Houston Dynamo 2007 MLS Cup Champions - The Dynasty has begun

Houston Dynamo 2-1 New England Revolution
The first half saw the team from Houston looking out of place as their backline was confused and their passing game was pathetic, however, Coach Kinnear provided some halftime magic to regroup his side.

Half number two saw the team start pushing forward, but the big change was the marking in the midfield. New England was started having trouble pushing through, which gave Joseph Ngwenya and Dwayne De Rosario the room they needed to move into the attack. Ngwenya looked especially much improved in the second 45 as his first half was a mix of poor passing, selfish play and sloppy attacks.

But Ngwenya more then erased all that bad with his game-tying goal in the 61'. Actually, his sloppy attack came in handy as his whiff kick caused Matt Reis to dive, opening up the hole for the actual goal. Then came the winner. Brad Davis sent in the cross and De Rosario did the rest. How much force was on that header?

New England was playing their game through out the first half, but in the end, the same problem that they were some how able to overcome in the first two rounds of the playoffs was too much today. Their goal scoring ability, or lack there of, cost them. Okay, Pat Onstad had a lot to do with that, but with so few big options up top, Houston was able to keep control even when being out played. Off topic, but Onstad deserved the MVP a bit more then DeRo in my opinion.

Also, the Revs were very lucky to not get a pk against them in the first 15 minutes when Avery John took down Nate Jaqua from behind in the box (I think it was Jaqua, but my memory might be a bit fuzzy) and the Khano Smith as Zidane act should have been a red card (although hands off to ref Alex Prus for doing everything he could to keep calls from deciding this one).

So Houston repeats as MLS Champions and New England is officially the saddest team in the league (but way to not cry Matt Reis). The Dynamo have earned the MLS title and deserve all the dynasty talk and it is only fitting that it took place at RFK, the home of the only other team that has ever reached MLS dynasty status.

Congratulations to the Houston Dynamo and their outstanding fans.

Goals:
NE: Taylor Twellman (3) 20'
HD: Joseph Ngwenya (1) 61', Dwayne De Rosario (2) 74'
Attendance: 39,859

New England Revolution wins the East, look for the double

Chicago Fire 0-1 New England Revolution

Chicago's lack of finishing finally did them in as the Revs return to MLS Cup for the fourth time in six years. Overall, the match was lacking in excitement as both sides suffered from poor passing in the final third, but the real story is the lack of quality shots on goal the Fire had. Of their 10 on target shots, only two forced Matt Reis to make any sort of effort to stop them.

Blanco was mostly invisible on the evening thanks in large part to referee Kevin Stott. Since a large part of Blanco's game is based on getting calls from the ref, if the ref ain't calling', it just ain't happening. But Blanco was not the only player lacking. Other then some quality saves by Matt Pickens the team was a wash.

The Twellman goal was excellent, but overall, the Revs were a bit caged, but that is sort of their style.

As far as the ESPN call, it did not add anything to the excitement level. Even though they talked a large amount about the game, overall, it was just filler and enough about Boston being the city of champions. We got it the first time.

Goal: Taylor Twellman (2) 38'
Attendance: 10,317 (not very good at all)

2007 MLS Playoffs - Week 2 recap - First always loses to worst

Without a doubt, leg 2 of round 1 was a lot more fun then leg 1. However, after both number one seeds were knocked out by the bottom seeds, one has to wonder if the league needs to take some sort of action to give the teams that proved themselves during the whole season an advantage in the playoffs. But that is a discussion for another day.

Here is the playoff table after the first round:

	Playoffs	Week 2
Attendance	136,331	79,353
Att per game	17,041	19,838
Goals	13	10
Goals per game	1.625	2.5
Visitors	0-5-3	0-2-2
Ties	3 (37.5%)	2 (50%)

FC Dallas 1-4 Houston Dynamo
Houston wins series 4-2 on aggregate
It is a real shame this match was not on national television because it is exactly the sort of game that could convert casual fans. The atmosphere was amazing, the game was physical yet had great flow and the goals were all fantastic.

FCD just needed a tie to win the series and early on it looked like they were going to do that, but then one stupid reaction turned this game. Two minutes into the second half, Arturo Alvarez allowed the intensity of the match to get the better of him and got sent off for giving Brad Davis a knee to the groin. Alvarez, a Houston native, sank his team and should be deeply ashamed of his actions.

Up a man with 30,000 fans roaring them on, the Dynamo attack, which has been mighty cool for most of the reason, flared to live as Houston cut through Dallas's lines again and again. Passes that had early been a little off where now finding their marks as Dallas was overwhelmed by the push.

Sure enough, 20-minutes almost to the second after Alvarez was sent off, Houston go their first to tie the game and bring them within one on aggregate. Five minutes later, the series was tied after come great passing in the box setup a reborn Brain Ching who slotted the ball home.

Houston kept pushing to get the third and kill the game in regular time, but FCD had just enough in them to stop it from happening.

But then came overtime and Dallas fell to pieces. They were dragging all over the pitch and when Joseph Ngwenya again setup Brian Ching for the goal ahead goal, there was not a shocked fan in the house. The Dynamo were rolling and the fans were going crazy.

The death nail would come in the 100th minute when Brad Davis stepped up to take a free kick just outside of the box. He delivered a perfect shot into the upper corner of the goal and the series was over.

The teams played on for another 20-minutes but it was mainly time filled with the Dynamo killing off the game as FCD tried desperately to make anything happen (usually resulting in fouls).

This was exactly the sort of game we have come to expect from Houston as they controlled it without any doubt. Still, they were having a lot of trouble with a full 11, which should give Kansas City at least a little hope heading into the 'conference' final.

On a different note, how big of a bouquet of flowers do you think the Dynamo sent Alvarez to think him for going all Ricardo Clark on Davis?

Goals: FCD: Carlos Ruiz (1) 14',
HD: Stuart Holden (1) 67', Brain Ching (1) 72', (2) 97', Brad Davis (1) 100'
Attendance: 30,088 (way to go Houston!)


New York Red Bulls 0-1 New England Revolution
New England wins series 1-0 on aggregate
Much like the Houston match, it took a side going down a man to turn this one. However, unlike the showdown in Texas, the man advantage was due to an injury. The Revs found ways of breaking New York's line, but they never really applied constant pressure. But when Juan Pablo Angel went out after taking a hard knock to the chin that resulted in a concussion, the Revs saw their opening.

NY coach Bruce Arena took a gamble in allowing his doctors to check on Angel before replacing him and it did not pay off. With the extra man to push forward, the Revs finally had that little extra opening they needed to get the final pass perfectly in place for Taylor Twellman.

With NE up a goal and NY without Angel or Reyna (who was injured in the first 20-minutes), the Bulls needed something amazing to have a chance, and they almost got it as John Wolyniec had a perfect chance in front of goal, but he headed the ball just over the bar, thus ending the Red's run for MLS Cup.

The Revolution should be happy returning to the Eastern Conference championship match for the sixth straight time, but they have a lot of work ahead of them. New York was able to crack their defense and should have got at least one goal and their offense still is not full strength. To beat Chicago on Thursday night, they are going to need to find a way to open up a tougher backline.

And who is getting the big of a bouquet of flowers from the Revs, probably Bruce Arena. I can't really fault the Bruce for giving his staff as much time as possible to figure out the extent of Angel's injury, but it was still the thing that turned the match.

Goal: Taylor Twellman (1) 64'
Attendance: 10,116 (there were be no tropical storm on Thursday)


Kansas City Wizards 0-0 Chivas USA
Kansas City wins series 1-0 on aggregate
Chivas didn't have much attack, but they threw everything possible against KC on Saturday night and if it weren’t for the goal frame, Chivas would have won this series.

Chivas put pressure on the Wizards for a majority of the match, but they could not get the lucky bounce. KC give the goats a number of chances, thanks to some weak passes that resulted in breakaways by Chivas, but none could be converted. In the final 10-minutes of play, Chivas had three shots that either knocked off the frame or hit the side netting.

The Wizards applied some pressure of their own thanks in large part to Eddie Johnson who actually turned in a decent night. However, Eddie's shots are still more likely to go over the bar then between the posts, but he did apply enough of a push to force Chivas to hold their line back.

In the end, injury, much like every other series, was the key factor in this one. With Ante Razov, Chivas did not have enough options to exploit the holes KC presented. The bad news for the Wizards, Houston has Brian Ching, Dwayne De Rosario, Stuart Holden, Nate Jaqua and Joseph Ngwenya ready to make them pay. If they hope to escape Texas still breathing, they are going to need to sharpen their whole game.

Without question, the bouquet of flowers from Kansas City goes to the goalposts that made more meaningful saves then Kevin Hartman did on the night.

Attendance: 19,711 (much improved over the regular season)


Conference Finals
Chicago Fire vs. New England Revolution
Thursday (8 Nov) - 7:30pm ET/4:30pm PT
TV: ESPN2
Tickets

Kansas City Wizards vs. Houston Dynamo
Saturday (10 Nov) - 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT
TV: Fox Soccer Channel, HDNet, FSE
Tickets

Chicago Fire stump DC, 'Curse of the Supporters' Shield' continues

Chicago Fire 2-2 DC United
Chicago wins series 3-2 on aggregate

What was DC doing during the first 60-minutes last night? I have not seen them look that pitiful since 2002. Nobody was playing a good game. The midfield couldn't pass a ball, people were not getting forward, Troy Perkins was running off his line every chance he got and Bobby Boswell, well the less said about him the better.

