MLS Wednesday July 30th, 2014

Four games on a busy midweek slate, beginning in...

DC, as United hosts Toronto FC. Joe Bendik and Bill Hamid man the nets. DC began in the eighth minute on an Eddie Johnson goal, via Perry Kitchen and Sean Franklin. The next three events in the game were yellow cards, all for fouls. These were shown to Toronto's Collen Warner in the thirty-sixth minute and United's Davy Arnaud and Chris Korb in the forty-second and fifty-fourth minutes, respectively. DC added on as Chris Rolfe scored in the fifty-ninth minute, with the help of Nick DeLeon and Luis Silva. United extended the lead when Toronto's Nick Hagglund put the ball into his own net for an own goal in the sixty-seventh minute. Toronto picked up a yellow card a minute later for a Michael Bradley foul. United had one more yellow card, given to Johnson in the ninetieth minute. The final stood at 3-0, with Hamid being the man of the match by making eight saves for a clean sheet.

Up in New England, the Revolution welcome the Colorado Rapids. Clint Irwin and Bobby Shuttleworth are the keepers. New England received an early gift as Drew Moor was charged with an own goal in the tenth minute. Colorado's Thomas Piermayr was shown a yellow card for a foul in the thirty-first minute. The game was relatively calm for forty minutes, and then things got interesting. In the seventy-second minute, Patrick Mullins of the Revolution was shown a yellow card for a foul. The Rapids received two yellow cards in the seventy-fourth minute. The first went to Irwin for dissent. The second was far worse, as Piermayr was called for a foul, earning his second card and ejection from the game. The drop to ten men was backbreaking for Colorado. New England scored in the seventy-fifth minute on a Lee Nguyen goal. Three minutes later, Kelyn Rowe deposited a pass from Nguyen into the twine to produce the eventual 3-0 final. The man of the match was Nguyen for his difference-making effort.

West to Chicago, where the Fire bring in the Vancouver Whitecaps FC. David Ousted and Sean Johnson protect the nets. Chicago was first to pick up a yellow card for a Chris Ritter foul in the twenty-eighth minute. Vancouver matched that with a Jordan Harvey yellow card for a foul in the thirty-sixth minute. The Whitecaps had another yellow card for a sixty-third minute Johnny Leveron foul. The Fire picked up the next yellow card as Lovel Palmer was booked for a foul. The scoring just wasn't there for either team, as the game ended in a scoreless draw. The man of the match was Johnson, turning away two shots on goal of the thirteen shots Vancouver took in the game to keep a clean sheet.

Finally, Real Salt Lake hosts the New York Red Bulls. Luis Robles and Nick Rimando tend the nets. Salt Lake led off in the eighteenth minute with a Joao Plata goal, via Chris Wingert. New York tied it on a Thierry Henry goal in the fifty-seventh minute, assisted by Tim Cahill and Bradley Wright-Phillips. Real was given the only yellow card of the game in the seventy-eighth minute on an Olmes Garcia offense for time wasting. The final was 1-1, and the man of the match was Henry for his equalizer to preserve a point for the Red Bulls.

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MLS Weekend July 26th-28th, 2014

There are five games covered in this post. The first two are on Saturday, beginning with...

Toronto FC hosting Sporting Kansas City. Andy Gruenebaum and Joe Bendik are the keepers. Toronto led off with a sixteenth minute goal by Jackson, assisted by Dominic Oduro. The rest of the first half was a parade of visits from the referee to Toronto, as Jackson (32'), Justin Morrow (35'), Oduro (44'), and Doneil Henry in the second minute of stoppage time all received yellow cards for dissent, a foul, not retreating, and another foul. Kansas City tied it in the forty-eighth minute on a Graham Zusi goal, going in unassisted. This set off another spurt of yellow cards, with Igor Juliao of Sporting and Michael Bradley of Toronto receiving them for a foul in the sixty-ninth minute and dissent in the seventy-third minute. However, it was a pair of Matt Besler fouls in the fifty-third and seventy-fifth minute that drew a pair of yellow cards, leading to Besler's ejection and Kansas City going down to ten men for fifteen minutes. Despite the disadvantage, Sporting took the lead on a Jacob Peterson goal in the eightieth minute, courtesy of Dominic Dwyer. This held up as a final score of 2-1, with the man of the match being Peterson for his go-ahead goal at an unlikely time.

The other game comes from New England, as the Revolution host the Columbus Crew. Steve Clark and Bobby Shuttleworth are in goal. Columbus ended up with a visit from the referee in the forty-first minute for a Wil Trapp foul that earned a yellow card. In the forty-third minute, the Crew took the lead on an unassisted goal by Federico Higuain. New England tied it in the fiftieth minute on an A.J. Soares goal, fueled by Kelyn Rowe. The Revolution also had the next yellow card, for a fifty-second minute foul by Scott Caldwell. Columbus took the lead in the eighty-fourth minute on an Ethan Finlay goal, passed from Justin Meram. New England received one last booking in the ninetieth minute for a foul by Lee Nguyen. The final was 2-1, with Finlay being the man of the match for a timely goal.

On Sunday, the first game was the Vancouver Whitecaps FC welcoming FC Dallas. Raul Fernandez and David Ousted man the nets. Vancouver began in the eleventh minute with a Darren Mattocks goal, via Gershon Koffie. Dallas tied it in the twenty-ninth minute on a Blas Perez goal, going in unassisted. Dallas took the lead with a Michel penalty kick conversion in the thirty-ninth minute. The Whitecaps tied it in the fifty-third minute on a Pedro Morales penalty kick goal. Vancouver's Mattocks picked up the first yellow card of the game for a foul in the fifty-ninth minute. The final score stood at 2-2, with the man of the match being Mattocks for his strong play.

Across Canada, the Montreal Impact bring in the Portland Timbers. Donovan Ricketts and Evan Bush are in the six yard boxes. Montreal started with a thirteenth minute goal by Andres Romero, via Justin Mapp. The Impact picked up a yellow card in the thirty-second minute for a foul by Hassoun Camara. Portland tied it up with a thirty-fourth minute goal by Maximiliano Urruti, courtesy of Darlington Nagbe. The Timbers took the lead as Will Johnson hammered home a penalty kick in the fortieth minute. Montreal was booked again on persistent infringement by Patrice Bernier for a yellow card. The Impact retied it in the forty-fourth minute as Maxim Tissot scored, assisted by Bernier and Felipe Martins. Portland took the lead in the eighty-second minute with an unassisted goal from Diego Valeri. This made it 3-2, the final, and Valeri was the man of the match for his game-winner.

Finally, on Monday, the Seattle Sounders FC host the Los Angeles Galaxy. Jaime Penedo and Stefan Frei guard the nets. Los Angeles wasted no time in scoring in the eighth minute on a goal by Gyasi Zardes, set up by Landon Donovan and Marcelo Sarvas. The Galaxy added on with a Donovan goal in the eighteenth minute, going in unassisted off a rebound. Donovan transgressed to pick up a yellow card for a foul in the twenty-seventh minute. Los Angeles extended the lead with a thirty-sixth minute goal by Stefan Ishizaki, passed from Sarvas and Donovan. In the third minute of first half stoppage time, the Galaxy received another yellow card for an argument from Omar Gonzalez. Seattle picked up two yellow cards in the second half, one for Jalil Anibaba's foul in the sixty-ninth minute and the other for Gonzalo Pineda's dissent in the seventy-ninth minute. The final was 3-0 in favor of Los Angeles, and Sarvas was the man of the match for making all the critical plays happen.

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