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MLS Roundup Week 5

ByJohn P. O'Donnell Jr.|

MLS Roundup Week 5.

Orlando City 0 – D.C. United 1

So the game is running down to a 0-0 tie in Orlando when D.C. substitute Luis Silva took a free kick that beat the City wall and Donovan Ricketts in the 91st minute. Once again the Orlando crowd was left stunned as City found another way to drop a point at home. For the second week in a row United has found some magic in extra time to get all three points as they jump to first in the East with nine Points.

Chicago Fire 3 – Toronto F.C. 2

Well Chicago is loving the home cooking as they captured another win at home for the second week in a row. Designated Player Shaun Maloney scored his first MLS goal and registered his first MLS assist. The Back and forth affair started with Sebastian Giovinco scoring his first MLS goal as he slipped one past Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch who looked to be leaning the wrong way. Harry Shipp had another strong game as he went the full 90 minutes and ended the day with two more assist.

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Colorado Rapids 0 – New England Revolution 2

The Rapids  are still scoreless on the season, and dating back to last year, have now gone 600 minutes without a goal. It’s hard to believe that a team can go that long without scoring but I’m sure the goal looks like the size of a hockey net by now for the Rapids.

Kelyn Rowe continued to create offensive opportunities for the Revs as he sent a pass to Juan Agudelo on the far side of the field. Agudelo controlled the ball with his left foot and sent it pass Clint Irwin with the outside of his right foot for the opening goal in the 19th minute.

The Revolution took command of the game in the 54th minute when Charlie Davies was pulled down in the box and Lee Nguyen slotted the ensuing penalty past Irwin.

The frustration must be building in Colorado as Rapids head coach Pablo Mastroeni was ejected from the game after arguing the call.

Seattle Sounders 1 – Houston Dynamo 0

They are at it again in Seattle as Clint Dempsey stole a ball and gave it to his partner in crime Obafemi Martins, who deposited for a goal off a magical spin move. The two forward look like they are out in the back yard schooling the youngsters as they combine for yet another highlight moment for the home fans.

Seattle survived to grab all three points despite having to play a man down for a 56th-minute red card to midfielder Gonzalo Pineda for a high cleat on Houston’s Ricardo Clark.

Vancouver Whitecaps 2 – LA Galaxy 0

I said it last week and I’ll say it again; lookout for the Whitecaps. They took the game to the defending MLS Cup champs and it never looked close.  The young duo of Kekuta Manneh and Octavio Rivero scored for the Whitecaps as they pushed Vancouver to the top of the league with Twelve points.

They won’t have long to celebrate as they have a game this Wednesday at home against Columbus and then travel to San Jose for a game on Saturday.

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Portland Timbers 3 – F.C. Dallas 1

Caleb Porter may have been the recipient, but the message FC Dallas manager Oscar Pareja was trying to send was not merely aimed at the Portland Timbers head coach as he thinks to many times coaches are crying at the refs. Sorry Oscar I just don’t buy it and I think it’s the kind of thing that will ignite the Timbers as they seem to be a team that plays better with a chip on their shoulder. Porter is turning into the villain of MLS as this is yet another incident involving an opposing coach. I think him and his team like the label and will see where it goes.

The Timbers got going with Nat Borchers, Maximiliano Urruti and Diego Chara all scoring their first goals of the year at Providence Park. FC Dallas tasted defeat for the first time this season after entering the game as Western Conference leaders. They now sit in second with 10 points from five games.

San Jose Earthquakes 0 – Real Salt Lake 1

Javier Morales’ goal just before halftime was enough to lift Real Salt Lake to a 1-0 win in front of a sellout crowd at Avaya Stadium and a soccer Sunday national television audience watching on ESPN2 .

Javier Morales took a free kick from the top of the arc but his first attempt slammed into the wall, but the rebound gave him a second chance and Morales made no mistake, sending a laser of a shot off the underside of the crossbar in the 44th minute. Real Salt Lake remains undefeated to start the season at 2-0-2.

Sporting Kansas City 3 – Philadelphia Union 2

It seems the Philadelphia Union have developed the prevent defense for MLS. But just like in the NFL it looks like it cost you games. With the Union leading late in the game they seemed to stop attacking as every ball they won in the defensive side was just booted back up the field to Sporting so that they could regroup. With just 30.5% of the possession for the game and a horrid 53% of passing accuracy, it’s not hard to figure out why they throw points away late in games.

Adding to the woes of the team is that they can’t finish shot on goal. Le Toux could have given the Union a 3-1 lead in the 87th minute, but his shot hit the right post and midfielder Michael Lahoud drove his attempt on the rebound of a wide open goal over the crossbar. Evidently that isn’t the only thing Lahoud missed as he tweeted he missed the plane ride back the next day.

I can’t even give Sporting that much credit as they played just as bad for the first 90 minutes of the game.

Rais Mbolhi looks lost on the field right now and I wonder if Curtin will send him to the bench this week and give Andre Blake his first start of the season? Mbolhi just looks like he is afraid to leave his box, something that Blake excels at. With the huge cap hit, Mbolhi is looking like one of the worst signings in the league the past two years.

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