The Fire took full advantage of these flubs and using some fantastic passing to silence the crowd. Blanco, who last week gave away the ball over 40 times, was having a much better night. His back heal passes were not getting picked off and his long range ones were landing near target. But their best pass of the night came from Carlen Carr on the first goal. Perfect curve behind the defense, right to Chad Barrett's feet, who, after beating Boswell, hammered it home.

Chicago's second goal was not as pretty, but it too was the result of bad placement by Boswell, giving Chris Rolfe an easy shot for what turned out to be the series winner.

Up till the hour mark, it looked like Chicago was going to run away with this one. I could help but wonder what was going on with DC. Did Chicago get into their head, were late season injuries to blame or was it just a bad night?

But just as I was thinking up ways to write about a total bomb, United, thanks to their subs, staged a fantastic rally by making overlapping runs and flooding the attacking third, forcing the Fire out of their positions and opening up space.

When Clyde Simms hit that low screamer into the corner of the net, it was obvious that it would not be DC's only goal on the night. When Gomez just snuck one past Matt Pickens a few minutes later, it looked like the great comeback was upon us, but thanks to some smart subbing of their own, the Fire were able to re-cage United.

DC still had their chances, but they were no longer everywhere. Chicago were marking their players and holding on just enough to keep the net free. With the exception of the stoppage time non-goal by Gomez (which was the correct call), Chicago was not really hard pressed during the final 15-minutes.

So all congratulations go to Chicago. I didn't think they had one goal in them, much less two. If Barrett and Carr stay hot and if Rolfe and Blanco can continue their ways, the Eastern Conference might go to the fourth seed in the end.

As for DC United, they join a growing list of teams that won the Supporters' Shield but failed to reach the MLS Cup. Since Columbus won the shield in 2004, no winner has reached the final and in three of those four years the Shield winner has been knocked out in the first round. To put this in perspective, in the first eight years of MLS, the Shield winner reached the final five times and won the Cup four times. The three times the Shield winner did not reach the final, they still made it out of the first round only to loose in the semifinals.

So the question has got to be, what curse did the Crew place on the Shield in '04? I think a phone call to Greg Andrulis is in order.

Chicago now advances to the Eastern Conference final, which I'm going to guess will not be on ESPN2 as the host will be New England or New York, ie, there will be American Football lines all over the pitch.

Talking about ESPN, I have to hand it to them for their call of the last two matches. For a majority of the night, the call was focused on the game happening right in front of them. There were no long discussions about player’s hair or baseball or anything else. Now they did wonder more last night then they did last week, but it was still much better then what we got during the regular season (I think having 2 main commentators is much better then their usual 3). Heck, they even interrupted Allen Hopkins because an important play was happening. All around, very nice.

Also, having 30 extra minutes for a 15-minute post and pre game show really adds a lot to the presentation. It gives the game additional build up and allows the match commentators to focus more on the game instead of explaining other things happening around the league. Hopefully ESPN will give keep this going for the rest of the playoffs and into next season.

Finally, the camera work was also fun to watch. With the exception of the odd yellow filter that kept popping up, the angles were helpful for the viewer and replays were presented in an interesting way and at an appropriate time.
Attendance: 19,438
Goals: CF: Chad Barrett (1) 31', Chris Rolfe (2) 33'
DC: Clyde Simms (1) 69', Christian Gomez (1) 74'

2007 MLS Playoffs - Week 1 recap - I guess everyone was actually playing for week 2

The first leg of the first round is over and even though three teams hold an edge, nobody is in a real bad place. Traditionally, the first leg is a low scoring affair, but even by MLS post-season standards, this round was mighty lacking in the goal department. I would like to say that it was do to outstanding defensive work, however it had more to do with sloppy midfield play and failures to finish. But on the plus side, each of this week's games should see some offensive pushes as every team needs a goal.

But first, the playoff table:

	Playoffs	Week 1
Attendance	56,978	56,978
Att per game	14,245	14,245
Goals	3	3
Goals per game	.75	.75
Visitors	0-3-1	0-3-1
Ties	1 (25%)	1 (25%)

New England 0-0 New York
The Red Bulls must be disappointed after this match as they owned the possession game and even found open space in front of the Revs goal, but could not finish. Claudio Reyna was showing his skill in the midfield and Francis Doe had his chances (as did Angel), but they New England defense either just got a touch on the ball or sent the ball right to Matt Reis. The Revs were cool on attack as they didn't for Jon Conway to make a stop until the second half and often found a way to loose the ball on weak challenges. Overall, not an interesting 90-minutes of soccer. Still, got to hand it to New York for getting over 14,000 people out for the game.

With this series tied going back to Gillette Stadium, the Revolution have to love their chances for advancing to the East Conference finals for the fifth straight year, but to make it happen, they need keep Angel from getting free in the box and find a way to push more players into the final third.
Attendance: 14,165


Houston Dynamo 0-1 FC Dallas
If I hadn't watched the match, I wouldn't have believed just how lopsided this one was in favor of Houston. They were pushing forward, making passes, stopping counters and overall doing everything that should win you the game. Well that is except scoring and making a defensive mistake in your own box.

Did Dallas even try to attack during this one? It seemed like their plan was get a goal and then hold on at all costs. Once that happened, they sat back and absorbed all Houston's pressure and fouled a lot. A win is a win, but it does make you wonder what they plan on doing in Houston on Friday. Is their plan to let the Dynamo run the game like they did on Saturday and hope to hold them goalless for 90-minutes? If so, head coach Steve Morrow is one hell of a gambler.

As for Houston, their problem continues to be their offense as they have just one goal in their last three matches. De Rosario is looking lively again but Brian Ching is still off his track. The perfect example of this came in the closing minutes when Ching had a great chance on goal but Dario Sala was able to get just enough on it to knock it wide. Last year, Ching made that shot. With neither Joseph Ngwenya nor Nate Jaqua really looking that great either, one has to wonder where the goals will come from (hard to believe they got 9 corner kicks and didn't look dangerous on any of them).

Heading down to Houston, FCD has to be a bit concerned. The Dynamo were unlucky to get out of Dallas with nothing while the Hoops looked lackluster just about everywhere except in goal. Houston will be able to get at least a goal at home, which will force Dallas to make something happen or go to penalty kicks, and with their history on pks, that would be a very bad thing.
Goal: Clarence Goodson (1) 23'
Attendance: 12,537 (wow, that is a tiny number, what happened here?)


Chivas USA 0-1 Kansas City Wizards
These two played an interesting match for the first hour but by the final 30, they both seemed happy to just let the game end. The Wizards came out fast and furious at the start and put the goats on their heels, but could not punch through. Once the game settled, it became obvious how much Chivas was missing Maykel Galindo and Ante Razov. Chivas would push the attack but had no idea where to place the ball for a finish.

The Wizards tried to get Eddie Johnson involved, but for the most part, he was a no show, except when he got a foul about 30 yards away from goal. The following free kick by Davy Arnaud was simply beautiful as it just edged over the Chivas wall, hit the slick ground and caught Brad Guzan off his mark. Really was nice.

So now things head back to California with Chivas needing to make up a goal. The goats are still the favorites in this one but I could easily see an upset taking place. Without the power up top, they just don't have the options needed to beat back defensives lack they did during the second half of the season. Jonathan Bornstein and Jesse Marsch are doing a good job of causing trouble, but it just doesn't seem like enough.
Goal: Davy Arnaud (1) 35'
Attendance: 12,442 (a really good number by KC's standards)


Second Leg schedule:
Chicago Fire vs. DC United - 1 Nov 7:30pm ET, ESPN2
FC Dallas vs. Houston Dynamo - 2 Nov 8:30pm ET, DK, MLStv
NY vs. NE - 3 Nov 7:30pm ET, FSC, FSE
KC vs. Chivas - 3 Nov 10:30pm ET, HDNet, DK, MLStv

2007 MLS Week 29 Recap or And that was the way it was

The 2007 regular season has ended on much the same note as it began, and that's not a great thing. Most of the games over the weekend didn't really have much of a punch to them. There was still some good action to watch, but overall, not the type of weekend that this season deserves as a cap off.

Anyway, here are the league numbers for the full 195 game season:

	Season	Week 29
Attendance**	3,214,566	144,027
Att per game	16,485	20,575
Beckham Att (7*)	244,221	48,374
Beckham Avg Att	34,889	24,187
Goals	517	15
Goals per game	2.651	2.143
Inter-conference	East 30-28-26	East 2-0-1
Visitors	54-91-50	3-1-3
Ties	50 (25.6%)	3 (42.9%)

* Number of MLS matches with Beckham in attendance
** I cannot locate the attendance numbers for Colorado-Columbus (2 Sept) or LA-Columbus (30 Sept) so the season average is for only 193 games.

