MLS Weekend Review

by Sara DeWitt, Johannes de Jong & Ryan O'Hanlon - August 5, 2007

 
▪ Revs Go Clear in East

Robbie Findley repeated history by firing a Real Salt Lake winner, this time to stop an 11-game Houston unbeaten streak in its tracks. Elsewhere, DC United claimed the points in New England and FC Dallas edged Colorado.

▪ Rapids Lure El Tri Striker Osorno
▪ MLS News Briefs - Week 18
 

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UNITED STAGE GILLETTE RAID

DC United made light work of Eastern Conference leaders New England Revolution with a dominating 3-0 victory at Gillette Stadium on Sunday.

United's first goal came with a bit of controversy. After making the initial save on Clyde Simms, keeper Matt Reis left the ball on the ground for a waiting Josh Gros to put it away.

Reis claimed the goal should have been disallowed since he kept his hand on the ball, but referee Alex Prus allowed the goal to stand.

Luciano Emilio doubled DC's lead in the 31st minute, finding some space after a Guy Roland-Kpene through ball fell at his feet.

Moments later, the Revs were forced to watch defender Michael Parkhurst carted off with a knee injury.

Emilio was also the architect of the final goal in the game on 76 minutes when his quick free kick caught the defense off guard. The Brazilian managed a quick give-and-go with Ben Olsen before sliding his effort under Reis.

United will return home for a match-up against the LA Galaxy on Thursday, while New England gear up for the same foe on Sunday.

Scoring
DC - Joshua Gros 22'
DC - Luciano Emilio 11 (Guy-Roland Kpene, Marc Burch) 31'
DC - Luciano Emilio 12 (Ben Olsen) 75'

Line-ups

DCU - Troy Perkins; Bobby Boswell, Bryan Namoff (Dominic Mediate 77'), Marc Burch, Devon McTavish, Joshua Gros, Ben Olsen, Rod Dyachenko, Clyde Simms, Luciano Emilio, Guy-Roland Kpene [Jaime Moreno 46' (Brian Carroll 74')]

NE - Matt Reis; James Riley, Michael Parkhurst (Avery John 37'), Jay Heaps, Steve Ralston, Shalrie Joseph, Jeff Larentowicz (Wells Thompson 72'), Khano Smith, Andy Dorman (Adam Cristman 46'), Taylor Twellman, Pat Noonan

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TFC SHARE WITH UNINSPIRED GALAXY

It was a game filled with tremendous atmosphere and a piercing draft from Lake Ontario, but little else, as Canada's only MLS franchise held a David Beckham devoid LA side to a goalless draw at BMO Field on Sunday.

The result extends TFC's scoreless streak well beyond the 300-minute mark, as the Toronto based club continues to struggle in front of net. In goal, however, new keeper Kenny Stamatopoulos, who earlier this week signed from Norwegian side Tromsø as cover for the injury-absent Greg Sutton and Srdjan Djenkanovic, notched a debut clean sheet.

The game started to a chorus of taunts and songs from the home supporters, with Joe Cannon and the Galaxy net getting "TP'ed" under a barrage of streamers and confetti.

TFC started the brighter of the two, using the wind and hostile atmosphere to unsettle the Galaxy backline, with Andrea Lombardo being narrowly denied in the sixth minute thanks to a Ty Harden intervention on the goal line.

Lombardo became the danger man of the first half, with the Canada youth international using his robust frame and quick feet to cause Abel Xavier & Co. some trouble. In the 30th minute, Lombardo was picked out in the box by Canadian International Chris Pozniak, but the young striker managed to pull his effort just wide left of the post.

Landon Donovan was back helping his midfield recover from the high pressure for much of the first half, while the Galaxy attack failed to muster anything credible up front.

The home side tried to stamp some impression on the game once again in the second half, as Jim Brennan found himself narrowly denied by Cannon in the 54th minute before TFC received three consecutive set pieces in the minutes that followed, with one effort being cleared off the line by Harden's header.

As the game died down, Toronto got another double chance with pacy winger Andy Welsh coming close after making a darting run into the box, denied by Cannon's assured arms, before Maurice Edu plowed through the defense to set himself up with yet another chance which was denied product by a heavy touch.

Line-ups
LA - Joe Cannon; Troy Roberts (Kyle Martino 47'), Ty Harden, Abel Xavier, Ante Jazic, Chris Klein, Landon Donovan, Kelly Gray, Peter Vagenas, Kevin Harmse (Quavas Kirk 70'), Alan Gordon (Carlos Pavon 64')

TFC - Kenny Stamatopoulos; Marco Reda, Adam Braz, Jim Brennan, Tyrone Marshall, Chris Pozniak, Maurice Edu, Carl Robinson, Todd Dunivant, Collin Samuel (Andy Welsh 81'), Andrea Lombardo


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FIRE, CREW GO SCORELESS
The Chicago Fire hosted a 0-0 tie with rivals Columbus in front of over 20,000 fans on Saturday night.

It was a tight, 38-foul affair that neither middler was fully able to grab a firm hold of.

Calen Carr had the first prime chance after splitting a pair of Crew defenders in the 25th minute, but Will Hesmer was able to make the low save.

Moments later, Fire keeper Matt Pickens handled business when Marcos Gonzalez got to the end of a Guillermo Barros Schelotto restart.

