2007 MLS Week 9 Recap or Johnson wows them again

Week 9 saw a bit of history as Eddie Johnson became the first player in MLS history to get back-to-back hat tricks, but it also saw a lot of red cards. In total, there were six red cards with four of them direct reds. The only match that did not see a red card was DC-LA. Interestingly enough three teams that got red cards won their games (HD,CF,TFC). However, the Crew also got a red card in their match with Chicago, but it came 18-minutes after the Fire's and four minutes form time.

Anyway, here is the league by numbers 59 games into the season:

	Season	Week 8
Attendance	884,306	94,637
Att per game	14,988	15,773
Goals	151	16
Goals per game	2.56	2.667
Inter-conference	East 11-5-8	East 1-0-2
Visitors	15-28-16	0-4-2
Ties	16 (27.1%)	2 (33.3%)

Colorado Rapids 1-2 Toronto FC
As fantastic as this result is for the depleted TFC, they have to be frustrated as they should have got about three more goals. Colorado was getting opened up all over the place but the last touch was not there for the Canadians. Jeff Cunningham still has not settled with his new club as he was not much of a factor. The Rapids have not looked very strong of late and cannot count on Herculez Gomez alone to bail them out when they get in holes.
Goals: TFC: Danny Dichio (3) 9', Andrew Boyens (1) 28'
CR: Herculez Gomez (4) 32'

Real Salt Lake 0-0 New England Revolution
The Revolution of Saturday night looked a lot like the Houston Dynamo of weeks 4-7. They won that game everywhere but on the score line. The chances were there, but they got nothing. Real should be happy with the point, but worried about what they showed. The club was flat, flat, flat. They opened up their back third and allowed the Revs to move in. Their midfield was giving away everything and there was no real attack up top. Other then that, great night for Real.

New York Red Bulls 2-3 Kansas City Wizards
One of the main reasons this night was owned by KC was the return of the ugly side of Clint Mathis. His tracheotomy on Kerry Zavagnin was more in line with 2005-06 Mathis, not the reintroduced '07 model. Anyway, with Mathis off in the locker room due to red for the second time of the season, New York was left to suffer through assault after assault by KC. New York did an okay job absorbing it, but it's hard to cover a fast player when he is on his game and you are lacking a man, thus the Eddie Johnson explosion. The good news for New York, even with all the play going KC's way, they still made a game out of it. Anytime you have just three shots on goal and get two goals, you are doing well. Side note, great job by KC fans to show up. The final number was just below 14,000, but that represents an increase of about 5,000 over their season average.
Goals: NY: Juan Pablo Angel (4) 8', Dema Kovalenko (1) 88'
KC -- Eddie Johnson (7) 46', (8) 59', (9) 85'

DC United 0-0 Los Angeles Galaxy
LA looked strong the first 30-mintues, but not from their regular face. Cobi Jones looked ready to put his mark on the game early as he and Nate Jaqua were freeing things up and making their runs. DC's backline was a bit lost and happy to get to the break tied at 0, but then came the second 45 and LA fell to pieces. They had no energy, they were not making passes and United was again and again finding their way into their final third. But United could not get the boot on the ball that would get them a goal. Still a point and a clean sheet are welcomed in DC. One little note to Troy Perkins, just because the game is boring doesn't mean you have to leave the box at every opportunity.

FC Dallas 1-2 Houston Dynamo
Dallas had this game in the first half but they let Houston sneak back in. The Dynamo's offense was doing their usual 'we don't get out of bed for the first half' routine and Dallas made them pay. The setup by Kenny Cooper for Abe Thompson's goal was wonderful, but Dallas gave up after the break. A crap clearance gave Houston the opening they were needing and Ricardo Clark finished. With the blood in the water, the Dynamo went nuts. They were putting in shots and causing havoc for the Dallas defense, but it took another bad play by one of those defenders to give Houston the lead. Drew Moor just stopped chasing Joseph Ngwenya giving him a 1 on 1 with the keeper and sure enough he got the goal. Dallas did respond but their best chance saw Pat Onstad cheapen the victory by purposely taking down Arturo Alvarez just outside the box. Yes, it was a smart play as it kept the victory for his side, but it was still cheap.
Goals: FCD: Abe Thompson (1) 32'
HD: Ricardo Clark (1) 51', Joseph Ngwenya (1) 66'

Columbus Crew 2-3 Chicago Fire
This one was back and forth but in the end, the fire got their first win in over a month. The Crew did put forth a great effort, but the way they surrendered the final goal is a perfect capsule of their problems. They had a corner kick. It was sent in and head right towards Stefani Miglioranzi who, to the surprise of everyone, whiffs it. The ball rolls right to Chad Barrett who takes off with just one defender anywhere near him. That defender was Kei Kamara who had just entered the game, but even on his fresh legs, he could not catch Barrett. It really is an odd play and worth a view. But the big hero for the Fire was Matt Pickens who made many great saves to keep the Crew from taking one in Chicago.
Goals: CF: Jeff Curtin (1) 25', Willian Oliveira (1) 61', Chad Barrett (1) 78'
CLB -- Duncan Oughton (1) 38', Chad Marshall (1) 84'