New England Revolution 2-2 Toronto FC
I should have known that the most exciting match of the weekend would end up in Canada. Michael Parkhurst's goal shot from around the world should have been enough to own this one, but the Revs had another late game collapse that cost them full points. If Danny Dichio can cut through their line so easy coming off of injury, I just wonder what a healthy Angel and Altidore will be able to accomplish. The Revs again look like a team that is going to beat themselves.
Goals: NY: Michael Parkhurst (1) 47+', Taylor Twellman (16) 47'
TFC: Collin Samuel (3) 59', Danny Dichio (6) 92+'
Attendance: 20,374

Columbus Crew 3-2 DC United
If United fans were not nervous before this match, I'm guessing they are now as their team is again limping to the playoffs. However, this lost in meaningless, but the injuries suffered by Moreno and Emilio are not. Will United be able to get their stuff together on short rest against a Fire side that can be dangerous? We'll see. As for the Crew, great way to end the season. A little work on the off-season in 2008 could be a good one for them.
Goals: CC: Robbie Rogers (2) 21', (3) 91+', Alejandro Moreno (7) 66'
DC: Christian Gomez (9) 89', (10) pk 93+'
Attendance: 23,149

Kansas City Wizards 2-0 FC Dallas
If United fans are worried, FCD fans must be a little terrified. Did Dallas just decide to not show up at all for this one? I know they had nothing to play for, but getting embarrassed heading into the playoffs is never a good idea. KC knew they need to win and they finally played like a team that wanted one. Scott Sealy was amazing but Davy Arnaud has some good moments as did Jack Jewsbury. Eddie Johnson, on the other hand, had his chances but decided to play rugby rules and put the ball over the bar. Dallas did have a couple good shows in Alvarez and Cooper, but they still need a big turn around in order to pull off a surprise against Houston. Lets also hope the American football lines are not on the pitch for the playoffs.
Goals: KC: Scott Seally (6) 39', (7) 55'
Attendance: 20,500

Real Salt Lake 1-0 Colorado Rapids
Oh the Rapids, what a sad game that one was. At least DC and FCD have an excuse for not showing up. Colorado spent the night just blahing around on the pitch until Real went up a goal. They had some excitement late but thanks to the superb work of Nick Rimando in goal, the Rapids got nothing. All I can say is that after the way Colorado has played this season, I cannot thank Real enough for keeping them out of the playoffs. One last thing, way to go Kyle Beckerman for getting a yellow card in the first 3 seconds.
Goal: Robbie Findley (8) 87'
Attendance: 14,777

Houston Dynamo 0-0 Chivas USA
The Dynamo have nobody except themselves to blame for not taking the West as they had their chances but could not finish. Brian Ching is still off a bit while Corey Ashe just seems to be playing his own game out there. The good news is Dwayne De Rosario is showing signs of finally hitting his stride while Stuart Holden is staying strong. Chivas was unlucky to go down a man as that was the softest red issued to a non-LA opponent this season. But even before they lost a man, the goats were lacking. If Kansas City plays the way they did against FCD, they could shock Chivas, even if Brad Guzan is as fantastic as he has been all season.
Attendance: 16,853

Los Angeles Galaxy 0-1 Chicago Fire
The Rapids can take to heart the knowledge that they were not the only team that failed to deliver in their biggest game of the season as the Galaxy tanked in the windy city. Landon Donovan again did not show well under pressure but neither need anyone else on his side (with the exception of Joe Cannon in goal). At no point did LA string together a big number of passes or own possession, yet somehow the score remained tied till the closing moments. There is no reason this game should have been tied heading into stoppage time. Chicago is still suffering from an amazing case of failure to make anything out of everything. How many times do they need to get open shots before they get a goal? Dominating a game and only getting one goal is not the sign of a wonderful team. By the way, this makes the 22nd time this season the Fire have scored one goal or less. Still, the team is on a high and with DC coming to town on Thursday, which might just be enough to carry them forward.
Goal: John Thorrington (1) 93+'
Attendance: 21,374

So there are the weekend games and here is the playoff schedule:

East
DC United - Chicago Fire (25 Oct 8:30pm ET, ESPN2)
NE - NY (27 Oct 7:30pm ET, FSC, FSE)
Chicago Fire - DC United (1 Nov 7:30pm ET, ESPN2)
NY - NE (3 Nov 7:30pm ET, FSC, FSE)

West
Houston Dynamo - FC Dallas (27 Oct 8pm ET, HDNet, DK, MLStv)
Chivas USA - KC (27 Oct, 8:30pm ET, DK, MLStv)
FC Dallas - Houston Dynamo (2 Nov 8:30pm ET, DK, MLStv)
KC - Chivas USA (3 Nov 10:30pm ET, HDNet, DK, MLStv)

So the Eastern Conference gets the main TV coverage while the West requires a little searching.

According to MLS, LA won last night

NY 1-1 LA
I'm not sure what game the folks over at MLSnet were watching last night, but it must have been a little different then the one I saw as they say 'Galaxy win again' (as of noon ET).

To be fair, the blurb below the headline as well as the linked article mentions the tie, but it is an interesting slip. Perhaps the Fire are correct in assuming the MLS wants LA in the playoffs more then Chicago.

As far as the game itself, the Galaxy never really got things going as their passing was less then impressive and their midfield was getting beat all over the place. They did make some chances a bit past the hour mark, but overall, nothing worthy of a win.

On the other side, that was one of the best road performances out of New York in some time and Jon Conway came up with the big saves when he needed to, and what about Jozy Altidore? He was finding his space and pushing aside LA defenders with ease and almost killed off the Galaxy with an excellent run and just off target shot in stoppage time. I can only guess what Don Garber was thinking during that late run.
Goals: LA: Troy Roberts (2) 15'
NY: Jozy Altidore (9) 16'
Attendance: 27,000

2007 MLS Week 28 Recap or Setup for a fun final weekend

Anyway, here are the regular league numbers 187 games into the season:

	Season	Week 28
Attendance**	3,070,539	116,512
Att per game	16,597	19,419
Beckham Att (5*)	195,847	0
Beckham Avg Att	39,169	0
Goals	502	14
Goals per game	2.684	2.333
Inter-conference	Tie 28-28-25	West 1-0-0
Visitors	49-91-47	2-2-2
Ties	47 (25.1%)	2 (33.3%)

* Number of MLS matches with Beckham in attendance
** I cannot locate the attendance numbers for Colorado-Columbus (2 Sept) or LA-Columbus (30 Sept) so the season average is for only 185 games.

Chicago Fire 0-0 DC United
If it were not for the work of Troy Perkins, United would not have the Supporters' Shield wrapped up. DC looked extremely flat on the night while Chicago was pushing to find a way to make something happen. Blanco was shut down for large portions of the match, but Chad Barrett stepped up for the Fire. So is this just a moment of rest prior to the playoffs or is DC having another late season meltdown?
Attendance: 25,404

Columbus Crew 3-2 New England Revolution
The Crew showed a lot of talent, but even with the win, their hope of post-season play comes to an end. New England owned the first half but missed a number of good chances. The Crew brought Guillermo Barros Schelotto in at the start of the second and everything changed for them. They were much better on the attack and caught Matt Reis flat. The Revs came back but like NE's teams of the past, couldn't hold the lead late.
Goals: NE: Taylor Twellman (15) 26', Steve Ralston (4) 83'
CC: Eddie Gaven (5) 61', Stefani Miglioranzi (3) 77', Schelotto (5) 86'
Attendance: 22,295

Kansas City Wizards 1-2 New York Red Bulls
Kansas City actually looked like a team looking for a win for most of the game, but they still gave NY far too many chances to beat them. The Wizards have some of the worst passing in the league and it costs them. The Bulls were lacking in the midfield control, but with Angel hot and with Jozy Altidore and Francis Doe pulling defenders towards them, they have enough to top the lesser MLS sides.
Goals: NY: Juan Pablo Angel (18) pk 19', (19) 24'
KC: Jack Jewsbury (2) 21'
Attendance: 20,083(great job NY)

Toronto FC 1-2 Los Angeles Galaxy
LA kept the league's dreams alive on Saturday night with a strong, though not fantastic, performance against Toronto. The best news for the Galaxy, their passing and ball control is coming together. Cobi Jones is still making a case for not retiring while Chris Klein is wonderful at finding the little places and Donovan is starting to show the late season work rate that has become his norm. Toronto held up thanks in large part to the work of Kenny Stamatopoulos in goal.
Goals: LA: Landon Donovan (8) pk 56', Edson Buddle (5) 78'
TFC: Collin Samuel (2) 68'

Colorado Rapids 2-1 Chivas USA
I didn't think that Chivas would go undefeated at home for the entire season but I also didn't think that such a weak game by the Rapids would be their undoing. Chivas showed a side that had been pretty absent since July in that they needed a huge number of changes before they could make something come together. The Rapids played their normal tough on defense style, but that took a big hit early in the second half when Brandon Prideaux get ejected for pulling down Maykel Galindo. This opened up the gallery for Chivas and they shot away, but it was the Rapids that got the first goal on the counter. Chivas came back to tie, but the Rapids showed some true smarts and a great deal of luck with their second goal. Keeper Bouna Coundoul quick cleared it out to Conor Casey who beat his defender on a stumble and headed right at goal, however at the last moment he slow rolled it across goal to an on rushing Omar Cummings who finished it with ease. It is not often that Chivas goaltender Brad Guzan gets beat by such a play but he did and the Rapids are still in the playoff picture. Also, if Houston wins tonight against Real Salt Lake, then next Saturday's match between Chivas and the Dynamo will decide the winner of the Western Conference.
Goals: CR: Ugo Ihemelu (1) 64', Omar Cummings (2) 90'
CV: Orlando Perez (1) 78'

So, for the last time before we know for sure, this is the way the first round would look if the season ended today:
East
DC United - Chicago Fire
New England - New York

West
Chivas USA - KC Wizards*
Houston Dynamo - FC Dallas
* Wizards move over to the West as the fifth team from the East.

