Week 17 opened with a five-goal rout, ended with a five-goal thriller and had a little bit of everything else in between.
There were late heroics, gut-punch results and a history-making goal
that amounted to both. Goalkeepers had a huge impact, for better and for
worse, and the league’s most famous player had a banner night followed
by a landmark day in which he and his wife welcomed their fourth child.
It was another busy, memorable week, with 28 goals in 12 games, and
when it was over, you could see the faintest outlines of the playoff
picture beginning to take shape.
Let’s take a closer look.
Pacesetters
The LA Galaxy were the most consistent team in the league last year,
kicking off the season with an 11-game unbeaten streak and holding on to
win the Supporters’ Shield.
After Saturday night’s 2-1 victory over Chicago, they’re on track to
repeat the feat. The win extended LA’s unbeaten run to 12 games and left
them with 39 points, most in the league and four points clear at the
top of the Western Conference.
The Galaxy’s two most prominent players led the way, with David Beckham
setting up Landon Donovan for the first goal, then scoring the second
himself—directly off a seeing-eye corner kick.
With a goal, an assist and a win tucked away Saturday night, Beckham
and his wife, Victoria, welcomed their fourth child, a girl named Harper
Seven, on Sunday morning in Los Angeles. (This, of course, makes the
baby a US citizen. File that one away, USWNT fans.)
Cascadia Clash
Seattle have taken over second place in the West behind LA, and their
form is almost as hot as the Galaxy’s. Sounders FC are unbeaten in eight
matches after a riveting comeback victory over Cascadia rivals Portland
at JELD-WEN Field on Sunday afternoon.
The game started slowly, but the second half matched the electrifying
atmosphere at JELD-WEN as Seattle battled back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits
to win 3-2 on Osvaldo Alonso’s 83rd-minute penalty.
Fredy Montero scored both of the visitors’ other goals, the second one
after a beautiful buildup that went from James Riley to Lamar Neagle to
Mauro Rosales, who found Montero in front of the net.
It was a bitter loss for the Timbers, who have dropped six of their last seven, including four at JELD-WEN.
De Ro Dagger
The Red Bulls kicked off the week with a 5-0 pasting of Toronto FC that
put all of New York’s offensive weapons on display. New York got goals
from Thierry Henry, Luke Rodgers, Joel Lindpere and two from Juan
Agudelo to snap a four-game winless streak in style.
It was the Red Bulls’ first shutout since April 30, and it seemed to re-establish them as the dominant team in the East.
That feeling lasted until Saturday, when New York hosted I-95 rivals
D.C. United and midfielder Dwayne De Rosario, whom New York had traded
two weeks ago for Dax McCarty.
The two players were involved in the game’s only goal—but not in the
way New York would have liked. In the 61st minute, De Rosario slipped
McCarty’s mark with a crafty dummy, took a pass in the box from Josh
Wolff and crushed a shot off the far post and in with the outside of his
left foot.
While the Red Bulls are still in first place in the East after the 1-0 loss, they’re only six points ahead of sixth-place DC.
No. 133
As tough as that defeat was for New York, it paled in comparison to Vancouver’s loss to Columbus this past Wednesday night.
The Whitecaps created several opportunities in the first half,
including an effort from Shea Salinas that hit the post. It all went
south in the second, though, as Terry Dunfield saw his penalty saved by
Will Hesmer (who, like his counterpart, Joe Cannon, had a superb game)
and Salinas saw a red card from the referee for a studs-up challenge on
Josh Gardner.
That set the stage for stoppage time, when Columbus striker Jeff
Cunningham nodded home a Gardner cross for a last-gasp winner, a tally
that also happened to be the 133rd goal of Cunningham’s career, tying
him with former D.C. United legend Jaime Moreno for the all-time MLS
lead.
Vancouver went on to drop their second game of the week as well,
falling 2-1 at Colorado, as Rapids striker Conor Casey opened the
scoring with his sixth goal in his past seven appearances.
Sporting Chances
Sporting Kansas City also dealt with tough results and outstanding
goalkeeping this week, though they did extend their unbeaten streak to
10 games.
In their first game, on Wednesday night, KC tied Colorado 1-1 after
hitting the post twice and, in stoppage time, forcing a spectacular save
from Rapids goalkeeper Matt Pickens on a deflected shot by rookie C.J.
Sapong.
Pickens made a lightning-quick adjustment to the deflection, dove back
to his left and, at full stretch, tipped the ball off the upright to
preserve the 1-1 draw.
Sporting got an identical 1-1 result against Chivas USA on Saturday,
thanks to a stoppage-time header from Designated Player Omar Bravo. But
with slightly better luck, KC might not have needed the late dramatics.
They had a penalty shout denied in the 59th minute and several golden
chances turned aside by Goats keeper Dan Kennedy, who spent much of the
match standing on his head: Before Bravo’s thrilling equalizer, Kennedy
stopped quality efforts from Chance Myers, Matt Besler, Kei Kamara and
Bravo.
Hartman Hiccup
Unfortunately for FC Dallas fans, while other netminders made
highlights Kevin Hartman, one of the best goalkeepers in MLS history,
did his best Robert Green imitation.
Hartman fumbled a weak shot from distance by Real Salt Lake’s Andy
Williams to gift the hosts a 1-0 lead in the 47th minute at Rio Tinto.
After Dallas missed a golden chance to equalize in the 85th minute,
another Hoops error led to the game-clinching goal from Fabián
Espíndola.
It was a solid 2-0 win for RSL, who ended Dallas’ three-game winning
streak, but not everyone was smiling at the end. Striker Álvaro Saborío
stomped off the field after being substituted in the 87th minute and
left Rio Tinto without speaking to reporters.
Goat Hero
While Saborío sulked, Chivas USA midfielder Nick LaBrocca surely
smiled. He scored two goals this week to help his team to a win (2-0
over San Jose) and a draw (1-1 with KC). LaBrocca leads the Goats with
six goals this year.
In the week’s other results, Houston blanked slumping Toronto 2-0 and Philadelphia grinded out a 0-0 draw at San Jose.
