MLS Week 10 Recap: Nguyen Takes Down Whitecaps; New York Gets Fourth Straight Win

New York 1-0 Houston

An early goal by Kenny Cooper was all that the New York Red Bulls needed to keep the Houston Dynamo winless for the fifth straight game. While Houston is still struggling to find a successful starting line-up, New York has had three straight shutout wins with a backline that featured three players with only four starts on the season. In the 7^th minute Cooper took advantage of a dangerous back pass from Corey Ashe inside the box. Cooper and Tally Hall both got to the ball, but the result was a New York goal. Despite some near chances from Brad Davis, Houston was unable to pull level.

Dallas 0-2 Seattle

After getting his first goal during week 9, second half sub Fredy Montero added two more to give the Seattle Sounders the away win against FC Dallas. The Sounders almost had the lead in the early minutes of the game, but a saves from Kevin Hartman and the goal post kept Mauro Rosales and the game goalless. While Dallas forced more saves out of Seattle’s keeper, Bryan Meredith, it was Seattle that made their shots count. In the 68^th minute Montero received the ball inside the box, sneaked through two defenders and beat Hartman near post. Two minutes later Montero got his second goal with a diving header inside the six yard box after a cross was deflected by a Dallas defender.

Chicago 0-0 Salt Lake

The Chicago Fire and Real Salt Lake shared the points in a game that saw only two shots on target for either team. That was a welcome stat for Salt Lake, who were playing without Nick Rimando in goal because of a shoulder injury. For the most part, the action stayed in the midfield, but there were a few close calls when the ball did find its way towards goal. In the 4^th minute, Dominic Oduro’s wide open header hit the crossbar and in the 50^th minute Paulo Jr. biffed a chance from close range.

Montreal 1-1 LA

The Montreal Impact’s defense nearly held on for the win against the LA Galaxy, but a free-kick from David Beckham leveled the game in the 62^nd minute and neither side was able to finish ahead. In front of over 60,000 fans, the Impact took an early lead when Davy Arnaud ran onto a long ball from the Nelson Rivas and slotted a shot past Brian Perk. Needing goals and wins, the Galaxy pressed forward, and found the back of the net in the second half when Beckham beat Donovan Ricketts near post with a curled free kick from outside the penalty box. The Galaxy continued to press forward, but Ricketts would not be beaten again.

Houston 1-0 DC

The Houston Dynamo used their first game in their brand new stadium to recover from their mid-week loss to New York and snap their five-game winless streak. The Dynamo had full control of the game over DC United, testing Bill Hamid with 8 shots on target while DC could only manage one. Despite the number of shots, Houston could not beat Hamid until the 67^th minute when Brad Davis took a shot far post from well outside the penalty arch that Hamid managed to get a touch to, but could not keep the ball out.

New England 4-1 Vancouver

The New England Revolution handed the Vancouver Whitecaps their first loss after three straight wins thanks to the play of Lee Nguyen, who scored twice and notched an assist. Despite leaving three of their starters back in Vancouver, it was the Whitecaps who struck first after Eric Hassli buried a back pass from Sebastien Le Toux inside the box. The Revolution quickly answered a minute later when Nguyen slipped a shot through traffic in the box to bring the sides level. Nguyen added his assist in the 24^th minute by feeding Saer Sene the ball at the top of the box. Sene held off his defender as he took a touch into the box and slotted a shot far post past Matt Reis. New England added one more before half when Shalrie Joesph pounced on a deflection in the Whitecaps penalty area. The final goal of the game came in the 72^nd minute when Nguyen sent a wicked shot from distance that dipped under the crossbar, leaving Joe Cannon with no chance.

Columbus 2-1 Dallas

The Columbus Crew took advantage of the second half ejection of FC Dallas’s Zach Loyd and scored twice to end a five-game winless streak. Dallas looked like they were going to recover from their mid-week loss to Seattle when they took the lead in the 22^nd minute when Fabian Castillo dribbled down the left side into the box and slipped a shot past Andy Gruenebaum. Just after the hour mark, the game shifted in the Crew’s favor when Loyd was sent off after earning his second caution of the game. Columbus quickly took advantage in the 67^th minute when Justin Meram fired a low shot from outside the penalty box that snuck past a diving Kevin Hartman and into the lower corner of the goal. Sebastian Miranda doubled the Crew’s lead in the 72^nd minute after he scored from the top of the 18 with a header from a corker by Nemanja Vukovic.

Chicago 2-1 Kansas City

Sporting Kansas City lost their third straight game after letting in two goals from the Chicago Fire after dropping to 10 men in the 62^nd minute. Kansas City started off strong, taking the lead in the 31^st minute after putting away a cross from Roger Espinoza, but ended the game with only 9 shots on goal. The Fire didn’t test Jimmy Nielsen until the second half, but two fouls near the hour mark changed the game. Aurelien Collin was called for a foul in the box and Sebastian Grazzini converted the resulting PK to level the score line. Not a minute later Espinoza saw red with an elbow to Grazzini’s face. The Fire took advantage of the extra man in the 81^st minute when Patrick Nyarko won possession of the ball inside Sporting’s box and found Dominic Oduro at the top of the six-yard box for the Fire’s second goal of the game.

Seattle 0-1 Salt Lake

A second half goal from Fabian Espindola was enough for Real Salt Lake to stop the Seattle Sounders’ unbeaten streak at six games. Coming off their 2-0 win over FC Dallas, Seattle failed to make much of their attacking chances and finished the game without forcing a single save from Nick Rimando. Salt Lake was not much of an aggressor, but in the 51^st minute Luis Gil sent a ball over the Sounders defense to Espindola who volleyed home a shot from just inside the penalty box. For the remainder of the game Salt Lake’s back four continued to contain Seattle’s attackers for the shutout.

Philadelphia 2-3 New York

The Philadelphia Union were able to take the lead at the start of the second half despite going a man down just before halftime, but by the final whistle the New York Red Bulls left the field with their fourth straight win. Joel Lindpere starting the scoring in the 17^th minute with a shot near post from inside the box after Mehdi Ballouchy laid the ball off. The Union answered in the 31^st minute when Freddy Adu sent in a cross that found the head of Lionard Pajoy for the wide open header. Just before half Adu would see red after receiving his second caution for diving, but less than a minute after the start of the second half, Pajoy scored his second goal from inside the box after beating a New York defender. Philadelphia continued to hold on until the 68^th minute when Markus Holgersson leveled the score line by heading home a corner kick from Brandon Barklage. Ten minutes later Kenny Cooper finished the Union off after getting around Zac MacMath and putting the shot away from a tight angle.

San Jose 1-1 Chivas USA

Chivas USA looked to have done enough to secure a win against the San Jose Earthquakes, but a late goal from Alan Gordon meant the two teams would share the points. Chivas got on the board in the 4^th minute when Jose Correa got a touch to a cross from James Riley, beating Jon Busch far post. Apart from getting a few more shots off, Chivas spent the rest of the game defending against a San Jose attack that took 25 shots and held possession over 60% of the time. It looked like Dan Kennedy and the Chivas defense did enough to get the win until Alan Gordon leveled the scoreline in the 88^th minute after getting a head to a cross from Sam Garza.