2007 MLS Week 26 Recap or So little movement but so much change

The season is quickly coming to a close and even though there was not a lot of movement in the standings, week 26 showed a lot of interesting possibilities. On a whole, the league continued to increase their average attendance per game numbers thanks in large part to the 33,000 at KC on Thursday and the 27,000 that turned out for Chivas on Saturday. The Chivas number is the most impressive as they have been playing in front of some of the tiniest crowds in the league up till a few weeks ago, but can they continue to get those numbers when Blanco is not on the field?

Anyway, here are the regular league numbers 174 games into the season:

	Season	Week 26
Attendance**	2,826,338	137,428
Att per game	16,432	22,905
Beckham Att (5*)	195,847	0
Beckham Avg Att	39,169	0
Goals	467	19
Goals per game	2.684	2.71
Inter-conference	East 28-25-25	West 2-1-2
Visitors	44-86-44	3-2-2
Ties	44 (25.3%)	2 (28.6%)

* Number of MLS matches with Beckham in attendance
** I cannot locate the attendance numbers for Colorado-Columbus (2 Sept) or LA-Columbus (30 Sept) so the season average is for only 172 games.

Colorado Rapids 0-1 New England Revolution
The Revs were without Avery John or Taylor Twellman but still handled most of this game just fine. Colorado played their regular style of strong defense and not much else soccer, but they could not ride out the full 90. Actually, the Rapids tried to give the game away in the first 10-minutes when keeper Bouna Coundoul gave the Revs Adam Cristman a golden chance off a bad distribution, but Cristman just sent it right back to Coundoul. Still, the goal that all but kills off Colorado's playoff hopes kind of summed up the season for the Rapids as Khano Smith sent it right through Coundoul's legs in the 88' to win the full 3 points.
Goal: Khano Smith (2) 88'
Attendance: 19,166

Real Salt Lake 2-2 New York Red Bulls
It is a shame Real didn't look like this a couple months ago because they are playing better then a couple playoff possible teams. Still, the team cannot shake their past completely as a late error again cost them points. Now it is not the stoppage time errors that made the team famous the first half of the season, so it is a little better, but they are still errors nonetheless. The Bulls had wonderful control until Claudio Reyna went out of the match. Clint Mathis gave them something in the middle but without Reyna, this team is not the same threat. Can Reyna still healthy long enough for New York to be a contender in the playoffs? For Real, Beckerman is making a strong case for best acquisition ever for the club.
Goals: RSL: Chris Brown (4) 22', Kyle Beckerman (3) 75'
NY: Francis Doe (2) 49', Juan Pablo Angel (17) pk 80'
Attendance: 15,855

Toronto FC 1-4 DC United
Toronto might have given United an early scare, but in the end, DC rolled on as expected. It seemed DC was experiencing a little hangover from their Wednesday night match but after about 30-minutes, they settled and in the second half reformed. The first 20-minutes of the second half were some of the best DC has played and the final goal by Emilio was just a nice cap to everything.
Goals: TFC: Carl Robinson (2) 14'
DC: Marc Burch (1) 52', Fred (7) 57', Jaime Moreno (7) 66', Emilio (20) 70'
Attendance: 25,174

Chicago Fire 1-1 Chivas USA
So should it have been a pk or did Alex Zotinca get a piece of the ball? That question might pop up again soon if this ends up being the first round playoff match-up. So what did I learn about Blanco from this match, he knows how to play for the fans. Okay, already knew that but I think this was the most relaxed I've seen him in a match and what do you know, he was the Fire's key. Chivas had some cross bar fun but for the most part failed to string together possession as they have been doing over the past couple months but that might have something to do with the pure physical play the Fire was showing. They really were checking the goats every chance they got. So about the penalty, Blanco runs the ball into the final third, goes into the box, looks to be getting a one-on-one with Brad Guzan and then Alex Zotinca takes him down, but it did look like he got a toe on the ball to make it all legal. The Fire didn't see it that way and all insanity breaks out with Chicago coach Juan Carlos Osorio getting tossed. This is the sort of thing that could make the first round of the playoffs an amazing thing to watch.
Goals: CF: Cuauhtemoc Blanco (4) 24'
CV: Claudio Suarez (3) pk 82'
Attendance: 27,000

Houston Dynamo 3-0 FC Dallas
The Dynamo dominated Dallas but those three points might not make up for the loss of Ricardo Clark. As always when these two meet, it got physical, but Houston was able to expose Dallas's increasingly poor midfield to take the ball just about anywhere and then laughing at their defense while they stand around watching. Dwayne De Rosario is rediscovering his footing and getting better at making space for the Dynamo while Toja is shrinking for Dallas. I really don't get what happens to Dallas at the end of every season, but it seems to be happening again as they are playing some of their worst soccer of the year (and Denilson still is not providing anything). But let's talk Clark who's short-term future is now in the hands of the MLS discipline committee after kicking Carlos Ruiz in the final minute of play. Clark felt Ruiz was being a bit wild with his knees, so he decided to give him a little message by kicking him in the side while he was on the ground. I have little doubt that Ruiz was doing his usual crap foul tactics that he does so well during the match, but Clark's response was beyond stupid. He could be looking at a 5-game suspension meaning he would miss the first round of the playoffs. Houston is good but they need Clark in that holding position to open up the field for the team. With him out, Houston is less of a team.
Goals: HD: Dwayne De Rosario (6) 46+', Eddie Robinson (2) 62', Stuart Holden (4) 84'
Attendance: 17,366

Los Angeles Galaxy 2-1 Columbus Crew
It took some luck but LA made it three in a row (and they didn't need a red card to get the win). Columbus took an early lead but relaxed, which allowed LA to take the lead within 15-minutes. LA's first goal was just strange as it bounced around and took a deflection or two before just slow poking over the goal line, but the second goal was one of skill. But the most impressive part of the game for the Galaxy is the way their defense held. Yes, they got some help from the crossbar, but Columbus threatened a lot late but could not steal one. Cobi Jones continues to look like a player with a year more left in him while Landon Donovan was actually creating things during this one. Could it be that LA will late rally into the post season? They are still 6-points behind Chicago with four games to play (Chicago has three), but with Clark out for Houston (their opposition next Sunday), and then games against Toronto and New York at home, it might all come down to the final day when they had to Chicago to see if they can get the win.
Goals: CC: Alejandro Moreno (6) 2'
LA: Troy Roberts (1) 13', Kyle Martino (3) 16'
Attendance:

Now for the playoffs. If the season ended today, here are the first round matchups:
East
DC United vs. Kansas City
New England vs. New York

West
Houston vs. Chicago*
Chivas vs. FC Dallas
* Chicago moves over to the West because they are the fifth team from the East to qualify.

2007 MLS Week 25 Recap or a full slate of good games

Week 25 saw a number of ties but also some great goals. DC's Jaime Moreno, LA's Chris Klein and NE's Taylor Twellman had some of the best, but by no means the only good net finders on the week. Also, something that the league can take a great deal of pride in, for the third week in a row, average attendance has increased. It is not a huge jump, but seeing how MLS has a history of seeing numbers drop as the season comes to a close, this is a wonderful change.

The run for the Supporter's Shield seems to still be down to DC and Chivas with United having a bit of an advantage while the fight for the last playoff spot might just be about to lose a team. All in all, a great weekend of action.

Anyway, here are the regular league numbers 167 games into the season:

	Season	Week 25
Attendance**	2,688,910	151,024
Att per game	16,101	18,878
Beckham Att (5*)	195,847	0
Beckham Avg Att	39,169	0
Goals	448	22
Goals per game	2.683	2.75
Inter-conference	East 27-23-23	West 1-0-1
Visitors	41-84-42	1-3-4
Ties	42 (25.1%)	4 (50.0%)

* Number of MLS matches with Beckham in attendance
** I cannot locate the attendance numbers for Colorado-Columbus (2 Sept), so the season average is for only 166 games.

