The nine games yielded 24 goals, many of which were terrific, including the following five:
The week was filthy rich with great goals; there were also fine strikes from MikeMagee and SebastienLeToux. But of the five nominees, we have to go with DavyArnaud’s excellent finish, teed up by Felipe’s superb scoop over the top. Finishing a close second for us was DiegoValeri‘s slick slalom and finish against New York, followed, again, very closely, by Vancouver’s beautiful team goal.
Keep an eye on Whitecaps midfielder DaigoKobayashi, the man who laid that ball off for GershonKhoffie to finish. Kobayashi’s teammate JunMarquesDavidson said the Japanese import (who’s only 30) would be the most technical player in the league when he joined in preseason. After seeing him for one game, we see what Davidson means: Kobayashi is superclean on the ball. He—and Vancouver—are going to be fun to watch.
He didn’t try to kiss the sideline reporter during his halftime interview, but U.S. coach JurgenKlinsmann did that other thing JoeNamath is famous for: he guaranteed a victory for his team in a huge game, and his team went out and got that victory.
They did it pretty comfortably, too, for the first hour anyway. In the first half, the U.S. controlled 80% of possession, completed 91% of their passes, and outshot the visitors 8-0. Yet they had nothing to show for it at the break.
The Americans continued to dictate play in the second session, and in the 55th minute, they finally broke through on a mistake by Jamaican keeper DwayneMiller—an ironic turn, since he had been sensational to that point. After making several terrific saves to keep the score level, Miller failed to deal properly with HerculezGomez’s 30-yard free kick, pushing the curling shot into the side netting for a 1-0 U.S. lead.
Jamaica came out of their defensive shell after the goal and gave the U.S. some nervy moments down the stretch, but the Yanks held on for the three points that put them back on top of the group on goal difference with two games to play in this round.
Highlights:
Three thoughts on the 9/11 win in the heartland:
• The Frankie Hejduk-led Columbus Crew Stadium crowd was the 12th man.
Former U.S. national teamer and two-time MLS Cup champ Hejduk, now a member of the Crew’s front office, donned his old USMNT jersey and led a rabid section of U.S. supporters. Here he is, courtesy of soccer scribe Brian Straus:
• Midfielders Graham Zusi and Danny Williams helped their USMNT causes the most last night.
Zusi clanged a shot off the crossbar in the opening moments, showing he was there to play right out of the gate, and Williams later nearly knocked down the upright with a thundering 30-yarder that somehow stayed out of the goal. Both excelled otherwise, too, with Zusi complementing SteveCherundolo perfectly on the right flank, and Williams dominating the middle on both sides of the ball. Now, here’s hoping Williams stays in that spot. He’d be a better option behind MichaelBradley than JermaineJones.
• Both Brek Shea and Maurice Edu are in a funk.
They came on as late-game subs, surely with instructions to keep the ball and help kill the game for the U.S., but both nearly did the opposite, squandering possession and looking unsure of themselves. Edu needs to settle in and get games at Stoke City, where he recently signed alongside GeoffCameron (who showed last night that he now owns one of the U.S. center back slots, after only eight appearances). Shea needs to get his head sorted out.
He’s only appeared in four games for the Columbus Crew, but Argentine attacker FedericoHiguain has already racked up three goals and four assists, sparking the Crew to a five-game unbeaten run that has pushed them to within two points of the fifth and final playoff spot.
There are now just eight points separating the top seven teams in the East.
On Wednesday night at Philadelphia’s PPL Park, Higuain assisted on the Crew’s first goal with a deadly free kick, then made a crucial play to help set up EddieGaven‘s unlikely stoppage-time gamewinner in the Crew’s 2-1 victory.
The visitors played the final 22 minutes with 10 men after JoshWilliams, who scored Columbus’s first goal, was sent off for scuffling with AntoineHoppenot in the 68th minute.
To the highlights:
On Saturday, Columbus hosts the Montreal Impact, with whom they are tied on 39 points in the East standings. (Though Columbus has three games in hand.)
