The Western Conference winners may have lifted the MLS title in each of the last three years, every time at the expense of New England Revolution, but the regular season dominance of the East continued this weekend. In five cross-conference ties, four resulted in comfortable wins for Eastern sides with only Dallas claiming a point for the West at Kansas City. However, don’t expect Houston Dynamo, back-to-back reigning champions, to be overly concerned at this stage.
Houston and New England seized midweek opportunities to strengthen their positions at the top of their respective conferences. Dynamo moved five points clear of Real Salt Lake after continuing their devastating goal-scoring form, something RSL could vouch for in Week 21, with a 4-0 thrashing of Chivas. Despite missing Pat Onstad, Dwayne De Rosario (both Canada) and Brian Ching (USA) to the opening round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers, Houston exploded from the blocks to finish the contest within 35 minutes.
Stuart Holden, himself back from national duty with the American Olympic squad, capped a fine flowing move down the left flank with a cute chip to put the home side ahead after 11 minutes. Kei Kamara doubled the advantage with a wonderfully executed turn and finish from the edge of the penalty area to double the lead. Next up was strike partner Nate Jaqua forcing a loose ball over the line after Ricardo Clark’s header rebounded from the crossbar. Kamara completed the scoring with a near post header from Jaqua’s cross to finish another fine Dynamo move.
While Houston head coach Dominic Kinnear has managed to restore quality and depth to his squad, the same cannot be said for Chivas. An unmanageable injury list hampered Preki’s line up yet again as he was without the services of either of his preferred strikers, Maykel Galindo and Ante Razov. Swiss international Raphael Wicky has only started one game all season and remains unavailable after ankle surgery. To add to Preki’s woes, Jesse Marsch fractured his jaw in the recent Superclasico and Sacha Kljestan was called up to the senior national team days after returning from the Olympics. It was no contest.
Much of Houston’s success last season originated from the ability of head coach Dominic Kinnear to freshen his attack at vital moments. Ching and Jaqua posed a strong physical challenge to opposing defences while Joseph Ngwenya caused problems with his speed and willingness to run with the ball. Those options evaporated when Jaqua and Ngwenya pursued offers from the Austrian league during the close season. With Jaqua back and Kamara being added from San Jose, Kinnear now has healthy competition for places again as we enter the final stretch. The rest of the league should take note.
New England claimed top spot in the East with a narrow 2-1 win over D.C. United last Wednesday before earning another point in a 1-1 draw at Toronto. They share the lead with Columbus Crew. Sigi Schmidt’s side have refused to wilt this season and fully deserve their place after humbling Salt Lake 3-0. Like Dynamo, the Revs’ attack is beginning to find its form at the right time. Star striker Taylor Twellman has missed most of the season with injury, but he was on target in both games as he returns to full match sharpness.
Houston’s seven-game unbeaten run came to a shuddering halt at Giants Stadium on Sunday thanks to another returning striker. Juan Pablo Angel notched his sixth goal in six games as New York ran out convincing 3-0 winners. The Red Bulls’ recent revival after an abject start and the loss of Jozy Altidore can be attributed to the form of Angel and recent capture Jorge Rojas. The Venezuelan missed this game in bizarre circumstances. Visa problems delayed his return from Caracas following the midweek international, but he is expected to return for this weekend’s clash with D.C. United.
As things stand, Houston would face an unwanted return to New Jersey in the post season – New York, currently occupying fifth place with a better record than the West’s fourth place team, would slide across to the two-legged Western semi-finals. Given the horrendous artificial surface and confusing NFL lines obscuring the pitch, it will be a tie that no opposing team will relish.
The first game of Bruce Arena’s L.A. Galaxy tenure was marked by the absence of further high-profile internationals as the MLS fixture list continues to clash with key FIFA dates. Landon Donovan was on duty for the US in their gutsy 1-0 win in Guatemala, but his absence was compensated by the loss of talisman Mexican Cuauhtemoc Blanco for the visiting Chicago Fire. John Thorrington, a Southern California native, kept up his knack of scoring against L.A. with the only goal to dampen Arena’s spirits.