Columbus Crew 2-1 Toronto FC
For the first time since July 7, Toronto got a goal, ending their streak at 824-minutes. As great as that news is, it still doesn't solve the issues that team are having on attack or the muddled defense. The Crews first goal found Jason Garey in the middle of the box unmarked while their second saw Jacob Thomas just blast past any attempt TFC could make. Columbus deserved the win on the day as they really only had a couple periods of poor play. They still need to reconnect in their midfield, but they are looking like the team to challenge Chicago for the final playoff spot.
Goals: TFC: Miguel Canizalez (1) 2'
CC: Jason Garey (1) 61', Jacob Thomas (1) 83'
Attendance: 20,127

New England 2-2 New York
So much of soccer is luck and New York had a bunch of bad in that category on Saturday night. They had shots bouncing off the bars, cleared off the line and a goal called back off a horrible offside call. Still, the Bulls would not be denied at least one point. This was a very good outing for the Reds as Juan Pablo Angel was looking dangerous again, Francis Doeis proving to be a wonderful addition and Claudio Reyna played his best game in over a month, causing them to look dangerous on the breaks as well as from free kicks. New England owes a lot to their defense and Matt Reis who, after a few iffy outings, looks strong again. But the talk on this one should be about Taylor Twellman who made everything of the chances he got and kept his team from walking away with nothing. By the way, good move by Bruce Arena to bring in Mathis and Altidore with 20-minutes remaining. It knocked the Revs defense a bit off stride for the remainder of the match. Also, great to see a respectable crowd at this one. Keep it up New York.
Goals: NE: Taylor Twellman (13) 22', (14) 70'
NY: Francis Doe (1) 37', Juan Pablo Angel (16) 84'
Attendance: 16,823

Colorado Rapids 0-1 Real Salt Lake
If there was any doubt that a change of attitude is taking place within the Real franchise, look no further then Saturday's wet match against the Rapids. Yes, Colorado had a number of big players out, but that didn't stop RSL, who had a number of their own big names out as well, from flatting the Rapids. From their play, you never would have guessed that Colorado was the side that needed to win in order to keep pace in the playoff hunt as they were lackluster in almost every department. They could strong passes together, get a decent shot off or stop the Real attack. Okay, the Rapids did have a few good chances but Nick Rimando stepped up when needed and kept his team from falling. The Rapids have the easiest schedule of the three teams looking to claim the final playoff spot, but if they look like they did on Saturday, it is never going to happen.
Goal: Kyle Brown (2) 30'
Attendance: 14,089

Kansas City 1-2 Chivas USA
Chivas finally clinch their playoff berth with this win, but Eddie Johnson tried to make it difficult for them. EJ was the center of KC's attack, but his shots were not the best. The Wizards defense is what let them down on the night as both Razov goals could have been prevented. The first one say Razov beat his defender by a step while his second found him at the top of the box with no one around him, late in stoppage time. The resulting goal is one of the best of the week. Chivas again showed their ball skills and patience in attack and looks now to have all but a lock on the Western Conference crown. For the Wizards, they have to be a little concerned about their current form and the playoff hunt. They are still four points up on Chicago and five on Columbus, but with a difficult final three games DC, at NY and at FCD, they better hope to get three points against LA on Thursday or they could be in some serious mud.
Goals: CV: Ante Razov (10) 69', (11) 92+'
Attendance: 13,214

DC United 1-1 Chicago Fire
Chicago gave DC a run in this one as they owned a majority of the game, but in the end, if you give DC just a couple chances, you are going to pay. The lone Fire goal was the textbook example of what Blanco can do with a pass combined with great ball skills by Chad Barrett, but that goal was nowhere near as amazing as Jaime Moreno's strike in the 86'. His shot some how curled in by just skimming along the bar. When watching it live, I didn't think it actually went in because the angle was just so strange. DC did look a little tired during this game so walking out with a point is very positive. For the fire, this is the second game in a week where they have seen points disappear due to late goals. Not a good way to hold off a playoff challenge.
Goals: CF: Chad Barrett (6) 18'
DC: Jaime Moreno (6) 84'
Attendance: 20,079

FC Dallas 1-2 Los Angeles Galaxy
It is good to know that when LA plays up a man for an hour, they can get the win. So what the question must be asked, what was FCD's Chris Gbandi doing on the pitch last night? Is he on the take from Alexi Lalas because he did everything to help LA except score an own goal. I'm surprised he didn't get a direct red for his ugly revenge challenge on Kevin Harmse, then he follows it up by pull and pushing Donovan in the box two minutes later. This earned him a second yellow and Donovan a free kick. Yet Dallas still did okay in the game. Dax McCarty and Juan Toja stepped it up to keep the Galaxy from rough riding their side into the ground. But in the end, it was Chris Klein with some help from Cobi Jones that gave LA a much needed victory. Denilson continues to look out of place for the Hoops while Carlos Ruiz did not have a memorable return to the Home Depot Center. By the way, with the victory, LA earns their second win in the same month for the first time all season.
Goals: FCD: Dax McCarty (1) 11'
LA: Landon Donovan (7) pk 25', Chris Klein (2) 72'

There you have the recap, now let's look at the playoffs. If the season ended today, here are the first round match ups:

East
DC - Kansas City
New England - New York

West
Chivas - Chicago*
Houston - Dallas
* Chicago moves over to the West because they are the fifth team from the East to qualify.

Chicago Fire 1-1 FC Dallas - How not to kill off a match

Chicago Fire 1-1 FC Dallas

So what do you think the Fire coaching staff is talking to Calen Carr and Paulo Wanchope about today? If it is anything but how to keep the ball and waste time at the end of a match, then the Fire are doomed. This was not a pretty game as neither side had much ball control. Again and again, passes were intercepted and knocked out of bounce.

Dallas did start strong, but then they faded. Carlos Ruiz is getting a lot of cheer for the late goal, but he was absent for much of the rest of the game. It is great to see Toja back, but his skill is not yet at the level it was before the injury. Then there is Denilson who didn't really do anything for the full 90. He is still new to the club, so he is trying to find his flow, but I was surprised that he didn't pop to life at some point. But somehow it was all okay as Dario Sala had a really strong performance in front of the net while Clarence Goodson carried most of the heavy lifting. Sure Goodson is a bit of a hot head at times, but he does know how to do what needs to be done (a little like Michael Bradley).

Chicago has got to be kicking themselves over this one. On a night where Blanco finely looked his age (not a good thing), they still managed to hold a 1-0 lead deep into stoppage time, only to see two points disappear. Matt Pickens had a good night between the posts, CJ Brown made some big moves and Chris Rolfe's blast was heart stopping, but other then that, the side was flat. But the thing that confused me the most was the way they ended it. Calen Carr has tons of energy, but why didn't he go to a corner and force a foul? Did he not get any instructions from the coaching staff telling him to hold it? If not, what were the coaches thinking.

Dallas is not a dominant team like DC, but there is one thing they know how to do much better then just about anyone in the league and that is come back late. I can think of at least three games where they have got stoppage time goals and a couple others where they scored late in regular time, so if it was the coaching staff that failed to initiate the 'kill the game' strategy, one has to wonder what hope the Fire have.

So how bad is it that Chicago failed to get the full three points? They are only two points up on Colorado for the final playoff spot with five games remaining, but two of those games are against DC, one is at home to New England and one is on at Chivas. There is a good chance that they will get 3 points or less from those four matches. The only good news for them is they end the season with LA.

The Crew have a slightly easier time as they go to Toronto, face LA and Dallas at home and then end on the road to New England and DC. This schedule should allow them to get 6 points (and maybe a couple more) for the rest of the year.

But the Fire's real concern is Colorado who have two matches against Real Salt Lake and one at home against Toronto FC, plus road games at New England and Chivas. Real is improved and Toronto can always surprise, but of the three in the race, the Rapids have the best chance on paper. It is not hard to image the club getting 9 points from this schedule and beating Chicago for the final spot by just one point.

If the Fire misses the playoffs this year, the final five minutes in Dallas will be one of the major reasons why.

Goals: CF: Chris Rolfe (5) 56'
FCD: Carlos Ruiz (7) 93+'
Attendance: 15,059

2007 MLS Week 24 Recap or the race for eighth stays hot

DC United, the New England Revolution (added on edit) and the Houston Dynamo clinched their spots in the post season this week, but the most interesting part of the picture is what is happening in terms of the eighth spot. Chicago, Columbus and Colorado all entered the weekend within a point of the final spot and not much changed. Chicago fought back down a man to take a point, the Rapids pulled one of the biggest surprises of the season by earning a point against Chivas while the Crew's run of 'luck' continued when they lost late to KC.

As far as everyone else, not a lot of dancing going on.

Anyway, here are the regular league numbers 159 games into the season:

	Season	Week 24
Attendance**	2,537,886	143,893
Att per game	16,063	17,998
Beckham Att (5*)	195,847	0
Beckham Avg Att	39,169	0
Goals	426	27
Goals per game	2.679	3.375
Inter-conference	East 27-22-22	East 2-0-1
Visitors	40-81-38	1-4-3
Ties	38 (23.9%)	3 (37.5%)

* Number of MLS matches with Beckham in attendance
** I cannot locate the attendance numbers for Colorado-Columbus (2 Sept), so the season average is for only 158 games.

