Outside90’s Daniel Fraiz-Martinez breaks down all the action from a packed Matchday 12 of Major League Soccer.
While heavyweights the New York Red Bulls fell to a 2-0 upset, a pair of fixtures for Sporting KC sent a message to the competition and a major milestone was reached by a San Jose striker.
Sporting KC continue their return to form
Sporting Kansas City have had at best a stuttering start for the non-too distant MLS Cup . But signs that Peter Vermes’ men have begun their rise back to the ranks of the competition’s elite where confirmed with a pair of two polar opposite performances on Matchday 12.
They began with a swashbuckling 4-2 defeat of their former long time Eastern Conference foes the New England Revolution, that showcased two of the main reasons of Sporting’s return to form. Forward pair Krisztian Németh and Dom Dwyer who terrorised a haphazard New England defence, and midfield maestro Benny Feilhaber, who pulled the strings behind a team that had just to much attacking prowess for the Rev’s to handle.
Despite going behind early on, Sporting KC, aided by a more than dubious penalty call on their third goal, always looked in control of a game that left fans leaving the Blue Hell with a truly satisfactory feeling.
And whereas Wednesday night highlighted their attacking flair, Saturday night when facing a record chasing Clint Demepsey’s Seattle Sounders, they demonstrated a tactical nous in keeping out one of the leagues most potent attacking teams (admittedly missing one of half of their “dynamic duo” in Obafemi Martins) for a credible 0-0 draw.
A cautionary note would, however, be that considerable work needs to be done, emphasised by the fact that even with the four points accumulated on Matchday 12, Sporting have only just sneaked into the Western Conference play-off positions, in a conference that has some notable under-performers at present.
Toronto FC or FC Giovinco?
On Saturday night the BMO field played witness to one of the finest individual performances seen in some time.
Missing fellow Designated Player and striking partner Jozy Altidore, Italian international Sbeastian Giovinco almost single handedly carried his side to a narrow (not withstanding comprehensive) 1-0 victory over the Portland Timbers.
Astonishingly, Giovinco’s fantastic long range strike to put Toronto in front with barely five minutes on the clock was arguably the least impressive piece of individual brilliance of a extensive repertoire that spanned the full 90 minutes, though was clearly more visible in the first 45, when the Italian played as a withdrawn forward.
Having lost their own talismanic midfielder Diego Valeri to injury early on. The Timber’s never really looked like getting something out of a contest that earmarks the start of an intense seven day schedule, including games against the high flying DC United and the much improved Colorado Rapids.
A Tale of Two Journeyman: Supper Gordo’ Stoppage time as Wondo’ Joins the 100 Club
MLS Matchday 12 was without doubt all the more memorable on the back of two stories from the leagues journeymen in supreme – the LA Galaxy’s Alan Gordon, and in particular the San Jose Earthquake’s Chris Wondolowski.
Saturday night saw veteran forward Alan Gordon finally reunited with last seasons MLS MVP Robbie Keane. But despite a (minimal improvement) by defending champions the Galaxy, it took a stoppage time winner from one of the leagues most colourful characters to put a resilient Houston Dynamo to the sword.
Bruce Arena’s will be relieved to have claimed the three points that keeps them in the Western Conference’s final play-off position. But will know that he will need to improve his team dire away form if his all-star side, that will soon be boosted by the arrival of Premier League legend Steven Gerrard, if they are to be anywhere near as successful as fans in LA have been accustomed to in recent times.
Soccer Sunday saw the leagues penalty box predator of excellence, the San Jose Earthquake’s Chris Wondolowski reach a milestone achievement. Wondolowksi’s 68th minute penalty made it 100 regular season MLS goals, punctuating what is surely one of the leagues most endearing stories – Wondo‘ rising from total obscurity to an international calibre goal machine.
Although Orlando City SC did not read the script in its entirety, as their own earlier penalty kick by Brazilian superstar Ricky Kaká had put them ahead, and was enough to earn Adrian Heath’s side an encouraging road point, more so considering they had to play over half an hour with 10 men due to US international Brek Shea’s sending-off.
The Impact Turn up – The Red Bull’s go AWOL
Much has been made of the Jekyll Hyde nature of the disparity between the Montreal Impact’s CONCACAF Champions League performances versus their domestic outings. But Frank Klopas’ side are beginning to make a case for the ‘real’ impact, finally turning up for MLS play with a pair of impressive victories.
Led by Designated Player and Argentine star Nacho Piatti, Montreal thrashed a shell shocked Real Salt Lake last week, But perhaps even more impressively, followed this up by beating one of the leagues most exciting sides in FC Dallas 2-1, with Piatti scoring one and creating the other.
With many neutrals having gained some respect for the Impact, an interesting MLS campaign lies ahead if they can consolidate the level of performance shown of late.
[interaction id=”55633cc728430a5757cd0ee4″]
While Montreal did turn up on Saturday night, Jesse March’s New York Red Bull’s most certainly did not in the first instalment of Soccer Sunday.
Having been largely impressive in the early season MLS going, the Red Bull’s where surprisingly beaten by a struggling Phialdelphia Union 2-0, in a result that few would have predicted going into the game. Although they still sit within a comfortable position among the leading Eastern Conference teams, the Red Bulls would do well to take this result as a warning, as even prior to Sunday’s capitulation they had shown a worrying tendency to tie games that combined to such mishaps, could well prove costly when the play-off chase truly begins in earnest later in the campaign.
What are your thoughts? Let us know by dropping a comment below via our Facebook comment box. Make sure you follow us on Twitter @Outside90 and like us on Facebook.
