further east, the New York Red Bulls bring in the San Jose Earthquakes. Jon Busch and Luis Robles are in the six-yard boxes. San Jose picked up a yellow card in the thirty-third minute for dissent by Chris Wondolowski, which helped lead to a Bradley Wright-Phillips goal for New York. Six yellow cards were handed out in a row after this point, with the Earthquakes getting booked for Shaun Francis' foul in first half stoppage time, Steven Lenhart's sixty-fourth minute dissent, and Shea Salinas' unsporting behavior in the seventy-eighth minute, while the Red Bulls had two in the seventieth minute for Tim Cahill and Jamison Olave's persistent infringement, followed by Chris Duvall's eighty-fourth minute foul. This foul led to an eighty-fifth minute equalizer for San Jose's Lenhart. New York had one last yellow card in stoppage time, for a dive by Peguy Luyindula. The score stayed knotted at 1, with the man of the match being a particularly feisty Lenhart.

Back west to Columbus, where the Crew host the Montreal Impact. Evan Bush and Steve Clark are the goalies. Montreal was first to score with a Marco Di Vaio goal in the thirty-fifth minute, thanks to Justin Mapp. Columbus tied it in the fifty-sixth minute as Bernardo Anor scored, via Tony Tchani. The Impact had a yellow card for a seventieth minute foul by Hassoun Camara. In the seventy-fifth minute, Anor scored again, this time from Aaron Schoenfeld. This held up for a 2-1 win, with the man of the match being Anor for his brace.

To Chicago, where the Fire welcome the Philadelphia Union. Zac MacMath and Sean Johnson will play goal. The teams traded yellow cards in the first half, with Amobi Okugo getting one for a foul in the twenty-second minute for Philadelphia, which was matched by Alex's foul in the twenty-sixth minute for Chicago. The Fire opened the scoring in the sixtieth minute with a Jeff Larentowicz goal, made possible by Harrison Shipp. The Union tied it on a stoppage time penalty kick conversion by Sebastien Le Toux. The final was 1-1, with MacMath named the man of the match for stopping three shots to allow the opportunity for a draw.

Down to Houston, where the Dynamo bring in Toronto FC. Joe Bendik and Tally Hall man the nets. Houston started with a Will Bruin goal in the eleventh minute. Toronto tied it in the eighteenth minute as Gilberto scored, thanks to Justin Morrow and Dominic Oduro. The Dynamo retook the lead in the twenty-sixth minute with a Giles Barnes goal, via Ricardo Clark. Toronto retied it with an Oduro goal, made possible by Luke Moore in the second minute of first half stoppage time. The second half had more yellow cards than the first half had goals, and most of these went to Toronto. They saw Doneil Henry get one for a foul in the fifty-eighth minute, followed by Michael Bradley getting one in the seventy-ninth minute for his foul to offset the yellow given to Houston's Corey Ashe for encroachment. Oduro also got a yellow card in the eighty-first minute for encroachment, and Toronto's fourth and final yellow belonged to Jermain Defoe for a foul in the eighty-eighth minute. The score remained 2-2, with the man of the match being Oduro for his goal and assist.

Staying in Texas, FC Dallas hosts the New England Revolution. Bobby Shuttleworth and Raul Fernandez guard the nets. Dallas began in the twenty-ninth minute with an Andres Escobar goal. New England had a yellow card for a foul by Chris Tierney in the seventy-ninth minute. Dallas iced it at 2-0 with a stoppage time goal by Tesho Akindele, assisted by Victor Ulloa. The man of the match was Fernandez for his three-save clean sheet.

Finishing off Saturday, Real Salt Lake welcomes the Vancouver Whitecaps FC. David Ousted and Nick Rimando received the starts. Salt Lake had the first yellow card for a Kyle Beckerman foul in the seventeenth minute. In the seventy-third minute, Darren Mattocks scored a penalty kick to give Vancouver the lead. Things were chippy for a bit, with the Whitecaps seeing yellow cards given to Matias Laba and Sebastian Fernandez for fouls in the seventy-fifth minute, followed by Ousted receiving a yellow card for dissent and Real's Tony Beltran getting one for a foul a minute later. Salt Lake evened the score in the eighty-first minute on a Joao Plata goal, via Beckerman and Luke Mulholland. The teams traded yellow cards again later, as Gershon Koffie received one for an eighty-eighth minute foul for Vancouver, followed by Real's Chris Wingert being booked for a foul in stoppage time. The 1-1 score was a final, and Plata was the man of the match for his equalizer.

Finally, DC United hosts Chivas USA on Sunday. Dan Kennedy and Bill Hamid are in goal. DC began in the twenty-fifth minute as Eddie Johnson scored on a penalty kick. United had a yellow card for a foul by Perry Kitchen in the thirty-first minute. Chivas' Nathan Sturgis was booked in the fiftieth minute on a yellow card for a foul. Kitchen redeemed himself in the fifty-ninth minute to add onto DC's lead by scoring, with the help of Johnson and Chris Rolfe. United extended the lead with a Luis Silva goal, via Chris Korb, but Silva was a little too excited and got booked for excessive celebration, a yellow card event. Chivas got on the board with Erick Torres' penalty kick conversion in the eighty-fourth minute, but this only made it 3-1. This was a final, and Johnson was the man of the match.

Follow me on Twitter @KipperScorpion.