MLS Week 9 Recap: Toronto FC Sets Losing Record; Impact Down Sporting At Livestrong
New England 2-1 Colorado
The New England Revolution came away with the win against the Colorado Rapids when Fernando Cardenas scored the last of the game’s three goals in the 39th minute. Despite both teams combining for 36 attempts on goal, 13 of which were on target, neither side could find the back of the net outside of an 18 minute span in the first half. In the 21st minute Jaime Castrillon put the Rapids up when he rose above the defense on a corner kick from Martin Rivero and flicked the header between the posts. Saer Sene leveled the score line for the Revs 6 minutes later with a scissor kick from the top of the six yard box after Stephen McCarthy headed a long ball across the box. New England pulled ahead in the 29th minute after Fernando Cardenas chipped a shot over Matt Pickens from just inside the corner of the box. The Rapids tried to answer in the second half, but the New England defense and Matt Reis buckled down to solidify the win.
Seattle 2-0 LA
Goals from Eddie Johnson and Fredy Montero on opposite sides of halftime gave the Seattle Sounders their first win over the LA Galaxy in two years. The Galaxy were not at full strength with two of their three DPs and their starting keeper not on the game-day roster. Back-up goalie Bill Gaudette made some great saves to stop three of the Sounders’ five shots on target, but in the 40th minute Gaudette did not do enough to keep a header from Johnson from giving Seattle the lead. In the 48th minute Montero doubled the Sounders’ lead in spectacular fashion, ripping a shot far post from well outside the 18 and into the upper ninety of the goal. The Galaxy could not respond and finished the game with only one shot on target.
San Jose 5-3 D.C.
D.C. United and the San Jose Earthquakes combined for eight goals in a high-offense show that saw 38 attempts on goal. Dwayne De Rosario started the goal fest off in the 8th minute with a curving shot from outside of the box. San Jose answered 11 minutes later when Steven Lenhart sent a low screamer from the top of the 18 through traffic. Just two minutes later Chris Wondolowski gave the Earthquakes the lead after Simon Dawkins fed him the ball at the top of the six where he slipped the ball past Joe Willis. In the 31st minute San Jose doubled their lead when Justin Morrow’s one-time shot deflected off Danny Cruz over a diving Willis. After the half, DC pulled one back in the 64th minute with a diving header from Daniel Woolard. However, San Jose quickly answered with Wondolowski’s second goal of the night after he sent a header of his own into the back of the net. Not to be outdone by his teammate, Lenhart added to his tally in the 74th minute by pouncing on a rebound from a shot by Martin Chavez. D.C. got the final goal of the night from Hamdi Salihi who ran onto a long through ball into the box and calmly chipped the ball over Jon Busch.
Chivas USA 1-2 Chicago
Chivas USA continued their poor form playing at the Home Depot Center by losing their 5th consecutive game at home. After playing much of the game on level terms, a goal from Marco Pappa in stoppage time gave the Chicago Fire the win. Chivas took the lead in the 23rd minute with a goal from the spot by Juan Pablo Angel after Austin Berry took down Alejandro Moreno in the box. Berry quickly went from villain to hero when he leveled the score line two minutes later by getting a foot to a lofted pass from Sebastian Grazzini. Both teams’ goalkeepers kept their sides in the game during the second half, but in the 93rd minute Marco Pappa scored on a driven shot from outside of the penalty arch.
Toronto 0-2 D.C.
After losing to San Jose earlier in the week, D.C. United rebounded at the expense of Toronto FC who, with this loss, set a record with their 8th straight loss to start the 2012 season. After a fairly uneventful first half, Chris Pontius put D.C. ahead in the 55th minute. After an apparent handball kept the ball out of the net during a corner kick, DC kept possession until Pontius received the ball at the top of the box and ripped a shot into the upper 90. In the 75th minute, Hamdi Salihi doubled the score after getting on the end of a flicked on header and volleying the ball home from the six yard box. Despite out shooting DC 16-9, Toronto failed to get back into the game.
