I hope everyone had wonderful holiday weekend and enjoyable end of Summer. For fans of Major
League Soccer, the post-labor day period means its time for the final push to the playoffs. Fall
is a great time for soccer in the United States and the playoffs are now just weeks away.
In truth the biggest business news over the last few days came from across the sea, with the
transfer window closing across Europe.
Even though the Chicago Fire will not be taking the field until Sunday when they host the
Houston Dynamo, it does not mean there are no MLS matches worth watching on Saturday. Matter of
fact, there are three big matches with playoff implications taking place. The MLS has been catching
some flack for the new unbalanced schedule this year, but this final third of the schedule is
giving us some very intriguing matches to watch each week.
Don't look now, but it's not even September and these games have all the fire and excitement of the
playoffs. Montreal and Columbus didn't get the memo about being rollovers and Seattle hasn't taken
kindly to being labeled inconsistent at the beginning of the season. Real Salt Lake is losing hold
on the second place position in the West and Kei Kamara scores for two teams in the same game.
Thanks for your patience. I am back from vacation and ready to write as Major League Soccer
prepares for its playoff push, European leagues get underway, World Cup Qualifying heats up and the
Fall television season is upon us. I hope you enjoyed some of the vault posts from the past and
thank you for some of the comments posted here or to the footiebusiness e-mail in my absence.
The Fire will look to notch win #2 of the 2012 MLS season over the Union. The Fire prevailed 1-0
on March 24th at Toyota Park. The Men in Red were fueled by a Dominic Oduro goal, assisted by Marco
Pappa. With new faces Sherjill MacDonald and Alvaro 'Flaco' Fernandez in the mix, the Fire offense
will look to break out and bring home 3 road points.
From the confines of SB Nation new addition VU Hoops, PPL Park will not play host to the
Villanova Wildcats' football at all in the fall of 2012.
According to VU Hoops, who talked to football coach Andy Talley for their report, the fall game
at PPL Park will not happen this year due to scheduling conflicts.
The Olympics got started over the weekend and the NBC networks have certainly used the
opportunity to promote both Major League Soccer and the NBC Sports Network. Commercials for both
have dotted the Olympic landscape during the ongoing coverage. On Sunday , the NBC Sports Network
televised the Union/Revolution in prime time opposite the primary Olympic coverage on the main
network.
Jay DeMerit (Green Bay/Bay Port) was the center of attention during and after
Wednesday night's Major League Soccer All-Star Game.
The Vancouver Whitecaps center back received rave reviews for his performance as the MLS
All-Stars edged reigning UEFA Champions League champions Chelsea 3-2 on a deflected goal by
Seattle's Eddie Johnson in stoppage time at PPL Park in Chester, Pa.
Eddie Johnson's stoppage time goal capped off a solid performance from the MLS All-Stars against
Chelsea FC at PPL Park. After taking the lead early in the game, the All-Stars had to fight back
when Chelsea responded with two goals of their own. All-Star Coach Ben Olson chose a starting
line-up of Nielsen, Beitashour, Collin, [.
CHESTER, Pa. -- Carlos Valdes and Michael Farfan are used to playing at PPL Park, but they had
never played in a game quite like last night, when each of them made their All-Star debuts in front
of their home crowd.
When Aurelien Collin went down with a fractured cheekbone in the 36th minute, All-Star coach Ben
Olsen called upon Valdes to fill in and play the rest of the match.
The game belonged to DeRo, Wondo, Pontius, DeMerit and Beckham. The day belonged to PPL Park,
Philadelphia, and Chester. PSP shares five thoughts on Wednesday's All-Star Game.
US striker Eddie Johnson gave the MLS All-Stars a famous victory last night in front of a record
crowd at the PPL Park in Philadelphia last night as the best of the MLS stunned European Champions
Chelsea.
Eddie Johnson's stoppage time winner capped off a thrilling evening at PPL Park which saw the MLS
All Stars triumph over European Champions, Chelsea, 3-2.
Despite trailing Chelsea 2-1 in the second half, the MLS All-Stars battled back, including the
go-ahead strike in the 91′ from Seattle Sounders forward Eddie Johnson, to win 3-2 in front of a
energetic crowd at PPL Park in Philadelphia.
Along with Johnson, Earthquakes striker Chris Wondolowski and D.
MLS All Stars vs Chelsea 2012 Highlights 3-2 Score Wondolowski Pontius Johnson Lampard Terry
Goals Video is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter
MLS All Stars vs Chelsea 2012 Highlights 3-2 Score Wondolowski Pontius Johnson Lampard Terry Goals
Video is a post from Soccer Blogger.
Call it an exhibition, not important, and heck, even some have called it stupid, but any way you
slice it, a team of All Stars from Major League Soccer defeated the reigning European champions,
Chelsea FC, 3-2 on Wednesday night in front of an amazing crowd at PPL Park in Chester, PA.
