Tag: mls

[TV PREVIEW] Houston and Chivas USA, both in the midst of three-game winning streaks, clash in ESPN2’s Thursday Night MLS game. Houston coach Dominic Kinnear figured he’d lose midfielders Dwayne DeRosario (Canada) and Ricardo Clark (USA) and forward Brian Ching (USA) during the Gold Cup, but he wasn’t expecting the emergency call-up of keeper Pat Onstad to the Canadian team.

The Columbus Crew picked up its first MLS win in almost two months Wednesday night when it beat the Kansas City Wizards, 2-1, for only the club’s second win of the season. Eddie Gaven and Stefani Miglioranzi scored goals — the first of the season for both players — to break a 0-0 deadlock in the second half.

[TV PREVIEW] Two teams coming off six-goal games last weekend figure to tighten things up, so there might be a repeat of their May 5 meeting (1-0). Jose Burciaga slalomed through the Crew to score the only goal of the game in the 90th minute to end a Crew three-game shutout streak. That was also the game in which Ricardo Virtuoso’s shoulder cracked the jaw of Wizards defender Jimmy Conrad and Guillermo Barros Schelotto debuted for the Crew. Columbus is a much different team than it was then, which it showed last week by rallying from two goals down to snatch a 3-3 tie with the Revs at Gillette Stadium.

[VIDEO] Concerns about goalscoring in MLS were allayed somewhat in a high-scoring weekend (27 goals in six games), as excellent finishes punished errors, some large, some small. All goals, many say, stem from errors, but mistakes this season seem to be more costly, and forwards last weekend were especially efficient on breakaways. Are teams punishing defensive errors more ruthlessly?

MLS’s Week 11 games drew crowds of more than 20,000 in Columbus, D.C., and Toronto as the season’s attendance surpassed the 1 million mark. The 72 games so far have drawn 1,107,199 fans for a 15,378 per game average. The three games that drew the 20,000-plus crowds all featured at least four goals, while the 19,225 at the Home Depot Center for Los Angeles’ clash with Real Salt Lake enjoyed a 3-2 home-team win. For complete MLS statistics …

Eastern Conference teams scored 20 goals in their four games as D.C. United belted Chicago, Toronto derailed Dallas in a battle of the FCs, and six-goal deadlocks resulted from the New York-Kansas City and New England-Columbus tussles. In the West, Chivas USA extended Colorado’s losing streak to three matches, and the Galaxy knocked off RSL in the battle of the basement. Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney reports on last weekend’s MLS action.

Whoops, they did it again. For the third time this season, Real Salt Lake and FC Dallas fought a close game, and once again, a slice of superb finishing denied RSL the result it knew it deserved. Dominic Oduro drilled a low shot just inside the far post two minutes into stoppage time to beat RSL, 1-0, Thursday night at Rice-Eccles Stadium. RSL coach Jason Kreis was ejected for vehemently protesting a collision he believed merited at least a RSL free kick

[TV PREVIEW] Thursday’s ESPN2 game looks like the mother of all mismatches. But it’s not. Western Conference leader FC Dallas (6-5-1) visits last-place Real Salt Lake (0-3-6), the only MLS team yet to post a victory and smarting from fines and other disciplinary measures meted out by MLS (kickoff: 9 pm ET).

Instead of a six-episode special on the life of new arrivals David and Victoria Beckham, NBC will air a one-hour special called “Victoria Beckham: Coming to America” on Monday, July 16.

Toronto FC’s wheeling and dealing continued Wednesday when it traded Edson Buddle to the Los Angeles Galaxy for Jamaican national team defender Tyrone Marshall. The deal came the same day MLS suspended Marshall three games and fined him $1,500 for a tackle on FC Dallas forward Kenny Cooper in the 89th minute of the Galaxy’s game on June 9. Cooper’s leg was broken on the play that resulted in a red card for Marshall.

With his hat trick against New York on Sunday, D.C. United midfielder Ben Olsen moves into a tie for fifth in MLS goals with four for the season. Eddie Johnson, who is off on national team duty, continues to lead all goalscorers with nine goals, two more than New York’s Juan Pablo Angel and New England’s Taylor Twellman. For complete MLS statistics ..