Outside90’s Daniel Fraiz-Martinez analyses all the action from Matchday 21 of Major League Soccer.
DP-full NYCFC left teetering on the brink
Saturday’s opening MLS Matchday 22 fixture had, for many, a resounding air of inevitability to it.
New York City, having finally filled their Designated Player (DP) quota, faced the incomprehensibly inconsistent Montreal Impact, who had only won once in their previous 31 MLS away games.
Therefore it was no great surprise when the side from north of the border stormed Yankee Stadium to claim themselves a merited 3-2 victory, with the aid of some once again calamitous defending from their hosts.
For all David Villa’s excellence in NYC’s inaugural campaign, the one true constant in the side has been woeful defending of the highest order, week in, week out.
Despite the introduction of Andrea Pirlo into the starting XI and the late introduction of Frank Lampard, it was the ‘forgotten DP’ of sorts, Ignacio Piatti, aided by livewire forward Dominic Oduro, who ended up looking like the stars on show in the Bronx.
The blundering Jefferson Mena and Jason Hernandez in particular gave the Impact’s forward line quite possibly one of their easiest games for quite some time. Indeed only an absurd amount of prolificacy prevented this from ending with a truly embarrassing scoreline.
The defeat put NYC three points behind Montreal in the race for the final play-off spot, with the Impact having three games in hand over their generous rivals.
With only a dozen games left to play, Jason Kreis and his men are left with the more than distinct possibility that despite all the attacking fanfare behind the side, it may well have to begin ‘year one’ of their American dominance a year later than expected.
DC United and Real Salt Lake show the ‘other side of MLS’ can entertain too
Saturday saw a historic 39 MLS goals scored across only eight games, the most in the league’s 20 year history. It would not come as any real surprise that the league record for goals in a game was broken on this Matchday 22 of the 2015 MLS Season.
However what may have been somewhat of a head-turner was that two of the league’s ‘other sides’, DC United and Real Salt Lake, were the ones to take their places in the MLS history books, with the final result ending as an outrageous 6-4 victory for the men from the nation’s capital.
In a game that showcased the best (and a little of the worst in the form of some ignominious refereeing) of MLS, both sides left fans at the RFK Stadium, and those watching around the world, with a rollercoaster 90 minutes of entertainment that will not be forgotten for some time.
Sensational goals from Kyle Beckerman, Taylor Kemp and Nick De Leon where worthy of gracing any game.
Larin proves he is THE number one as the ‘Lion Nation’ roars past the Crew
With goals flying in left, right and centre on Saturday night, it might have been easy to miss a resounding 5-2 victory for Orlando City over the always dangerous Columbus Crew.
The result was notable in the main for two reasons: the win snapped a month-long winless streak for Adrian Heath’s beleaguered side, and was also the biggest in the expansion side’s brief MLS history to date.
Second and perhaps most crucially was that of the double strike of Orlando’s Canadian international rookie forward Cyle Larin.
Larin entered the season with the typical question marks that surround the number one pick in the MLS Superdraft, but answered any doubters by making it five goals in his last two games, taking his tally to 11 for the season. This is the joint highest any rookie player has ever scored in their debut MLS campaign.
If Sebastian Giovinco is considered as the virtual winner of the league’s MVP accolade, Larin should be seen as already setting out a place on his mantle piece for the competition’s Rookie of the Year, such has been his highly impressive season so far.
Even Dempsey not enough to stop Seattle’s free-fall
Over in Seattle, the eagerly awaited return of Clint Dempsey did not bring the expected respite on Saturday. His side went down 3-0 in their Cascadia clash versus the quietly impressive Vancouver Whitecaps.
The return of the US International forward did not help break a run of four consecutive defeats, all of which the Sounders have failed to find the back of the net in.
Indeed Seattle’s run stretches to seven defeats in their past eight, a sequence that began with the suspension and subsequent international departure of Dempsey, and injury to his forward partner Obafemi Martins.
At that time, the Sounders (usually one of the league’s most dominant franchises) sat comfortably a top of the Western Conference.
However since then, their free-fall has seen them plummet down the conference standings at an alarming rate.
Saturday night’s defeat, one where all three Whitecaps goals came from set pieces, highlighted that while they have undoubtedly missed the ”Deuce & Oba’ Show’ the Sounders’ problems are much deeper rooted than the absence of two of their key players.
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