Seattle 1-0 Philadelphia
The Seattle Sounders recorded their 5th shutout of the season against the Philadelphia Union. It was an easy time for the Sounders defense and goalkeeper Bryan Meredith, who received his first career MLS start, with the Union only managing to get one shot on target all game. The Sounders however, forced five saves from Zac MacMath. Despite MacMath’s play, the Sounders took the lead in the 63rd minute when Mauro Rosales slipped a shot underneath MacMath from inside the box for his first goal of the season.
Vancouver 2-1 San Jose
The Vancouver Whitecaps and the San Jose Earthquakes each looked to come away with a point after each getting a goal in the first half, but a 94th minute goal from Eric Hassli gave the Whitecaps all three points. The Earthquakes were unable to mimic their 5 goal performance earlier in the week, but they did find the back of the net first. In the 15th minute Chris Wondolowksi headed a cross from Marvin Chavez near post where Joe Cannon could not get a touch on the ball until it was already past the line. Vancouver equalized in the 40th minute with a header of his own off a free-kick from Camilo Sanvezzo. The two teams continued to exchange chances in the second half until Hassli put the Whitecaps on top after receiving a through ball behind the defense and sending a shot far post that Jon Busch got a hand to, but could not keep out of the goal.
LA 0-1 New York
The return of Robbie Keane and David Beckham was not enough for LA to rebound for their mid-week loss to Seattle as the Galaxy loss to the New York Red Bulls. Despite dominating the possession and forcing four saves from Ryan Meara, the Red Bulls took the lead and the result with their only shot on frame in the 19th minute when Joel Lindpere received a pass from Jan Gunnar Solli inside the box and sent a shot through the defense and over Bill Gaudette. After taking the lead, New York’s defense contained an aggressive LA attack that looked to score off one of their 32 crosses during the game.
Kansas City 0-2 Montreal
Sporting Kansas City could not find the back of the net with any of the 22 shots they took in their second straight loss after starting the 2012 season 7-0-0. Though the Montreal Impact only managed two shots on target, they made them count, scoring on both sides of half time. Montreal took the lead in the 30th minute when Felipe sent a shot in from well outside the penalty box that slipped off the hand of a diving Jimmy Nielsen and into the goal. In the 63rd minute Aurelien Collin was whistled for taking down Lamar Neagle in the box. Patrice Bernier stepped up to take the PK and slammed it into the left side of the goal.
Salt Lake 2-1 New England
Real Salt Lake edged out the New England Revolution in a game where both sides had the same number of shots, fouls, corners, crosses and ejections. Both teams finished with 10 men after Will Johnson and Fernando Cardenas were ejected in the 59th and 81st minutes respectively. Blake Brettschneider put the Revolution up in the 22nd minute when he cut towards the middle of the box from the right side and sent a shot far post past a Nick Rimando. Eleven minutes later Alvaro Saborio was able to get a shot off in the middle of the box after collecting a ricocheting ball from a blocked cross by Kyle Beckerman. Saborio doubled his tally and Salt Lake’s lead in the 55th minute by getting a head to a Javier Morales’ free-kick. Both teams continued to press forward forcing saves from Rimando and Matt Reis, but the scoreline remained unchanged.
Portland 0-0 Columbus
The Portland Timbers and the Columbus Crew shared the spoils in a game that had a number of close chances and goal-saving defensive plays, but no goals. Portland was more the aggressor, mostly through Rodney Wallace, forcing Andy Gruenebaum to make six saves on the night, but it was Troy Perkins’ only save of the game in the 66th minute that really kept the game level as he reacted quickly to push Josh Williams’ header, from close range, over the bar.
Dallas 0-2 Colorado
Two first half ejections two minutes apart doomed FC Dallas as they lost to the Colorado Rapids. Daniel Hernandez and Blas Perez were shown red in the 34th and 36th minutes respectively. There wasn’t much Dallas could do to make up for the 2-man advantage they had given the Rapids and ended the game trailing in every stat. While Dallas was able to survive the first half, Jaime Castrillon gave Colorado the lead in the 61st minute after beating Zach Loyd to a lofted cross from Brian Mullan and sending his header into the net. The Rapids doubled their lead in the 74th minute when Brian Mullan sent a low cross to Martin Rivero in the center of the box with his back to the goal. Rivero had time to collect the ball and run around the ball to send a driven shot into the lower corner.
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