He may not be as good as his younger brother, Real Madrid’s GonzaloHiguain, but 27-year-old Argentine attacker FedericoHiguain is off to a fine start as the third Designated Player in Columbus Crew history.
He had an assist in his debut this past Sunday against Houston, and last night, in his first start for the Crew, Higuain set up a goal in the fourth minute and scored one in the 58th, leading Columbus to a 2-1 win over Toronto FC.
Columbus looked dangerous through the first hour, with U.S. midfielder EddieGaven, Costa Rican striker JairoArrieta and Venezuelan attacker EmilioRenteria all joining Higuain in a fluid attack. Though of course it’s hard to say whether their dominance could be chalked up to the Crew’s skill, or a lack of the same from Toronto, who are now 5-15-5 on the season.
Highlights:
Designated Players can be a crapshoot, as the Crew have found out in the past, breaking even with their previous two—GuillermoBarrosSchelotto (thumbs up) and AndresMendoza (meh, and he had penalty-kick-etiquette issues).
If Higuain keeps this up, he’ll make the franchise 2-for-3 on DPs and could push Columbus into the crowded field of contenders in the East, where the top five teams are just six points apart.
The Crew are seven points out of a playoff spot, but have games in hand on every team ahead of them in the standings.
The San Jose Earthquakes struggled for 90 minutes to solve Columbus keeper AndyGruenebaum—much like the San Jose announcers struggled with the pronunciation of the Crew backup’s name all game long.
After seven saves from the 29-year-old University of Kentucky graduate, the Quakes finally got it right, thanks to a superhero sequence from substitute forward AlanGordon in the 90th minute:
With the result, San Jose (7-2-3) held on to sole possession of second place in the West, while Columbus (3-4-3) moved ahead of Montreal on goal difference and into seventh in the East.
With four games on the schedule, last night was the busiest Wednesday of the year in Major League Soccer, and the action did not disappoint.
There was a five-goal flood in New York, a record-tying tally in Vancouver, and some great goalkeeping all over the map.
It was so good, in fact, that four spots on SportsCenter’s Top 10 Plays of the Day were occupied by MLS highlights.
Here they are, in the order they were ranked by ESPN:
10. Jeff Cunningham’s record-tying 133rd career goal
It also happened to be a 90th-minute winner for visiting Columbus versus Vancouver:
Final score Columbus 1, Vancouver 0
9. Matt Pickens’s astounding reaction save off a deflection against Sporting Kansas City
This one should have been higher; it’s a truly terrific save and it came in stoppage time, preserving a 1-1 tie for the visitors. Full (and worthwhile) highlights below, but scroll to 5:15 mark for Pickens’ heroics:
Final score: SKC 1, Colorado 1
7. Ben Zemanski’s swerving, 35-yard golazo against San Jose
This high-speed knuckleball broke open a game that seemed destined to become a dreaded 0-0 draw (and be sure to note Busch’s expression afterward. Priceless.):
Final score: Chivas USA 2, San Jose 0
3.This was a twofer: Luke Rodgers’ tremendous volley, and Juan Agudelo’s lethal header for New York against Toronto
Rodgers’ goal signaled the rout:
And Agudelo’s sealed it (and then he added one more):
Final score: New York 5, Toronto 0
ESPN also had a soccer highlight—a goal by Brazil in the Women’s World Cup—as its No. 1 play of the day. Not bad for footy on the WWL today: five out of 10.
In a meeting of injury- and international-absence–riddled teams at Crew Stadium last night, Columbus rallied to beat Real Salt Lake 2-1 on goals by AndresMendoza and JoshGardner.
Gardner’s strike came in the 82nd minute, deflecting off RSL defender ChrisSchuler and flying past a wrong-footed NickRimando to supply the Crew with a dramatic game-winner.