Chicago would give Paulo Wanchope his debut in the 58th minute, and the Costa Rica star wasted little time in loading to fire, taking three shots.

Alejandro Moreno saw his bid for a Columbus opener squirt wide in the 67th minute, then shortly thereafter, Cuauhtémoc Blanco whistled a try just wide at the other end.

The goalless match did end with a fast flourish of chances. Wanchope fired meekly at Hesmer after being played through by Blanco with six minutes remaining.

In stoppage time, Crew sub Andy Herron saw Pickens corral his shot, with CJ Brown then missing on a last gasp header.

Line-ups
CLB - Will Hesmer; Frankie Hejduk, Marcos Gonzalez, Chad Marshall, Stefani Miglioranzi, Danny O'Rourke, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Ned Grabavoy (Duncan Oughton 88'), Danny Szetela, Alejandro Moreno, Eddie Gaven (Andy Herron 68')

CHI - Matt Pickens; C.J. Brown, Gonzalo Segares, Diego Gutierrez (Bakary Soumare 84'), Logan Pause, Chris Armas, Ivan Guerrero, Dasan Robinson, Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Calen Carr (Chris Rolfe 71'), Chad Barrett (Paulo Wanchope 58')

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ROOKIE FCD KEEPER BLANKS GUESTS
MLS debutant keeper Ray Burse stifled the Colorado attack and led FC Dallas to a 1-0 win at Pizza Hut Park.

Dallas pressured early on when, in the ninth minute, Arturo Alvarez cut in from the right, but his powerful low drive was stopped by an outstretched Bouna Coundoul.

The next chance for Dallas came in the 31st minute, and the Hoops took full advantage.

Dax McCarty, in his first start since the Under-20 World Cup, played a bending ball in from 40 yards that fooled the entire Colorado backline and found a wide open Drew Moor at the far post. The Copa América vet headed into the open net to put Dallas up 1-0.

If not for Burse, Colorado would've tied the game three minutes later when the rookie keeper stopped a point blank Ugo Ihemelu header. The rebound fell to Niclas Hernandez, but the striker hooked the rebound attempt wide.

In the 36th minute, Jose Cancela came close to scoring a spectacular goal for the visitors as his 30-yard volley missed wide by inches.

One minute before halftime, Dominic Oduro nearly doubled his club's lead, but his close-range effort was punched over by Coundoul.

After the half, Alvarez unleashed another long range effort that was tipped over by Coundoul.

Facundo Erpen's header, off of a Cancela free kick, just missed the far post in the 59th minute.

Two minutes later, Jacob Peterson caught Burse out of position, but the Dallas keeper was able to recover and parry the ball over.

In the 77th minute, Burse denied Peterson once again, when a deflection fell to the former Indiana striker, who saw a sprawling tip away of his volley.

Scoring
DAL - Drew Moor 2 (Dax McCarty) 31'

Line-ups
COL - Bouna Coundoul; Brandon Prideaux, Facundo Erpen, Ugo Ihemelu, Colin Clark, Jose Cancela, Jovan Kirovski (Herculez Gomez 59'), Pablo Mastroeni, Terry Cooke (Daniel Osorno 59'), Nicolas Hernandez, Jacob Peterson

FCD - Ray Burse; Chris Gbandi, Clarence Goodson, Adrian Serioux, Drew Moor, Juan Toja, Dax McCarty (Bobby Rhine 83'), Pablo Ricchetti, Arturo Alvarez, Dominic Oduro (Marcelo Saragosa 67'), Carlos Ruiz (Abe Thompson 77')

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FINDLEY, RSL HALTS DYNAMO RUN
On Saturday night, Real Salt Lake did something they've only done one other time the whole season - they won a game, and against red-hot Houston no less.

With a Robbie Findley goal in the 84th minute, RSL broke a 0-0 tie to go on to the victory, giving them a league low 12 points on the season. The defeat snapped the Dynamo's 11-game unbeaten streak.

After a few early RSL misfires, Brian Ching failed to trouble Nick Rimando with a 12th minute effort. Pat Onstad had considerably more to do in stopping a Kyle Beckerman header at the other end.

Past the half hour, Eddie Pope capped the third straight home corner kick with a firm header just off target. Just before the break, Kyle Brown wasted a Findley set-up from the slot by missing the target completely.

The second half was filled with squandered attacks and restarts until a mistake by Wade Barrett allowed Findley to claim his - and the team's - second winner of the season.

A misplay by the Houston defender laid the ball just outside the 18-yard box, for an easy walk in and shoot by Findley.

A flurry of offense from the Dynamo, mixed in with three yellow cards for Real, wasn't enough to get the ball by Rimando in the last four minutes of regulation.

Scoring
RSL - Robbie Findley 5 84'

Line-ups

HOU - Pat Onstad; Craig Waibel (Corey Ashe 70'), Ryan Cochrane, Eddie Robinson, Wade Barrett, Brian Mullan (Patrick Ianni 90'), Ricardo Clark, Richard Mulrooney, Stuart Holden (Nate Jaqua 46'), Joseph Ngwenya, Brian Ching

RSL - Nick Rimando; Jean-Martial Kipre (Chris Lancos 79'), Ritchie Kotschau, Eddie Pope, Chris Wingert, Chris Brown (Jamie Watson 66'), Kyle Beckerman, Nathan Sturgis, Carey Talley, Robbie Findley, Kyle Brown (Atiba Harris 79')

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