Real Salt Lake 0-0 Toronto FC
How can a team that plays like TFC really go 822-minutes without a goal? They were all over Real on Saturday but they had no finishing touches (even when they were up a man for an hour). There were at least three occasions were it was harder to miss the netting then to make it yet somehow the team from Canada found ways of flubbing them. All credit must be given to Nick Rimando who played a near perfect game between the posts for Real. On the plus side, manager Mo Johnson just got a two-year extension to figure out what is wrong with the club.
Attendance: 20,098

FC Dallas 2-4 New England Revolution
Carlos Ruiz had his best game of the season for FCD but the Revs were able to more then compensate with their pure coverage in the attack. FCD's defense wasn't playing bad yet NE was able, time and time again, to sneak into spots and create the little things that kept Dallas on their heals. The one Rev that looked flat on the night was Matt Reis.
Goals: NE: Pat Noonan (6) 29', (7) 65', Steve Ralston (3) 78', Khano Smith (1) 90'
FCD: Carlos Ruiz (5) 35', (6) 84'
Attendance: 15,289

Columbus Crew 2-3 Kansas City Wizards
This one might just be the one that breaks the Crew's season. They were up 2-1 going into the 93rd minute and they end up getting nothing. The Crew saw their flow return for large portions of this one and were able to make KC suffer for their poor ball control in their own half, but it just all fell to junk in the end. The Crew defense was doing a reasonable job till the end when they gave up a pk in the 93rd and, a minute later, let Scott Sealy beat his man on a last second centering cross. These are the kind of burns that don't heal.
Goals: KC: Scott Sealy (3) 31', (4) 94+', Eddie Johnson (15) pk 93+'
CC: Alejandro Moreno (5) 65', Any Herron (4) 67'
Attendance: 10,217

New York Red Bulls 2-2 Chicago Fire
All season the Fire have had the same problem, they can't do anything with their many build ups. They have gotten better with it, but they still have a long way to go if they hope to hold up some silverware in a couple months. However, coming back and then holding while a man down is impressive. New York is having some offensive problems of their own but most of them have to do with injuries. The best news for the Bulls is how much better keeper Ronald Waterreus looked in this one. Neither of these teams looked like a real threat to the top tier on Saturday but they both have some elements that could become something great with a couple more additions.
Goals: Dave van den Bergh (2) 10', Juan Pablo Angel (15) pk 69'
CF: Cuauhtemoc Blanco (3) pk 54', Gonzalo Segares (1) 70'
Attendance: 20,586

Chivas USA 1-1 Colorado Rapids
I don't know if it was the rain delay or the cats napping but this one was just felt long. Maybe it had something to do with Chivas's plan to just hold the ball after they went up in the 13'. Now I understand that the Rapids are not much of an offensive threat but playing keep away for 80 minutes is a bit much. The game got physical, as Colorado games often do, but even that seemed contained. The game ended in a tie which is about what was deserved although the Rapids tried to lose it with some shoddy defensive work, but Chivas was not going to bite.
Goals: CV: Sacha Kljestan (4) 13',
CR: Colin Clark (2) 76'
Attendance: 14,503

Houston Dynamo 3-1 Los Angeles Galaxy
If you want to see LA's season in just one play, watch Houston's third goal. Ching put a low ball into the box but the Galaxy had three defenders around it. So what do they do? They just stop, allowing Ricardo Clark to sneak in from the side and pop one past Joe Cannon. Oh what must have been going through Beckham's head during that one? The Dynamo owned this match but needed a little luck to control the score as the pk awarded at the start of the second half was weak. LA put a couple good balls in but they could not apply pressure over large stretches thanks mainly to their poor defensive work. Dwayne De Rosario looked much better this week and Biran Ching returned to play for the first time since 19 August, which is good for Houston but he came in as a sub for Joseph Ngwenya why he went down in the 42'. If the Dynamo can stay healthy, they have a chance of a repeat.
Goals: Ryan Cochrane (1) 21', Dwayne De Rosario (5) pk 47', Ricardo Clark (2) 73'
Attendance: 25,217

And there are the games from the weekend. Now for the playoff picture if everything ended today.
East
DC United - Kansas City
New England - New York

West
Houston Dynamo - Chicago Fire*
Chivas USA - FC Dallas

Just a reminder that MLS does not have a direct 1-8 playoff system, instead the take the eight top teams from the league and then divides them by conference. *If a conference qualifies more then 4 teams, the fifth place team moves over to the other conference and plays the top seed in that conference.

Since every week I type this someone leaves be a comment saying that I am in fact wrong and the MLS has a direct 1-8 playoff system (1 plays 8, 2 plays 7, etc), I direct your attention to this MLS page explaining that teams will be conference based. This is a change the league made mid-season designed to make the playoffs as goofy as possible.

2007 MLS Week 23 Recap or can anyone stop DC and Chivas?

Another week is over and what do we see but DC on top of the East and Chivas making the run for the West while the league seems to have gone goal happy. Four of the seven games saw four or more goals including a seven-goal outing in Houston.

The playoff race seems all but officially be a race for the final spot, although KC is not in the clear just yet. Still, it looks like Chicago, Columbus and Colorado will provide us the excitement down the stretch. Obviously with a game in hand and a point up, Chicago has the inside track but who knows what could happen over the next five weeks.

Anyway, here are the regular league numbers 151 games into the season:

	Season	Week 23
Attendance**	2,393,993	114,274
Att per game	15,960	16,325
Beckham Att (5*)	195,847	27,000
Beckham Avg Att	39,169	27,000
Goals	399	27
Goals per game	2.642	3.857
Inter-conference	East 25-22-21	West 2-0-1
Visitors	39-77-35	1-5-1
Ties	35 (23.2%)	1 (14.3%)

* Number of MLS matches with Beckham in attendance
** I cannot locate the attendance numbers for Colorado-Columbus (2 Sept), so the season average is for only 150 games.

Chicago Fire 1-0 Columbus Crew
Sometime luck is just not on your side. The Crew had to use two subs in the first 20-minutes including one for Schelotto after he got hurt fouling Blanco. They had two shots bounce off the bar and then their keeper slips on the very wet grass to give Chicago a very open net for their goal. The Crew put together some good pieces even without their star midfielder but Chicago comes up with the points and the lead in the playoff race.
Goal: CF: Paulo Wanchope (2) 65'
Attendance: 19,983 wet people

Real Salt Lake 3-4 Houston Dynamo
Houston does like to be dramatic don't they. They roll up a 4-1 lead by the hour mark thanks to a Corey Ashe to Nate Jaqua freight train but then can't keep Real under wraps. Real did not produce much offense but they were able to do something new for the club, find the minor holes caused by a team getting tired. The Dynamo used no subs last night after only using one last weekend. If their injury problems don't improve, look for more problems late down the road.
Goals: HD: Nate Jaqua (4) 6', (5) 48', (6) 57', Eddie Robinson (1) 28'
RSL: Fabian Espindola (2) 18', Carey Talley (2) 69', Kyle Brown (1) 82'
Attendance: 16,104

Toronto FC 0-2 FC Dallas
Neither team seemed like they wanted to win this thing as there was a lot of sloppy play on both ends. However, a couple mistakes by TFC in the penalty box is ended up being the difference on this one as FCD got both goals, including Denilson's first, from the spot. FCD have to be happy with the points but they did not look like a team that could be best in the league on Saturday night. By the way, it has been over two months since TFC got a goal. Wow.
Goals: Denilson (1) pk 36', Abe Thomson (3) pk 87'
Attendance: 16,790

Colorado Rapids 1-3 Los Angeles Galaxy
LA was pent up and ready to let loose and come the second half, they showed the league that, at least for a night, they could be a quality side. Cobi Jones and Chris Klein had very good nights by Peter Vagenas was the reason for this one. Off course, this being LA, they can't have a match without someone getting hurt so both Edson Buddle and Alan Gordon had to go after getting goals. As for the Rapids, if Saturday is any hint, they are returning to the way they were just a couple short weeks ago.
Goals: LA: Alan Gordon (2) 46', Edson Buddle (4) 63', Kyle Martino (2) 70'
CR: Mehdi Ballouchy (1) 89'
Attendance: 22,881

New England Revolution 2-4 DC United
This game seemed to sum up DC's year; some good stuff early, followed by signs off serious weakness only to be finished in spectacular fashion. When the Revs got that their first goal right before the half off a wonderful solo effort by Twellman and then got a bit of a lucky bounce to go ahead in the 54', it just seemed like everything was about to go their way. But what do you know, a little help from Jaime Moreno and DC is right back in it. After that, United just ran the Revs into the ground. By the way, that last goal by Emilio off a tap pass by Carroll was a fantastic group goal. This game showed a lot but what it showed most was the best of the East is in the national's capitol again.
Goals: DC: Fred (6) 31', Jaime Moreno (5) 59', Luciano Emilio (17) 67', (18) 83'
NE: Taylor Twellman (12) 45', Jay Heaps (1) 54'
Attendance: 18,918

New York Red Bulls 0-3 Chivas USA
New York had their chances to get the goats at home but they kept putting their shots just over the bar while Chivas just played solid with their chances. The Bulls really did own large portions of this game but could not get their flow going. Maybe it was Mathis going out in the 37', but they were lacking in the final third and counting on too many long range shots. The fact that Chivas could get out played and walk away big winners shows how strong they are, so why can't they get any fans to their games?
Goals: CV: Maykel Galindo (11) 4', (12) 58', Ante Razov (8) pk 70'
Attendance: 10,292

If the season ended today, here are the first round playoff matchups:
East
DC United - Kansas City Wizards
New England Revolution - New York Red Bulls

West*
Houston Dynamo - Chicago Fire
Chivas USA - FC Dallas

*Remember that under MLS's confusing playoff system, it is not a direct 1-8 pairing, instead the best in any conference faces the worst in that conference unless the worst in that conference is the fifth side to make the playoffs from that conference, in which case the fifth team will play the top team from the other conference. Make sense?

Numbers for MLS week 22

Sadly, I don't have the time for a full recap so I'll just post the numbers for the week.

Here are the regular league numbers 144 games into the season:

	Season	Week 22
Attendance**	2,279,719	81,217
Att per game	15,942	16,243
Beckham Att (5*)	195,847	27,000
Beckham Avg Att	39,169	27,000
Goals	372	16
Goals per game	2.583	2.667
Inter-conference	East 25-20-20	Tie 1-1-2
Visitors	38-72-34	2-2-2
Ties	34 (23.6%)	2 (33.3%)

* Number of MLS matches with Beckham in attendance
** I cannot locate the attendance numbers for Colorado-Columbus (2 Sept), so this average is only for 5 games on the week and 143 games on the year.