But it was Mendoza’s goal that provided the game’s main talking point. After Columbus rookie JustinMeram—who set up the Crew’s stoppage-time equalizer against New York last week—drew a penalty in the 75th minute, Mendoza fetched a ball from a nearby ballboy and went to the spot, where fellow striker JeffCunningham was waiting.
Scroll to the 3:30 mark of the clip below to see what happened:
Mendoza—who was just made a designated player in the offseason and has been struggling mightily since getting the big bucks—insisted on taking the potentially game-tying PK even though Cunningham was a) the team’s designated penalty-taker for the game, and b) one goal behind Jaime Moreno for the alltime MLS career scoring lead.
(Cunningham has 132 career goals; Moreno, the former D.C. United legend, retired with 133.)
Both SebastianMiranda and Columbus captain ChadMarshall came over to Mendoza in apparent attempts to try to explain the situation/dissuade him, but Mendoza would not budge.
All we can say is, good thing he made it.
Cunningham, who hit the post with a powerful header in the second half, was extremely gracious in his postgame comments about the controversy, telling the league website:
“I’m happy for Mendoza. The boy deserves it. He’s definitely putting in the work tonight. Usually I’m one and Mendoza is two [to take the kick]. He felt very confident that he would score. Sometimes you have to lead by example and be a servant.
“It’s good for him. We need him to be at his best. That goal was probably more important for the club than me at this point. As a forward he’s been under a lot of pressure. It’s important for us to be supportive of him. I’m happy he stepped up and he’s confident enough to score. Life goes on and we got three points.”
Mendoza missed two very make-able chances against the Red Bulls last week, and had flubbed an excellent cross from Cunningham earlier in this match (though he was also ruled offside). He struggled to make the starting lineup earlier in the season.
Afterward, Mendoza claimed through a translator that he didn’t know Cunningham was on the cusp of the record or that the Crew veteran had been designated to take any PKs in the game.
Hmmm. Then what was Miranda, a fellow Spanish speaker, saying to him as they huddled over the ball in the clip above?
We’d be willing to bet it went something like this: “Hey Andres, Jeff is one goal away from tying the alltime league scoring record—maybe let him take this? Oh, also, coach Warzycha said Cunningham should take any PKs tonight, okay? So how bout stepping aside? … No? Okay, well, enjoy life back in Peru if you don’t effin make it.”
Note that Cunningham was the first player to congratulate Mendoza after the spot kick. That gesture, and his postgame comments (not to mention the win), should help smooth things over in the Columbus locker room.
Real Salt Lake were without regulars AlvaroSaborio (Gold Cup), ArturoAlvarez (Gold Cup), WillJohnson (Gold Cup), PauloJr (hip flexor) and JavierMorales (ankle), while Columbus was missing RobbieRogers (Gold Cup), DillyDuka (ankle), EmilioRenteria (quadriceps), and TommyHeinemann (hamstring).
Between our hosting site conking out, a ton of day-job stuff and a couple of MLS assignments (see their site later today and tomorrow, we think), we’ve been a bit waylaid the past day and a half. But let’s get right to Tuesday night’s CONCACAF Champions League clash between Salt Lake and Columbus.
Does this look like a soft goal to you?
Click here to see it from different angles. Seems like Columbus (third-string) keeper RayBurse was slow to react, or not positioned well, or both. The ball was closer to smack-in-the-middle of the goal than it was to the top corner.
The strike, by midfielder AndyWilliams, was Real Salt Lake’s final goal in a 4-1 win that made them the first MLS team ever to advance to the semifinals of the CCL.
Two of RSL’s other goals were also of the should-have-been-prevented variety: they came after JavierMorales and AlvaroSaborio went curiously unmarked in the box, took simple diagonal balls and deposited them past Burse. After the game, Columbus coach RobertWarzycha said his backline had been caught in misguided attempts to play the offside trap—in the box—on both of those goals.
Still, the game was closer than its lopsided scoreline suggested, and it was a far cry from the previous Tuesday’s first leg in Columbus, where the teams slogged through snow and freezing conditions to a sloppy scoreless draw that included three ejections.
