MLS Week 13 Wrap-Up

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MLS Week 13 may well have been overshadowed by the USMNT game against Turkey, but there was plenty going on this week as we head towards the World Cup break.

Sporting Kansas City 1 – 1 New York Red Bulls

Toni and Bradley Wright-Phillips each got themselves a goal and a yellow card in a very close match last Tuesday evening. Toni got in a beautiful shot from outside the penalty box in the 9th minute, and Wright-Phillips tied it all up in the 50th minute after a nice through-ball from Thierry Henry.

Chivas USA 0 – 2 Portland Timbers

Fanendo Adi had himself a very good game for the Timbers as they looked to keep their renewed energy alive in a midweek game against bottom of the table Chivas USA.  Adi scored a brace, and Donovan Rickets earned himself a clean sheet.  This was the first of two games for both teams this week.

Seattle Sounders FC 4 – 0 Real Salt Lake

The Seattle Sounders finally brought Real Salt Lake back down to earth in an absolute blowout at CenturyLink Field.  With goals by Obafemi Martins, Chad Barrett, Marco Pappa, and Gonzalo Pineda, RSL will hope to recover against Columbus Crew at home next week, and are still sitting right behind Seattle at the top of the Western Conference.

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Toronto FC 3 – 2 Columbus Crew

Jermain Defoe again showed Roy Hodgson exactly what it is he is missing with a brace against Gregg Berhalter’s Columbus Crew. Toronto FC found themselves behind twice during the match, once in the 18th minute after a goal from Justin Meram, and again in the 65th minute off a corner. Both times, Defoe managed to earn back the equalizer, with his first goal coming just 2 minutes after Meram’s goal. Doneil Henry managed a late stoppage time goal to earn the victory for TFC.

DC United 1 – 0 Sporting Kansas City

On paper, Sporting Kansas City should have won this game.  Every single stat goes their way, except for the final score.  A perfect chip in the 28th minute by Fabian Espindola coupled with a clean sheet from Bill Hamid gave the United the victory. It was also a game rife with cards, with the referee handing out 5 yellow cards and a straight red to DC United’s Alex Caskey.

Montreal Impact 2 – 0 New England Revolution

Bottom of the Eastern Conference table, Montreal Impact, snapped table leader’s New England Revolution five game winning streak in a huge upset.  Andres Romero opened the scoring for Montreal in the third minute.  Jack McInerney put another goal on the board in the 38th minute to give Montreal their second win of the season.  The Impact plays again at home on Wednesday this week, while New England will return home to try and recover against their rivals, the New York Red Bulls.

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FC Dallas 1 – 2 San Jose Earthquakes

FC Dallas were the victims of an at-home loss against the Earthquakes.  Dallas started off the scoring with a 16th minute goal from Blas Perez, the San Jose Earthquakes answered with an equalizer from Atiba Harris in the 27th minute. San Jose managed to secure the win with a long ball from Jean-Baptiste Pierazzi in the 45th minute.  FCD got the chance to equalize when Fabian Castillo got tripped in the box, but a save from Jon Busch gave the Quakes 3 valuable road points.

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Chivas USA 0 – 3 Philadelphia Union 

Chivas USA and Philadelphia Union were both needing a positive result on Saturday night, and Philadelphia certainly earned theirs.  With a brace by Conor Casey, and a goal from Cristán Maidana in the 76th minute, the Union earned three road points against a weak Chivas side.  This was another card heavy match, with four yellows and a 83rd minute straight red given to Tilson Oswaldo Minda.  The Union result may well have given Hackworth a little more time to turn the team around.

Chicago Fire 1 – 1 LA Galaxy

The LA Galaxy were looking to break their abysmal road record this Sunday against a struggling Chicago Fire side, but only managed to come away with one point.  Chicago’s Jhon Kennedy Hurtado opened the scoring with a converted penalty kick, after Quincy Amarikwa was brought down in the box. Landon Donovan scored the equalizer in the 74th minute off a brilliant cross from Robbie Keane. Donovan also earned himself a yellow card only moments after scoring the equalizer for pulling down Grant Ward.

Colorado Rapids 3 – 0 Houston Dynamo

The Houston Dynamo are really feeling the absence of USMNT midfielder, Brad Davis, and it showed in their match against the Colorado Rapids. Forward Deshorn Brown scored a brace for the Rapids, with his first goal coming off a header in the 5th minute.  He doubled his tally for the day in the 35th minute after a pass from Dillon Powers. Kamani Hill put the game out of reach for the Dynamo with a showy push into the goal off the corner kick.  Houston had an especially poor game, only putting up five shots, with none of them being on target.

Portland Timbers 3 – 4 Vancouver Whitecaps

The week ended on a goal fest in Cascadia, with the Vancouver Whitecaps earning three road points against the Portland Timbers.  The Timbers drew first blood in the match with a left footed shot from Maximiliano Urruti in just the third minute.  Vancouver answered with a converted penalty kick from Pedro Morales after Jorge Villafaña was tripped up in the penalty area.  Morales converted another penalty when Kekuta Manneh was tripped in the box just 10 minutes later. Eric Hurtado added to the tally in late first half stoppage.  Jordan Harvey knocked in the fourth just moments after the second half kicked off.  While the Timbers would come back with late goals by Gastòn Fernandez and Will Johnson, it was not enough to salvage any points from the visiting Whitecaps.