Brad Davis takes the PK so calmly, so cooly. The Dynamo are up 3-1 now. Defense, let's stand up and play tough, play strong, play solid. NO MORE UNION GOALS! Let's Go Dynamo!
After winning the first 2 games of their 3 game road trip, Sporting KC had to be pretty confident
heading into their first game of the road trip in Houston against the Dynamo, even though the
Dynamo were unbeaten at their new stadium. The long trip, the tired/injured legs, and some
stupidity though all conspired against Sporting as they fell 2-1 to the Dynamo to close out the
road trip.
It wasn't a 90 beautiful minutes, but it was a solid first half combined with a nice response in
the second half that gave the Dynamo a much needed 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Union. Goals
from Brad Davis and Brian Ching (sure it was a PK but at last he scores at BBVA Compass Stadium)
led Houston to the three points.
Well, Wednesday was a little tough, wasn't it? Between the makeshift back line, the red card, the potential PK, Montero's thwarted run on goal, and probably a dozen more things I didn't even notice, the 0-0 tie with Real Salt Lake got a lot of people riled up. So much so that there are petitions aiming to see the referee on the night, Ricardo Salazar, receive some extra training.
When Eddie Johnson skied the final PK of the US Open Cup final over the bar, it gave Sporting KC
their first trophy under their new name, and the team's first trophy since 2004. Before we continue
on, let's relive that night again with a video that still gives me goosebumps.
You don't need Rooney when you have Van Persie. Despite missing a pk in the 2nd half, Van Persie
saves Man U from an embarrassing fate as he scores twice in the final 5 minutes to pull 3pts out of
nothing. Man U wins, 3-2. Video: gsminsider
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In a matchup of teams that seem destined for the top 4, if early indicators are to be believed,
Chelsea scored on an early pk by Hazard and then doubled the score as Torres put another one into
the back of the net. Chelsea win, 2-0. Video: myspace
The mighty Rojas are done for. Well, at least their U23 team plus Adrian Lopez and Juan
Mata.
Los Catrachos, the Olympics version sent Spain crashing out of the tournament with a 1-0 win as
Roger Espinoza who plies his trade for Sporting Kansas City mailed in a cross that was met by Jerry
Bengtson of the New England Revs for a perfectly placed header past David De Gea.
Good bit of skill and nice finish from the most expensive player in Ligue history. Afterwards,
he talks about the goal, PSG's future, and his preparation. Here is Dwayne De Rosario's PK
equalizer.
Despite what ESPN called a 'lively affair', this was a snooze fest. Two reds in 75' of action, a
saved pk shot (it was weak) and then playing for a draw/penalties... Rather disappointing, but here
are the highlights of the opening game of Euro 2012. Final score, 1-1. Video: RUtube
Chivas USA 1 Galaxy 0 It hasn't happened often in the history of the -- hey, Landon Donovan is this
a rivalry, now? - derby, but it did tonight: Chivas USA won and deserved to do so even if the goal
came on a PK that left the Galaxy a
Chivas USA 1 Galaxy 0 It hasn't happened often in the history of the -- hey, Landon Donovan is this
a rivalry, now? - derby, but it did tonight: Chivas USA won and deserved to do so even if the goal
came on a PK that left the Galaxy a
Let's say this from the start: referees are only human. Unfortunately, some are more human than
others. I hadn't seen this much yellow and red since my toddler poured ketchup and mustard all over
our floor. I was going to title this article something snarky with the words "Geiger Counter" in
it, but decided that the officiating mistakes made in this game, while unfortunate and troublesome,
didn't warrant a comparison with something as serious as a radiation detection device.
That's right, you cover your face!What happened, Team of Choice? Sandra D'Angelo comes up huge with
her penalty shot shutdown, and Jenna Richardson follows it up with a beautiful goal. This had the
makings of a great victory over the Scandinavians!
Then I see, what, via FIFA.com highlight reel: a defense looking lackluster, a keeper
nutmegged--Norway's goal.
What a great win last night and something the fans and the players really needed. I have a lot
more video to post this time around so look for that at the very bottom after the links.
Quotes
Portland Timbers Quotes
Timbers general manager/interim head coach Gavin Wilkinson
On the feeling in the locker room afterward:
"It's a lot better than losing.
Yay! The Portland Timbers aren't in last place anymore! In fact, if you go by points per match,
which I do, the Timbers are now in 7th place, ahead of Dallas and Los Angeles. Just goes to show
that three points can go a long way, especially when only one other Western Conference team
wins.
Draws are common when evenly matched teams go head to head, but in Week 12 four intra-conference
matches will feature a top half team playing a bottom half team.
DC United has drifted into a deep malaise over the past two months. Only sporadically does the
team seem to be in sync. Play is unfocused and only moments of individual brilliance have allowed
the team to salvage as many points as they have.
Frustration is the spirit of the day and Sunday's game saw it come out.
With the exception of the March 10th loss against Sporting Kansas City, the Revs have not lost
any game this season by more than 1 goal. And I used to find a least a little solace in that fact.
But it's not really doing it for me anymore. Losses are losses and ours are really piling up
now.