Some of the brightest stars in MLS shone brightest on the night, with players like Chris
Wondolowski, Chris Pontius, Thierry Henry, and others all contributing to what should be viewed as
a nice little victory for the team on the night, and the league as a whole.
I left PPL Park tonight having scored just as many goals as the Philadelphia Union had scored
against the visiting Chicago Fire (and even against Montreal last week), none. Don't get me wrong
the Union did get a goal in the 34th-minute off a nice, arcing cross from Freddy Adu to Chandler
Hoffman, but it deflected off Chicago defender Jalil Anibaba, past keeper Sean Johnson and into the
back of the net for an own goal.
Saer Sene's first half goal on Sunday wasn't enough for the Revs. (Photo: Joshua Pearson)
CHESTER, Pa. – The New England Revolution scored first and held a 1-0 first half lead against
the Philadelphia Union, but maintained their disastrous road form, giving up two second half goals
in an eventual 2-1 loss in front of 18,598 at PPL Park.
Sporting Kansas City centerback and MLS All-Star starter Aurelien Collin will miss the next
1-to-2 weeks after suffering a facial fracture at PPL Park Wednesday night.
Collin suffered the injury in the first half of the All-Star Game after a clash with Chelsea's
Michael Essien in the center circle.
CHESTER, Pa. -- Despite being down to ten men, and getting dominated in possession for large
parts of the second half, Eddie Gaven gave the Columbus Crew just what they needed to make up
ground in the ever-tightening Eastern Conference playoff race.
With the MLS playoff race heating up, both the Philadelphia Union and Real Salt Lake could have
used three points from their match on Friday night. But in a game where chances were few and far
between, each team was forced to settle for a bore draw, although it was the Union who came away
more disappointed.
Real Salt Lake has made the trip to Pennsylvania for tonight's visit to PPL Park, where they
will take on a Philadelphia Union side still holding on to faint hopes of a playoff run (7:30pm,
NBC Sports).
RSL got the week off to a good start, posting a 2-0 CONCACAF Champions League victory against
Tauro FC.
DC's offense has struggled lately, but the Union have struggled all over. In June, Philly was the
better team but United left PPL Park with a win. Will fortunes be reversed on Sunday?
Tonight, at PPL Park in Chester, PA at 6 P.M., the Philadelphia Union's staff will host a
'visiting' squad made up of members of the Sons of Ben, the team's supporters group.
Last year the Sons of Ben fell 2-1 to the Union staff team after current interim head coach John
Hackworth, who was the assistant coach under Peter Nowak in 2011.
Chester, PA - The Chicago Fire made their only trip to PPL Park this Saturday to take on the
Philadelphia Union for the second time this season. The Union have been looking like an improved
side since firing Piotr Nowak in June, but with Jack McIntery out on suspension and Carlos Valdez
out from international duty, this was a game that the Fire should walk away from with three points
and nothing less.
Fox Soccer is about to continue its ongoing coverage of the CONCACAF Champions League. The
coverage takes on new meaning given the recent signing of the Versus/MLS deal and diminishing role
Fox soccer has within MLS. Â As we said last Summer, Fox pours significant resources into
televising an event that has yet to interest a significant portion of American Soccer Fans.
CHESTER, Pa. -- The plan was never for Jay DeMerit to go the distance against Chelsea. No, the
plan MLS All-Stars head coach Ben Olsen originally had drawn up included replacing DeMerit at
halftime so as to limit his minutes ahead of he and the Vancouver Whitecaps' visit to Real Salt
Lake on Friday.
MLS All-Stars, PPL Park and Philly soccer shines in 3-2 win over Chelsea. USWNT comes from two
goals behind to win first Olympic match. Local teams at US Youth Soccer National Championships.
More news.
The MLS All Stars got a stoppage time winner from former Wizard, Eddie Johnson to defeat Chelsea
3-2 in the all star game at PPL Park outside Philadelphia, PA. The MLS all stars grabbed the lead
through Chris Wondolowski, saw John Terry and Frank Lampard score to put the Blues in front. Chris
Pontius scored an equalizer in the second half and Johnson scored the winner in stoppage time.
In an entertaining back-and-forth match that featured strong defensive performances, quality
interplay and a few pretty goals (two not so pretty too) it was Comeback Player of the Year
candidate Eddie Johnson that scored the winner to put MLS up 3-2 on Chelsea FC. The All Star Game
MVP was his stiffest competition for CPoY Chris Pontius who scored the tying goal in the 73rd
minute.
Last minute goals, red cards, and near-misses: these all make for fun games if they result in a
win for your team. Alas, for the Union, this was not meant to be. There was a swarm of black and
yellow that flew in from Columbus and left PPL desolate. Even when the swarm was made smaller by
one player, it didn't seem to matter.
Greetings all in SB Nation, and welcome to Poetry Corner Kicks. In this space, you'll get a
rather unique take on the events of the previous Union game.
A recap done in poetry might sound a bit strange, but for a Union fan who happens to enjoy
poetry, these are not the strangest of bedfellows.
