MLS Week 13 Recap: Montreal Thump Seattle In Stadium Opening; Toronto, Philly Change Coaches Not Results

Vancouver 1-0 Colorado

The Vancouver Whitecaps managed a late-goal win against the Colorado Rapids despite playing the last 30 minutes with 10 men. The early chances in the game came mostly from Colorado through the play of Martin Rivero and Edu. The Whitecaps came into the second half with better chances, but just before the hour mark Darren Mattocks was cautioned for diving. Seconds later Mattocks saw yellow again for a foul on Drew Moor. Playing a man down didn’t slow Vancouver and in the 80^th minute Davide Chiumiento found Sebastien Le Toux in the box. The Rapids had chances to level the score, but the goal frame came to the rescue against Rivero and Hunter Freeman.

Philadelphia 0-1 D.C.

Despite having the advantage over D.C. United in possession and chances on goal the Philadelphia Union dropped their first game without Peter Novak as coach. The Union had the only chances in the first half, but Bill Hamid kept Philadelphia off the scoreboard. The second half was much of the same until the 78^th minute when Branko Boskovic’s free kick set up Chris Pontius to give United the lead and eventually the win.

New England 0-0 Columbus

Goalkeepers Matt Reis and Andy Gruenebaum stopped every shot they faced forcing the New England Revolution and the Columbus Crew to share the points. The Revolution had the advantage in dangerous opportunities, but Gruenebaum’s six saves and a few misplays by New England kept the Crew in the game. The second half saw a more defensive look for both sides. The Crew were able to manage a few shots, but didn’t trouble Reis.

Montreal 4-1 Seattle

The Montreal Impact opened up Saputo Stadium with a dominating win over the Seattle Sounders. The Impact started their four-goal performance in the 18^th minute after Patrice Bernier beat Zach Scott before finding Felipe who found the back of then net for the team’s first goal in the new stadium. Montreal’s fans had to wait until the second half to see another goal, but in the 51^st minute Justin Mapp ran at the Sounders defense before finding the back of the net from the top of the box. Five minutes later the Sounders found themselves down a man when Jhon Hurtado saw a straight red for a foul on Collen Warner. In the 58^th minute Bernier set up his third goal of the night after winning the ball from Alvaro Fernandez and setting up Andrew Wenger inside the box. Seattle prevented the shutout in the 61^st minute with a goal from Eddie Johnson, but the Sounders couldn’t build on it and found themselves three goals down again in the 87^th minute at the hands of former Sounder Lamar Neagle.

Houston 2-1 Dallas

FC Dallas were unable to snap their 9-game winless streak against the Houston Dynamo while also surrendering El Capitan to the Dynamo for the second straight year. Things got off to a bad start for Dallas when Will Bruin deflected an attempted clearance from Hernan Pertuz past Kevin Hartman, giving Houston the lead in the 3^rd minute. Dallas pressed forward looking for the equalizer and in the 59^th minute Jackson beat Tally Hall. Just when Dallas was back in the game, things turned against them when Jair Benitez was ejected for elbowing Colin Clark. The Dynamo made their man advantage count in the 76^th minute after Hartman was unable to get a good touch to Brad Davis’s corner. Instead the ball found its way to Adam Moffat who buried his chance into the top of the goal.

Kansas City 2-0 Toronto

The season’s second coaching change didn’t provide any immediate success with Toronto FC falling to Sporting Kansas City thanks to two first half goals. Kansas City was the aggressor in the opening minutes, but had to wait until the 18^th minute to find the back of the net when C.J. Sapong put away a cross from Jacob Peterson. Toronto nearly pulled level in the 30^th minute, but Eric Avila’s shot hit both posts before deflecting off Aurelien Collin for a corner. In the 35^th minute Julio Cesar doubled Sporting’s lead with a one-time shot off a corner from Graham Zusi.

Chivas USA 0-3 Salt Lake

Two goals from Fabian Espindola and one in stoppage time from Will Johnson gave Real Salt Lake the win against Chivas USA. The win extended RSL’s unbeaten streak to 7 games. Alvaro Saborio nearly put Salt Lake up in the 35^th minute, but his goal was called back for offsides. Six minutes later RSL would keep their first goal of the game when Kyle Beckerman found Espindola’s head. Espindola’s second goal of the night came on the other side of halftime after running onto a Ned Grabavoy’s through pass, beating a defender and then Dan Kennedy with the shot. Chivas USA pressed forward to get back into the game, but were denied by Nick Rimando.

Chicago 3-1 New York

The Chicago Fire recovered from three straight losses to beat the New York Red Bulls. The Fire took the lead early in the game when a cross from Sebastian Grazzini found the head of Patrick Nyarko in the 4^th minute. Chicago went into halftime with a one-goal lead, but in the 55^th minute Dax McCarty got a head to a corner kick from Mehdi Ballouchy to pull the Red Bulls level. New York could not add to their tally and instead found themselves trailing again when Gonzalo Segares pounced on a rebound in the 68^th minute. Second half sub Chris Rolfe put the game out of reach in the 80^th minute by getting a foot to a cross from Nyarko.

LA 1-0 Portland

The LA Galaxy got a much needed win against the Portland Timbers thanks to a header from Todd Dunivant. The game marked the return of LA ‘keeper Josh Saunders. The Galaxy nearly took the lead in the 15^th minute, but Landon Donovan’s shot was denied by the post. Saunders was called to action in the 26^th minute, making a diving save to keep Kris Boyd off the score sheet. With just a handful of shots on target for either team, the Galaxy took the lead when Dunivant got a head to a corner kick from David Beckham in the 61^st minute.