2007 MLS Week 21 Recap or The race for eighth tightens

The weekend is over and the six matches have made the playoff picture a lot clearer. It is safe to say that, failing a run like none in league history, LA and Real Salt Lake are out of the picture and Toronto is all but on that list as well. That means that Chicago, Columbus and Colorado, or the triple C's, are the teams fighting for that final playoff spot. On the top of the table, it looks like DC and New England are the two sides with the best chance of taking home the Supporters Shield and the automatic entry into the Concacaf Champion's Cup.

As far as overall play, the number of shutouts continued to ride high as five of the nine games saw a team earn no goals. That brings the percentage for the month of August to 76% (19 out of 25), which is a drop from last week, but still higher then any other month of the season.

Anyway, here are the regular league numbers 138 games into the season:

	Season	Week 21
Attendance	2,198,502	156,433
Att per game	15,931	17,381
Beckham Att (5*)	195,847	27,000
Beckham Avg Att	39,169	27,000
Goals	356	24
Goals per game	2.580	2.667
Inter-conference	East 24-19-18	Tie 0-0-1
Visitors	36-70-32	2-6-1
Ties	32 (23.2%)	1 (11.1%)

* Number of MLS matches with Beckham in attendance

DC United 1-0 Toronto FC
United did just enough to get it down but without the excellent work of Troy Perkins in goal, Toronto would not be sitting on the longest streak without a goal in MLS history. The good news for TFC is they were pressuring almost the whole match and kept finding the holes in DC's backline, but they could not push one past Perkins.
Goal: Fred (4) 8'
Attendance: 20,093

New York 1-2 New England
You know a game is strange when a goalkeeper gets an assist. There was a bad pk call (which was stopped by Jon Conway), an assist by Reis and an own goal caused, in part, by a foot getting stuck in the fake turf. New York actually looked the better of the two teams for much of this match and earned a point but the luck of the Revs was in full shine. By the by, the Twellman (NE) goal was great quick work while the Altidore (NY) goal was just fantastic.
Goals: NY: Jozy Altidore (8) 30'
NE: Taylor Twellman (11) 46', Own Goal (Carlos Mendes)) 80'
Attendance: 16,017

Columbus Crew 1-1 Houston Dynamo
Where has the Houston offense gone? Hats off to the Crew who managed to go an hour down a man and only concede one goal while still getting a couple good chances at goal. Houston tried to force their way through the Crew line but it just was not happening. They should be glad to get a point but there is no reason they shouldn't have got three.
Goals: CC: Alejandro Moreno (4) 17'
HD: Nate Jaqua (3) 80'
Attendance: 14,351

Kansas City Wizards 0-2 Chicago Fire
Blanco, Blanco, Blanco. To all those who thought the signing of Blanco would be a dude, look no further then this match (or really any of the Fire's last 5). He controlled it and delivered a full three points on his free kick and passing. The Wizards, who were the definition of good offense on Wednesday night, were left wondering how it could all go so wrong.
Goals: CF: Cuauhtemoc Blanco (2) 44', Calen Carr (3) 86'
Attendance: 18,453

Los Angeles Galaxy 0-3 Colorado Rapids
Once you saw LA's lineup, you knew this was not going to be a good night for them but my oh my, I didn't think it would be that bad. Did they even put any defenders on the pitch? The Rapids, who where playing their regular junk ball, seemed just as shocked as everyone else to find such an easy route towards goal but with the win are now in a great spot to catch the last playoff spot.
Goals: CR: Conor Casey (1) 26', Colin Clark (1) 34', Mike Petke (1) 43'
Attendance: 18,086

Real Salt Lake 0-1 Chivas USA
Chivas got the points but they started to show signs of a bad past. Up till about a month ago, the goats needed tons of chances before they could get a goal, thus allowing their opposition to stay in matches. It looked like this issue had been resolved, but it was back on display last night and Real almost made them pay for it.
Goal: CV: Jesse Marsch (2) 31'

So if the season ended today, this is the first round playoff pairings:
New England - Kansas City
DC - New York
Houston - Colorado
Chivas - FC Dallas
Colorado just snags the eighth spot on goal difference from Columbus while Chicago sits one point (and five goals) away.

2007 MLS Week 19 Recap or Never Count Dallas Out

This week was a wonderful one for home teams as every one won, although at least one of them needed a lot of help from the visitors (yes I'm looking at you Colorado). Three of the four weekend matches were good meetings with the Lamar Hunt clash in Dallas being the most thrilling. One little bit of interest, with the exception of Houston, the teams with the better records won each game meaning the league table is a little less condensed then it was.

Anyway, here is the league by numbers 122 games into the season:

	Season	Week 19
Attendance	1,875,889	127,033
Att per game	15,376	25,407
Beckham Att (3*)	102,610	82,088
Beckham Avg Att	34,203	41,044
Goals	312	11
Goals per game	2.557	2.2
Inter-conference	East 22-17-17	East 2-1-0
Visitors	30-61-31	0-5-0
Ties	31 (25.4%)	0 (0%)

* Number of MLS matches with Beckham in attendance

I have added a category for games involving Beckham just as a comparison. He plaid in two of the biggest stadiums in the league this week (although New England didn't open all the seats), so his average will not normally be so high (except when they hit New York).

Columbus Crew 2-3 FC Dallas
No Toja, no problem. Columbus dominated so much of the early play in this match that it looked like the Crew were the team fighting for the Supporters Shield, but Dallas kept finding their way back into it. Even going down a man was not enough to sink this club as Carlos Ruiz showed some long lost life while Clarence Goodson was everywhere. Nothing like a last second goal to win a match and maybe shake off the ghosts of August past.
Goals: CC: Marcos Gonzalez (1) 6', Andy Herron (3) pk 74'
FCD: Arturo Alvarez (2) 60', Carlos Ruiz (4) 80', Clarence Goodson (1) 92+'
Attendance: 14,818

Houston Dynamo 0-1 Colorado Rapids
Dwayne De Rosario took a number of shots on the night, too bad for him the only one he landed was one in his own net. The Rapids continue their miserable play with an occasional moment of something good from Herculez Gomez or Pablo Mastroeni, but for the most part, the Rapids deserved nothing from this game. Houston finds themselves suffering from the same problem that hit them early in the season, they can't make anything out of their many chances. There is something wrong with a club that can't get a goal against a 10-man Rapids side.
Goal: Own Goal Dwayne De Rosario
Attendance: 18,024

Toronto FC 0-3 Jozy Altidore, I mean NY Red Bulls
What a harsh return for Mo Johnson to Giants Stadium. His club is hurting and their horrible control of the ball showed it. The Bulls, meanwhile, were well rested and all healed up till Claudio Reyna went down in the 22'. But the story of the night was up top as Jozy Altidore and Juan Pablo Angel kept finding their way through a confused backline (Todd Dunivant as a central midfielder?) and gave New York a much needed win.
Goals: Juan Pablo Angel (1) 24', Jozy Altidore (4) 50', (5) 63'
Attendance: 12,103

Los Angeles Galaxy 0-1 New England Revolution
Another bad night for the Galaxy as they continue to look frustrated on the pitch. However, they actually had a few open breaks that resulted in some chances but they could not get them past Matt Reis. The Revs, fueled by the many balls they intercepted at midfield, kept putting the ball deep into LA's half, forcing the Galaxy to stay compact. Taylor Twellman made the most of this as he put himself into position to get goal time and time again. Sure enough, in the 55', he made it happen, sending LA home and near the point of no playoff chance.
Goal: Taylor Twellman (9) 55'
Attendance: 35,402

As expected, the playoff race changed a lot this week. This is how the first round would stack up if the season ended today:
New England - Columbus
FC Dallas - Chivas USA
Houston - Kansas City
DC United - New York

At the moment, LA sits in the 12th spot on 14pts, or 12pts off Columbus for the final playoff spot. So they need to win 4 of their next 5 matches to be even with the Crew. The good news for them is they play Colorado twice and Real Salt Lake once in their next 5 (they also play Chivas and NY), so they have a favorable schedule to make it happen.

LA 0-1 DC - Beckham shows something but United get the points

Los Angles Galaxy 0-1 DC United
The fans at RFK got just about everything they wanted as Beckham played, Emilio scored and United won. Not a bad way to spend a night.

During the first half, ESPN kept showing Beckham on the sideline and mentioning how angry he looked but I'd be pissed as well if my club played as horrible as his did in the first 45. LA was getting nothing moving and could not hold a ball to save Donovan's life. Meanwhile United, thanks in large part to the work of Fred in the middle were everywhere while Gros and Olsen were having standout matches.

The second half saw LA actually start playing a serious match and not losing the ball with every touch, but it was United's Jaime Moreno that caused the most excitement. He was running at balls and putting himself into position. If only he could have kept his shots down, he might have broken the MLS record for goals.

And then it was time, Beckham entered the match and he showed what he could bring to the Galaxy. Even though they were down a man, LA was suddenly moving forward and controlling the tempo. Between enforcing calm and directed his players, Becks also found time to place a few near perfect passes including one that almost set Donovan free in the United box. LA played United close for the final 20-minutes and actually looked like they could get a tie out it. In short, this was the best the Galaxy looked all year and is reason enough for people to not write the club's season off.

