Week Two ends with one of the best games of the new season as Dallas and Houston go wire to wire, while DC United becomes the latest team to pile on goals a man up early.
WASHINGTON, DC (Apr 6, 2008) USSoccerPlayers -- DC United and Red Bull NY take advantage of quick openers to blow out FC Toronto and Columbus, while Colorado -Kansas City, and Dallas - Houston opt for the classic duel. It’s MLS Week Two, and with at least one coach trying to manage expectations after a win, it's anybody's guess which of these teams will emerge as the class of the League.
Colorado 2 - Kansas City 3
Reminding us that LA's win on Thursday was against an expansion team, the club that humiliated the Galaxy on opening day couldn’t get a second equalizer in a fairly open game dominated by a defender. That would be Kansas City's Jimmy Conrad, who opened the scoring in the 52nd and doubled that lead in the 54th. He also invented the KC/KS leap, saying after the game: "They're right there, right at field level. They're very welcoming, and they smell like beer, which is great. It was fun and I had to go in there. They're our diehards." Say hello unexpected home field advantage from an independent league baseball stadium. However, the Rapids weren't blown away by the newfound enthusiasm for all things Wizards.
Colorado responded quickly, with Jose Burciaga Jr responding in the 58th and John DiRaimondo getting that equalizer in the 68th. "We never quit," said Rapids coach Fernando Clavijo. "We kept playing. We score one, then we score the other one. Then we had one that hit the post. We never were content with 2-2. "
Neither were Kansas City, with 71st-minute substitute Scott Sealy hitting the winner in the 87th and saying: "My job was to find the goal and bring energy and I thought that's what I did." Indeed Scott, indeed.
Dallas 3 - Houston 3
As back and forth games go, it looked like FC Dallas would be the ones ruining the afternoon for the opposition. Each time Houston scored or even started moving the ball well, there was Dallas. Houston opens with Franco Caraccio scoring in the 21st? Player of the Week candidate Kenny Cooper responds with a 35th-minute equalizer and the lead in the 45th.
Gift Houston an own-goal to make it 2-2 in the 57th? Give them a full minute to enjoy it before making it 3-2 in the 58th. Riding that line into injury time, it was Houston who finally got to leave it unanswered. Following Cooper's end of half example, Geoff Cameron gets an assist from Brian Ching and the equalizer. 3-3, satisfying at least Dominic Kinnear: "We are happy with the point. You always want to come out with three, but with all the circumstances, to score so late. "
Meanwhile, his opposite number laid the groundwork for the resumption of hostilities: "We're very disappointed," FC coach Steve Morrow said. "It feels like a loss. I think we should have had the game won by then. We had two or three chances to go up 4-2. We should've finished off the game."
Salt Lake 1 - Chivas USA 3
It's odd when a coach carrying a 3-1 win is the one questioning quality, but here we have Preki doing just that: "We didn't play the way we wanted to play, but sometimes games don't work out the way you want them to work out. On the other hand we are happy. I think we could play a lot better, but we got the three points." RSL coach Jason Kreis agreed, saying: "I would say the results are misleading, for them to score a goal in the last 20 minutes of the game and we're chasing it, it's typical. For me the game was very evenly played, I thought Chivas… all the respect to them, they played very well, but I'm very proud of my guys. I'm definitely proud of the way that they came out on that game."
Sacha Kljestan, who hit the opening goal in the 30th minute, was part of the difference, with Chivas USA getting quality runs from several players and finding frame on 8 of their 11 shots. RSL were 3 for 11 in the same category, the difference in a game that Kreis was right to think was more even than the score-line.
Columbus 0 - New York 2
A ten minute thriller in North Jersey, with Dave van den Bergh opening in the 1st and Kevin Goldthwaite closing in the 8th. Game over early, with Columbus spraying shots everywhere but on target and Red Bull happy to sit on the lead and poke at a handful of opportunities. New York lost Jeff Park late, drawing a second yellow in the 80th minute.
Jozy Altidore ended up not starting due to a bruised knee, but he was an available substitute. Red Bull manager Juan Carlos Osorio made the move as a precaution, saying: "I thought it was the best thing to do with him to not risk it. It worked out for us and it paid off."
Toronto 1 - DC 4
Another disaster of a start, with DC United hammering on Toronto from the opening whistle and a little unlucky to only get one goal out of the first five minutes. Toronto tried to hold up, but again and again the DC attack took the Toronto midfield out of the flow and got good looks at the expense of FC's defenders.
Toronto pulled a goal back very late when Maurice Edu sent DC keeper Zach Wells into the post, but the game hinged on the opening five and losing Kevin Harmse to a red card. Just ask TFC coach John Carver: "You shoot yourself straight in the foot, don't you? After the two goals the game settled down a little bit. And Jeff [Cunningham] had a great chance to pull it back to 2-1, and then we lose Kevin Harmse [via a red car]. I spoke to Kevin before the game about how we need to keep our discipline and within 15, 20 minutes I think it was, he's been sent off. And in fairness, I don't think I can defend him because it was a reckless tackle. So, our backs are up against it two-nil down, and we're down to 10 men but I thought we created one or two half-chances."