Galaxy received unfortunate news the day prior to the game when new signing Eddie Lewis left the pitch in Guatemala on a stretcher after a violent aerial collision. Gustavo Cabrera was rightfully dismissed for a sickening act, jumping into Lewis’ blind side with his elbow leading. It was arguably a worse challenge than that by German goalkeeper Harald Schumacher in the 1982 World Cup semi-final that left Frenchman Patrick Battiston unconscious. Thankfully Lewis will not require the same recovery time.
So the play-off picture still looks blurred with nine games remaining. A seven point gap between fifth in the East and fourth in the West suggests five and three to qualify respectively. New England, Columbus and Chicago look to have done enough, while D.C. United and New York should be able to hold off any late challenges from Toronto and Kansas City.
Dallas are showing signs of improvement in the West and Kenny Cooper remains a huge threat, but they are by no means a certainty. Houston look good. Thereafter, pick any two from six.
Week 22 Results
Houston 4 Chivas 0
New England 2 D.C. United 1
L.A. Galaxy 0 Chicago 1
Chivas 0 San Jose 0 (Six undefeated for Quakes)
Kansas City 1 Dallas 1 (Probably the worst camera work in the world)
Toronto 1 New England 1
D.C. United 3 Colorado 0 (Quaranta bullet seals Emilio-inspired win)
Columbus 3 Salt Lake 0 (blah)
New York 3 Houston 0 (blah)
Standings
Eastern Conference
1) New England 37 points (played 21)
2) Columbus 37 (21)
3) Chicago 35 (21)
4) D.C. United 31 (21)
5) *New York 31 (21)
6) Toronto 26 (21)
7) Kansas City 26 (21)
Western Conference
1) Houston 32 (21)
2) Salt Lake 27 (21)
3) *Dallas 26 (21)
4) Colorado 24 (21)
5) L.A. Galaxy 24 (21)
6) Chivas 24 (21)
7) San Jose 22 (21)
*Lines show teams occupying play-off positions.
Houston and New England seized midweek opportunities to strengthen their positions at the top of their respective conferences. Dynamo moved five points clear of Real Salt Lake after continuing their devastating goal-scoring form, something RSL could vouch for in Week 21, with a 4-0 thrashing of Chivas. Despite missing Pat Onstad, Dwayne De Rosario (both Canada) and Brian Ching (USA) to the opening round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers, Houston exploded from the blocks to finish the contest within 35 minutes.
Stuart Holden, himself back from national duty with the American Olympic squad, capped a fine flowing move down the left flank with a cute chip to put the home side ahead after 11 minutes. Kei Kamara doubled the advantage with a wonderfully executed turn and finish from the edge of the penalty area to double the lead. Next up was strike partner Nate Jaqua forcing a loose ball over the line after Ricardo Clark’s header rebounded from the crossbar. Kamara completed the scoring with a near post header from Jaqua’s cross to finish another fine Dynamo move.
While Houston head coach Dominic Kinnear has managed to restore quality and depth to his squad, the same cannot be said for Chivas. An unmanageable injury list hampered Preki’s line up yet again as he was without the services of either of his preferred strikers, Maykel Galindo and Ante Razov. Swiss international Raphael Wicky has only started one game all season and remains unavailable after ankle surgery. To add to Preki’s woes, Jesse Marsch fractured his jaw in the recent Superclasico and Sacha Kljestan was called up to the senior national team days after returning from the Olympics. It was no contest.
Much of Houston’s success last season originated from the ability of head coach Dominic Kinnear to freshen his attack at vital moments. Ching and Jaqua posed a strong physical challenge to opposing defences while Joseph Ngwenya caused problems with his speed and willingness to run with the ball. Those options evaporated when Jaqua and Ngwenya pursued offers from the Austrian league during the close season. With Jaqua back and Kamara being added from San Jose, Kinnear now has healthy competition for places again as we enter the final stretch. The rest of the league should take note.