Now a few other things about the match. How was that take down of Donovan by Devon McTavish in the box not a penalty? It was a textbook example of a play that should result in a pk. United was extremely lucky with that call.

Hopefully the league will give LA's Kyle Martino a huge fine for his disgusting tackle on Fred. As the video showed, Fred is lucky to be walking today.

What does it take for ESPN to actually call the match taking place right in front of them. Stop talking about the NASL or American's in Europe or Barry Bonds and talk about the action happening in the game. At least three times there was action taking place in the box and the ESPN boys were talking about something else. Eric Wynalda made a big deal about how MLS needs to focus less on getting fans from other sports and more on getting the soccer fans that already existence, yet he spent most of his time on mic not calling the game. Does he really think fans of European soccer want to hear about the hairstyles of players (or whatever garbage they were talking about)? It really is a simple concept, if the action on the pitch isn't exciting enough for the people who are being paid to pay attention to the game, why should anyone else. If ESPN wants them to talk about all this other stuff then why not either do it at halftime (like they do in the NFL and NBA) or, crazy idea, have a 30-minute pre-game show.

But let's end on a happy note, seeing RFK full for a soccer match was wonderful. Let's hope a number of those fans liked what they saw and return again soon.

2007 MLS Week 18 Recap or where did all the goals go?

Maybe it was the heat or maybe the league was a little down from the lack of Beckham playing time, but whatever it was, it sure did keep the goals on the light end. The good news, even with so few goals, a number of these matches were still entertaining. Plus, anytime you see the both conference leaders beat, well there is some joy in that.

Anyway, here is the league by numbers 117 games into the season:

	Season	Week 18
Attendance	1,748,856	92,236
Att per game	14,947	15,373
Goals	301	7
Goals per game	2.573	1.16
Inter-conference	East 20-16-17	Tie 0-0-1
Visitors	30-56-31	1-3-2
Ties	31 (26.5%)	2 (33.3%)

Columbus Crew 0-0 Chicago Fire
The Fire just cannot catch a break. Yet another big attendance number and they just can't make anything happen. It is clear Blanco still has some goodness in him but with so little happening up top, his talent is wasted. Maybe once Wanchope settles, this will change, but for now, with Pickens loose hands in front of goal, the Fire are lucky to have a point from this one.
Attendance: 20,358

Colorado Rapids 0-1 FC Dallas
The Rapids came out hot and heavy but some how Dallas and new keeper Ray Burse held. Even after FCD went up a goal, Colorado looked the better side, however they couldn't get a ball on frame to save their life. Dallas did calm things down in the second half and were able to ride out the storm thanks to the work of Burse.
Goal: FCD: Drew Moor (2) 31'
Attendance: 12,820

Houston Dynamo 0-1 Real Salt Lake
Houston looked tired but that takes nothing away from Real who played their best match of the year. From start to finish, Salt Lake was running at Houston and forcing them to stop them, which the Dynamo were doing until an odd defensive mistake cost them the game. Robbie Findley picked up a poor handle by Wade Barrett and brought pure joy to the loyal fans.
Goal: RSL: Robbie Findley (5) 84'
Attendance: 13,003

DC United 3-0 New England Revolution
United was the only SuperLiga club to not look exhausted on the pitch. DC owned most of this match and everything was falling their way, as evidenced by their first goal. When Michael Parkhurst went off in the 37', the hope of NE controlling the middle of the field and getting back in the match ended.
Goals: Josh Gros (1) 22', Luciano Emilio (11) 31', (12) 76'
Attendance: 12,618

Los Angeles Galaxy 0-0 Toronto FC
Welcome to LA where we don't like to waste time playing offense. Watching this match was like watching the US national team in Germany. One lone striker up top getting destroyed by the defense, a midfield that can't control a ball for more then two passes and a worthless Landon Donovan. I don't want to pick on the team, but it is hard not to when they play so lazy out there. At no point did anyone try to break forward to allow for a quick outlet pass for a counter. Instead, they took their time and allowed TFC to swarm back and own every ball. The fact that LA was not humiliated says a lot about goalkeeper Joe Cannon and their improving backline. For Toronto, there is no excuse to not get a goal when you dominate a match like that.
Attendance: 20,522

With less then half the season remaining, it is time to look at the playoff picture. With only eight points between the top and final playoff spot, I'm sure these will change, but if the season ended today, these would be the first round match ups:
Houston - Columbus
New England - New York
FC Dallas - Chivas USA
Kansas City - DC United

2007 MLS Week 17 Recap or Chicago roars back to life

This weekend only saw three games but they were fun ones. Chicago took revenge on an injured TFC side, KC found other people to score and Real can say goodbye to their last bit of playoff hopes.

Anyway, here is the league by numbers 111 games into the season:

	Season	Week 17
Attendance	1,656,620	55,896
Att per game	14,925	13,974
Goals	294	13
Goals per game	2.649	3.25
Inter-conference	East 20-16-16	East 2-1-0
Visitors	29-53-29	2-2-0
Ties	29 (26.1%)	0 (0%)

New England Revolution 2-1 Real Salt Lake
The outcome might be familiar, however Real looked far better on Saturday night then they have looked in a long time. Their passing was connecting, they wee playing smart in the middle and even managed to pressure with just 10 men, however the Revs have enough strength through out their lineup to handle just about any side not playing fantastic soccer. Real is not playing fantastic soccer.
Goals: NE: Pat Noonan (4) 39', Jeff Larentowicz (2) 82'
RSL: Carey Talley (1) pk 72'
Attendance - 13,193

Chicago Fire 3-0 Toronto FC
David Monsalve made history in goal as he became the youngest player to ever start a match in that position, but it was truly a test by fire as Chicago was slamming through TFC and knocking hard shots right at Monsalve. To his credit, he made a few good stops, but in the end, the near full-strength Fire was too much to handle for the limping TFC. By the way, Blanco looked good in his first MLS start.
Goals: CF: Ivan Guerrero (1) 37', Calen Carr (2) 58', Floyd Franks (1) 75'
Attendance - 20,322

Chivas USA 2-3 Kansas City Wizards
The Wizards have got to be delighted with the way this one turned out as Eddie Johnson played next to no role in their offense on the night. That might sound like a horrible thing, and it could turn out to be, however, he was their only bit of offense for most of the season so any help they can give him is much needed. Chivas might have got zero from this one but for the second time in four days they showed some bite on the road.
Goals: CV: Jonathan Bornstein (1) 17', John Cunliffe (1) 55'
KC: Kerry Zavagnin (3) 38', Davy Arnaud (4) 53', Yura Movsisyan (5) 89'
Attendance - 11,649

2007 MLS Week 16 Recap or where are all the fans at?

This weekend saw some fun matches as Houston and New England turned in a full ride while Colorado actually found some offense to give Eddie Johnson and the Wizards a difficult night. Columbus might not have had a hard time with Toronto but it was still a good game to watch. Yet very few people did watch these matches as the league some of their worst attendance numbers of the season. I guess having all four home games in the cities with the worse averages will cause this sort of thing.

Anyway, here is the league by numbers 107 games into the season:

	Season	Week 16
Attendance	1,600,724	49,891
Att per game	14,960	12,473
Goals	281	13
Goals per game	2.626	3.25
Inter-conference	East 18-15-16	Tie 0-0-2
Visitors	27-51-29	0-2-2
Ties	29 (27.1%)	2 (50%)

Houston Dynamo 3-3 New England Revolution
So what happens when two of the best defensive teams meet? An offensive explosion of course. For anyone who thinks that MLS cannot field a good game, watch this match. There was so much good flow happening on both sides of the ball that it was a joy to watch. Is it any wonder why these two clubs are at the top of their conferences? If you have not seen this, do yourself a favor and go over to mlsnet.com and at least watch the highlights.
Goals: NE: Pat Noonan (3) 32', Taylor Twellman (8) 51', Shalrie Joseph (4) pk 66'
HD: Dwayne De Rosario (4) 49', Brian Ching (5) 60', (6) 61'

DC United 0-1 New York Red Bulls
What can I say, Jozy Altidore starts and the Red Bulls win. This was not a very inspiring game as both teams were sloppy and worse yet, not making anything of their chances. DC seemed to be playing the better game for most of the match, but they couldn't make anything happen. Fred getting a direct red in stoppage time sort of summed up the night for them.
Goal: NY: John Wolyniec (3) 19'

Toronto FC 0-2 Columbus Crew
Watch out East Conference, here comes the Crew. Columbus is finding their attack and making set pieces a dangerous situation for their opposition, plus their defense is holding tough. Toronto had a couple moments, but overall, it was a disappointment. Still, TFC truly does like to make the most of their chances as just about every shot was on frame.
Goals: Guillermo Barros Schelotto (3) 50', (4) 56'

Colorado Rapids 2-2 Kansas City Wizards
Welcome to Sunday Night MLS Fights. These two sides were just going after one another with the Rapids being the man instigators. How Mehdi Ballouchy was not red carded for his way after the play elbow to KC's Sasha Victorine throat in first half stoppage time I will never know. Anyway, the Rapids showed some offense by actually attempting shots with a number of them being strong chances, while the Wizards were a little more reserved in the play but showed they know how to set people up. It was a nasty one, but still a good show.
Goals: KC: Eddie Johnson (11) 24', (12) 43'
CR: Jovan Kirovski (3) pk 42', Facundo Erpen (1) 77'