Every week the New England Soccer Today crew will look beyond the standings to rank each of
the 19 Major League Soccer (MLS) teams. This week Brian O'Connell and Sean Donahue contributed
rankings. Comments are followed by the ranker's name and the rank they gave that team.
This started out with different intent. I was going to push myself into a kind of humorous
hyperbolic demand for huge name Designated Players signed in this Summer Transfer Window. The
set-up was going to be an either/or situation revolving around shiny DPs or shiny trophies.
Another week is in the books for Major League Soccer. Week 9 kicks off tomorrow so it is time to
get the rankings out of the way.
A decent amount of movement this week for me. The top three remain the same while the second
tier continues to get interesting. The third tier continues to shrink though as another club
dropped to the bottom group, which is also growing like weeds.
Dallas 1-1 Salt Lake In their first game of the week Real Salt Lake overcame a lackluster first
half, that saw them trailing to FC Dallas after a Break Shea PK, and the suspensions of Jamison
Olave and Fabian Espindola to earn a draw away from Rio Tinto. After earning the first chance of
the [...]
Sporting Kansas City won the US Open Cup Final on penalties. A team that couldn't manage to
score in the run of play took the 99th US Open Cup through a marginal penalty call early in the
match and a re-kick awarded during the penalty kick sequence. The first PK, the only goal scored by
Kansas City, was off a call that can only be called odd.
Honduras may be leaving the Olympics today after their 3-2 loss to Brazil in the quarterfinals of
the soccer tournament, but they'll leave with their heads high, especially Roger Espinoza. Espinoza
had an amazing game and earned himself a standing ovation from the neutral crowd at St. James' Park
after he got sent off for his second yellow card in second half stoppage time.
Alan Gordon has made a habit of pulling off late-game heroics to salvage valuable points for the
San Jose Earthquakes. He did it again on Wednesday, only he did so in a manner that might come back
to haunt him.
Gordon scored an 84th minute equalizer against the Colorado Rapids on Wednesday night, but it
was what he did in the dying seconds of regulation that left the Rapids irate and the Earthquakes
celebrating another late comeback.
Chivas USA is similar to the Fellowship of the Ring running away from a Balrog in the Lord of
the Rings series. The only being preventing the Balrog from ripping the Fellowship to shreds is
Gandalf the Gray. Chivas USA's goalkeeper Dan Kennedy plays the role of Gandalf while his teammates
are rather helpless on occasion.
After each match the contributors to New England Soccer Today will rate the performances of
the New England Revolution players who made an appearance on a 1 to 10 scale (1 horrendous, 5
average, 10 perfection). This week Sean Donahue and Julian Cardillo contributed ratings for theÂ
New England Revolution's 2-1 loss to the Montreal Impact.
Prediction: 0-0 draw. I expect some ugly soccer tomorrow. One team is an
expansion team and one team is missing up to 7 starters. There will be a lot of tentative,
conservative play and no scoring.
OK, so I was way off on the scoreline, but I was right about the ugly soccer.
The Chicago Fire kept their reign of terror on Sporting Kansas City going as they came from
behind to defeat their Eastern Conference rival by a score of 2-1 in front of a home crowd of
14,159 at Toyota Park.
Sporting struck first in the 30th minute on a Bobby Convey goal shortly after Fire defender Arne
Friedrich left the game with a hamstring strain.
I know you're all distracted by other things, but perhaps a distraction for your distractions? You
know the drill, here was the OG. On switching focus after falling out of the Champions League in
harsh circumstances:"We were a PK away from moving on in the Champions League and that was hard to
take for everyone.
Let's get this out of the way first, Portland lost because of Portland and not because of the
Ref. The Ref sucked and should have made New York Take the PK instead of blowing the whistle and
then saying he didn't blow the whistle. Also the first yellow was on Chara? Not the late tackles
and reckless tackles from McCarty and Tainio?
Penalty Kicks were an active part of Euro Cup 2012. In fact, PK Shootouts have been a typical part
of all the major FIFA tournaments for more than 25 years. It's hard to remember a tournament that
didn't have at least one penalty shootout to decide things.
Is this the best way to end games or is it too much potluck?
By now we can all recognize that Manuel Neuer, that strapping ideal of aryan idealism, is
awesome. He may have let the Champions league trophy slip through his fingers last month, but not
for lack of scoring a PK and saving a couple in the shootout.
Today, while ensuring his goal was mostly unpenetrated, he came out to collect the ball around
the 25 yard mark and swing play to the opposite flank.
The Fire will have the spotlight all to themselves Saturday Night when we face off against the
Revolution. It's the only MLS game on the docket, and both teams will be hungry for a win after
crushing USOC losses. I expect this to be quite a match full of offense and scuffling play. These
two teams have built somewhat of a rivalry up, and given the circumstances for both teams heading
into this game, the stakes will be even higher.
Earlier this week, the KC Athletics won their first round US Open Cup match against the Real
Colorado Foxes. People reading this blog knew that already. I'd been trying to get some more
information on the result, including who scored for the Athletics. After exchanging an email with
player/coach, Kyle Perkins, I was able to get more information on the game.