New England claimed top spot in the East with a narrow 2-1 win over D.C. United last Wednesday before earning another point in a 1-1 draw at Toronto. They share the lead with Columbus Crew. Sigi Schmidt’s side have refused to wilt this season and fully deserve their place after humbling Salt Lake 3-0. Like Dynamo, the Revs’ attack is beginning to find its form at the right time. Star striker Taylor Twellman has missed most of the season with injury, but he was on target in both games as he returns to full match sharpness.
Houston’s seven-game unbeaten run came to a shuddering halt at Giants Stadium on Sunday thanks to another returning striker. Juan Pablo Angel notched his sixth goal in six games as New York ran out convincing 3-0 winners. The Red Bulls’ recent revival after an abject start and the loss of Jozy Altidore can be attributed to the form of Angel and recent capture Jorge Rojas. The Venezuelan missed this game in bizarre circumstances. Visa problems delayed his return from Caracas following the midweek international, but he is expected to return for this weekend’s clash with D.C. United.
As things stand, Houston would face an unwanted return to New Jersey in the post season – New York, currently occupying fifth place with a better record than the West’s fourth place team, would slide across to the two-legged Western semi-finals. Given the horrendous artificial surface and confusing NFL lines obscuring the pitch, it will be a tie that no opposing team will relish.
The first game of Bruce Arena’s L.A. Galaxy tenure was marked by the absence of further high-profile internationals as the MLS fixture list continues to clash with key FIFA dates. Landon Donovan was on duty for the US in their gutsy 1-0 win in Guatemala, but his absence was compensated by the loss of talisman Mexican Cuauhtemoc Blanco for the visiting Chicago Fire. John Thorrington, a Southern California native, kept up his knack of scoring against L.A. with the only goal to dampen Arena’s spirits.
Galaxy received unfortunate news the day prior to the game when new signing Eddie Lewis left the pitch in Guatemala on a stretcher after a violent aerial collision. Gustavo Cabrera was rightfully dismissed for a sickening act, jumping into Lewis’ blind side with his elbow leading. It was arguably a worse challenge than that by German goalkeeper Harald Schumacher in the 1982 World Cup semi-final that left Frenchman Patrick Battiston unconscious. Thankfully Lewis will not require the same recovery time.
So the play-off picture still looks blurred with nine games remaining. A seven point gap between fifth in the East and fourth in the West suggests five and three to qualify respectively. New England, Columbus and Chicago look to have done enough, while D.C. United and New York should be able to hold off any late challenges from Toronto and Kansas City.
Dallas are showing signs of improvement in the West and Kenny Cooper remains a huge threat, but they are by no means a certainty. Houston look good. Thereafter, pick any two from six.
Week 22 Results
Houston 4 Chivas 0
New England 2 D.C. United 1
L.A. Galaxy 0 Chicago 1
Chivas 0 San Jose 0 (Six undefeated for Quakes)
Kansas City 1 Dallas 1 (Probably the worst camera work in the world)
Toronto 1 New England 1
D.C. United 3 Colorado 0 (Quaranta bullet seals Emilio-inspired win)
Columbus 3 Salt Lake 0 (blah)
New York 3 Houston 0 (blah)
Standings
Eastern Conference
1) New England 37 points (played 21)
2) Columbus 37 (21)
3) Chicago 35 (21)
4) D.C. United 31 (21)
5) *New York 31 (21)
6) Toronto 26 (21)
7) Kansas City 26 (21)
Western Conference
1) Houston 32 (21)
2) Salt Lake 27 (21)
3) *Dallas 26 (21)
4) Colorado 24 (21)
5) L.A. Galaxy 24 (21)
6) Chivas 24 (21)
7) San Jose 22 (21)
*Lines show teams occupying play-off positions.
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