In the second leg, Columbus went down 2-0 on the Morales and Saborio goals, but pulled one back early in the second half on a sweet strike from Peruvian forward AndresMendoza. Just like that, we had an entertaining game on our hands, and both teams put together skillful stretches of attacking play.
But two more goals from RSL—Morales’s second, in the 77th minute, and the Williams free kick—put it away for the home team.
Complete highlights here:
Salt Lake got the result despite missing starting wingback TonyBeltran and centerback NatBorchers, who were out with red-card suspensions.
Columbus was missing striker EmilioRenteria (red-card suspension), along with four other starters—defenders ChadMarshall and ShaunFrancis, midfielder DannyO’Rourke, and goalkeeper WillHesmer—due to injuries.
In the semifinals later this month, Real Salt Lake will meet the winner of the Saprissa (Costa Rica) /Olimpia (Honduras) quarterfinal, whose second leg is tonight.
Tuesday’s victory extended RSL’s home unbeaten streak to 34 games.
The Columbus Crew started brightly last night at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, looking like visitors determined to take the initiative in the game, and the home crowd out of it, from the opening whistle.
That lasted approximately 10 minutes.
Then Colorado started getting a grip on the match, and gradually came to dominate it, putting Columbus on its heels and controlling possession. The Crew went completely flat, looked leg-weary, and started turning the ball over at an alarming rate and frequently while under no pressure. Columbus produced just one shot in the first 45 minutes.
After the Rapids’ inevitable goal came, in the 23rd minute on a sliding shot by captain PabloMastroeni, it got even worse for Columbus. It looked like the Crew was playing in black-and-white while the Rapids were in high-def, living color, knocking the ball around fluidly.
The return leg is on November 6. As bad as the Crew looked for much of this one, they nearly poached a late equalizer, and they play at home next weekend with a decent shot to rally and take the series.
To do that, Columbus will have to be much sharper than they were last night, of course, but Colorado is no doubt ruing the fact that they didn’t get another goal in a game they dominated last night.
They don’t play their final Group B match until Thursday, but the Columbus Crew got word last night that they’re guaranteed to advance to next spring’s quarterfinals of the CCL.
Santos Laguna’s 6-1 trouncing of Municipal ensured the Crew of finishing second place in the group (behind Santos), no matter what happens in their meeting with hilariously named Joe Public in Trinidad on Thursday.
Columbus coach RobertWarzycha can now rest his first-choice players to recharge for the MLS finale and playoffs. It would be a much-needed respite after the Crew played five games in a recent two week stretch that sent them to Boston, Guatemala City, Seattle, and Chicago. Maybe some of the starters can skip the trip to Trinidad for tomorrow night’s game?
Also in CCL action last night was the continuously impressive Real Salt Lake, which fielded a team of reserves against Cruz Azul, and spanked the visitors 3-1 in front of an overflow crowd of 20,463 at Rio Tinto Stadium.
Paulo Jr., who is from Brazil, but is notthe bassist for Sepultura, bagged goals on either side of halftime to lead the way.
Both teams had already booked passage to the quarters (Cruz Azul rested multiple starters too), but RSL topped Group A with the victory, becoming the first MLS team to win a CCL group since the tournament adopted its current format three years ago.
Toronto FC and Seattle played out the CCL string last night, with Sounders FC fielding its second-choice group and falling to quarterfinal-bound Saprissa 2-1 on an 87th-minute goalkeeping gaffe by KaseyKeller.
Keller was a late addition to the lineup after TerryBoss, Keller’s understudy who had been scheduled to start the game, came up with an injury.
Highlights here:
Toronto FC finished its CCL run on a positive note, downing Panama’s Arabe Unido 1-0 at BMO Field. Nineteen-year-old AshtoneMorgan made his TFC debut, then returned to high school classes this morning (really).
Highlights:
Real Salt Lake and Columbus will learn their quarterfinal opponents on November 1. The quarters kick off in February 2011.
Backpost 