As humans, the majority of us are willing to learn from our mistakes. Experience makes us all the wiser the next time we are confronted with an adverse or testing situation. One hopes that the officials of Major League Soccer fall into this majority after farcical circumstances surrounded last Wednesday’s match between D.C. United and Houston Dynamo.
With thunderstorms battering most of America’s north-east – I had first hand experience having spent ten hours in Chicago’s O’Hare airport on Tuesday awaiting a rescheduled flight – concerns for the safety of the players and spectators needed to be paramount. However, with torrential rain still pouring from the Washington skies close to kick-off the match was merely delayed by 31 minutes to let the storm clouds pass. It was an exercise in futility as only 16 goalless minutes had passed when another downpour, accompanied by lightning strikes, brought the teams back to the sanctuary of the RFK Stadium dressing rooms.
That this game commenced at all was inconceivable. Players splashed around on a surface seemingly more akin to filming a sequel to Kevin Costner’s Waterworld than a professional sporting contest. At least the MLS salary cap ensured a far more meagre budget.
Even then the continuing driving rain did not force the game’s complete abandonment until 9.40pm local time; one hour and 23 minutes after the referee had brought the players inside. Whether the skies had cleared or not, the pitch was never in a suitable condition at any point. Summarising for Houston’s Channel 55 broadcast, Glenn Davis estimated that around a third of the pitch lay under puddles when the action got under way. Thankfully no injuries were sustained by the time play finally came to a halt.
A word of praise must go to the passionate D.C. fans who, despite their state of saturation, continued to sing and chant defiantly in the face of Mother Nature. Those Screaming Eagles finally had something to cheer on Saturday as Luciano Emilio’s injury time winner in Chicago hauled D.C. off the bottom of the Eastern Conference for the first time since Week Three. Chicago have impressed on the road this year, but this 2-1 defeat was their third loss in five home games.
Despite the presence of Mexican superstar Cuauhtemoc Blanco and former Argentine international Marcelo Gallardo, it was referee Baldomero Toledo who attracted much of the attention with his whimsical display. Six players had already been cautioned when he ejected Gallardo and Fire’s Brandon Prideaux in the 55th minute for an off-the-ball incident which seemed to have been brought to his notice by the fourth official, possibly with the aid of televised replays.
In the dying moments, with the score tied at 1-1, D.C. defender Bryan Namoff received two rapid bookings to leave his side hanging on for one point. That they were to receive the full compliment owed much to the improved form of Emilio and poor goalkeeping from Chicago’s Jon Busch.
With Chicago camped in the D.C. half in search of an injury time winner, Emilio countered down the left side on a breakaway before cutting in to fire past Busch from the edge of the penalty box. Busch left his near post exposed and was punished for the error. It was a great pity as he had performed magnificently all evening, notably with a fine double-save from Fred and Emilio in the first half.
New England Revolution took advantage of Chicago’s slip to extend their lead at the top of the East after a 2-1 win over Dallas. Adam Cristman, standing in for the injured Taylor Twellman, set Steve Nicol’s side on their way with his third goal of the season. Twellman has only managed 45 minutes of action so far in this campaign, scoring in the 2-1 win at Chivas, but the team has performed admirably without the presence of their talisman.
Columbus Crew will be disappointed not to have remained within a point of New England as they fell to a surprising 2-0 loss at home to San Jose. The Crew have now gone four league matches without scoring following on from five straight wins and will be hoping to halt their slide this Saturday at bottom of the table Kansas City.
Houston Dynamo turned in their most impressive display of the season to win 3-1 over Toronto at Robertson Stadium. Much was made in the opening weeks of Houston’s inability to find the net, but with Dwayne De Rosario pushed into an attacking role alongside Brian Ching there was an ever present threat to Toronto’s defence.
Ching released De Rosario for the opener in first half stoppage time before netting two in the second half as he regains the confidence that has made him a regular goalscorer in recent years. Unfortunately for Dominic Kinnear, the Dynamo head coach, upcoming international fixtures for Canada and USA will deny him the services of his new front pairing in the coming weeks at a time when his side are finally beginning to look like back-to-back champions.
Los Angeles Galaxy beat Colorado 3-2 at Home Depot Center to replace the Rapids at the top of the Western Conference and banish memories of their opening day humiliation in Denver.
Week 11 Results
D.C. United vs Houston – match abandoned after 16 minutes
New York 1 Chivas 0 (Juan Pablo Angel seals a much needed win)
New England 2 Dallas 1
Columbus 0 San Jose 2 (shockingly bad celebration on the second goal)
Chicago 1 D.C. United 2
Salt Lake 0 Kansas City 0 (26 shots, no goals)
L.A. Galaxy 3 Colorado 2
Houston 3 Toronto 1
Standings
Eastern Conference
1) New England 23 points (played 12)
2) Chicago 19 (10)
3) Columbus 19 (11)
4) Toronto 17 (11)
5) New York 15 (10)
6) D.C. United 13 (12)
7) Kansas City 12 (10)
Western Conference
1) L.A. Galaxy 17 (11)
2) Houston 17 (12)
3) Colorado 15 (11)
4) Chivas 14 (11)
5) Dallas 13 (12)
6) Salt Lake 12 (11)
7) San Jose 10 (10)
With thunderstorms battering most of America’s north-east – I had first hand experience having spent ten hours in Chicago’s O’Hare airport on Tuesday awaiting a rescheduled flight – concerns for the safety of the players and spectators needed to be paramount. However, with torrential rain still pouring from the Washington skies close to kick-off the match was merely delayed by 31 minutes to let the storm clouds pass. It was an exercise in futility as only 16 goalless minutes had passed when another downpour, accompanied by lightning strikes, brought the teams back to the sanctuary of the RFK Stadium dressing rooms.
That this game commenced at all was inconceivable. Players splashed around on a surface seemingly more akin to filming a sequel to Kevin Costner’s Waterworld than a professional sporting contest. At least the MLS salary cap ensured a far more meagre budget.
Even then the continuing driving rain did not force the game’s complete abandonment until 9.40pm local time; one hour and 23 minutes after the referee had brought the players inside. Whether the skies had cleared or not, the pitch was never in a suitable condition at any point. Summarising for Houston’s Channel 55 broadcast, Glenn Davis estimated that around a third of the pitch lay under puddles when the action got under way. Thankfully no injuries were sustained by the time play finally came to a halt.
A word of praise must go to the passionate D.C. fans who, despite their state of saturation, continued to sing and chant defiantly in the face of Mother Nature. Those Screaming Eagles finally had something to cheer on Saturday as Luciano Emilio’s injury time winner in Chicago hauled D.C. off the bottom of the Eastern Conference for the first time since Week Three. Chicago have impressed on the road this year, but this 2-1 defeat was their third loss in five home games.
Despite the presence of Mexican superstar Cuauhtemoc Blanco and former Argentine international Marcelo Gallardo, it was referee Baldomero Toledo who attracted much of the attention with his whimsical display. Six players had already been cautioned when he ejected Gallardo and Fire’s Brandon Prideaux in the 55th minute for an off-the-ball incident which seemed to have been brought to his notice by the fourth official, possibly with the aid of televised replays.
In the dying moments, with the score tied at 1-1, D.C. defender Bryan Namoff received two rapid bookings to leave his side hanging on for one point. That they were to receive the full compliment owed much to the improved form of Emilio and poor goalkeeping from Chicago’s Jon Busch.
With Chicago camped in the D.C. half in search of an injury time winner, Emilio countered down the left side on a breakaway before cutting in to fire past Busch from the edge of the penalty box. Busch left his near post exposed and was punished for the error. It was a great pity as he had performed magnificently all evening, notably with a fine double-save from Fred and Emilio in the first half.
New England Revolution took advantage of Chicago’s slip to extend their lead at the top of the East after a 2-1 win over Dallas. Adam Cristman, standing in for the injured Taylor Twellman, set Steve Nicol’s side on their way with his third goal of the season. Twellman has only managed 45 minutes of action so far in this campaign, scoring in the 2-1 win at Chivas, but the team has performed admirably without the presence of their talisman.
Columbus Crew will be disappointed not to have remained within a point of New England as they fell to a surprising 2-0 loss at home to San Jose. The Crew have now gone four league matches without scoring following on from five straight wins and will be hoping to halt their slide this Saturday at bottom of the table Kansas City.
Houston Dynamo turned in their most impressive display of the season to win 3-1 over Toronto at Robertson Stadium. Much was made in the opening weeks of Houston’s inability to find the net, but with Dwayne De Rosario pushed into an attacking role alongside Brian Ching there was an ever present threat to Toronto’s defence.
Ching released De Rosario for the opener in first half stoppage time before netting two in the second half as he regains the confidence that has made him a regular goalscorer in recent years. Unfortunately for Dominic Kinnear, the Dynamo head coach, upcoming international fixtures for Canada and USA will deny him the services of his new front pairing in the coming weeks at a time when his side are finally beginning to look like back-to-back champions.
Los Angeles Galaxy beat Colorado 3-2 at Home Depot Center to replace the Rapids at the top of the Western Conference and banish memories of their opening day humiliation in Denver.
Week 11 Results
D.C. United vs Houston – match abandoned after 16 minutes
New York 1 Chivas 0 (Juan Pablo Angel seals a much needed win)
New England 2 Dallas 1
Columbus 0 San Jose 2 (shockingly bad celebration on the second goal)
Chicago 1 D.C. United 2
Salt Lake 0 Kansas City 0 (26 shots, no goals)
L.A. Galaxy 3 Colorado 2
Houston 3 Toronto 1
Standings
Eastern Conference
1) New England 23 points (played 12)
2) Chicago 19 (10)
3) Columbus 19 (11)
4) Toronto 17 (11)
5) New York 15 (10)
6) D.C. United 13 (12)
7) Kansas City 12 (10)
Western Conference
1) L.A. Galaxy 17 (11)
2) Houston 17 (12)
3) Colorado 15 (11)
4) Chivas 14 (11)
5) Dallas 13 (12)
6) Salt Lake 12 (11)
7) San Jose 10 (10)
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