WASHINGTON, DC (July 6, 2008) USSoccerPlayers -- If you like your refereeing questionable and your wins in blowout fashion, then Week 15 was your friend. RSL gets angry over non-matching reds and RBNY gets to make some quick excuses.
Saturday
Chicago 2 - Columbus 2
The Fire couldn't hold a two goal lead courtesy of Chris Rolfe's 8th minute opener and Calen Carr's second in the 25th. Emmanuel Ekpo got the Crew's first in the 36th and Steven Lenhart finished off the comeback in the 87th. Guillermo Barros Schelotto assisted on both Columbus goals.
"Credit to them," said Chicago coach Denis Hamlett. "I think their subs came in and really got some balls in the box. We gave up too many corner kicks in the second half, which with their team, they have some big guys, and with Schelotto's service it makes them dangerous. We actually got lucky at the end because I thought we fell asleep on the free kick that probably could have been a goal."
Chivas USA 1 - San Jose 0
The other Battle of California ended in the 88th minute when Ante Razov used a free kick to put Chivas USA 1-0 up.
"We thought it was a little far to begin with, so we thought about playing it into the box, and then talked things over and made the decision to take it," Razov said of his pre-kick conversation with Sacha Kljestan. "I was just trying to concentrate on getting it over the wall. I saw that side was clearly open, [Joe Cannon] was just counting on his wall, and if I just got it over and got it down, it had a chance."
Level on games, Chivas USA trails the Galaxy by goal differential at the top of the Western Conference.
Friday
Kansas City 1 - Dallas 1
Kansas City came ever so close to riding out Scott Sealy's 39th minute goal, but half-time substitute Abe Thompson hit the equalizer in the 91st.
"(Coach Hyndman) says to go out there and contribute, hold the ball up well," Thompson said. "Just kind of occupy their center backs and frustrate them as much as I can. Just go out there and create chances and finish chances and luckily I've been able to do that the last couple of games."
The Wizards reaction was the obvious, hold on a little bit longer and take three points instead of one.
"I think any player or coach in this situation would be disappointed," said Kansas City defender Jimmy Conrad. "There's a lot of things we can look at, but if we get that second goal we pretty much put the nail in the coffin. We didn't do that part of it today. I thought we defended well and limited their chances. We made the game pretty predictable and at the end we were just kind of bunkering down and they put in a good ball and had a good finish."
Colorado 4 - New York 0
Let's just go ahead and get the score sheet out of the way. Tom McManus in the 24th, Mehdi Ballouchy in the 36th, Colin Clark in the 3rd, and Omar Cummings in the 68th. Moving right along to RBNY coach Juan Carlos Osorio.
"We were not at the races," Osorio noticed. "I think that we did not compete today and in the end we got what we deserved. We matched them up and played the same system that we have been playing. It came down to the players. I don't think any of the players can really look me in the eyes and tell me that they played today. Colorado was very clinical and finished their chances very well. Credit to Colorado, they played very well today. This means nothing moving forward. I cannot wait until the 15th of July where we can sign some players and make a very competitive team. At the moment I think that all of our players have had a chance to really shine and stake a claim. I think a lot of them have failed to do that."
Everybody remember that Red Bull NY's problems are personnel driven and not tactical, and the transfer window will make everything right with the world.
New England 2 - Los Angeles 1
Battle at the top of the conferences with Adam Cristman scoring in the 33rd and 37th and David Beckham pulling one back in the 66th. Beckham's goal came courtesy of a deflection, but it was a strong enough shot that nobody on the Revs should be complaining.
After playing and scoring in the US Open Cup on Tuesday, Taylor Twellman returned to League action as a 60th minute substitution. Landon Donovan also came on in the second half after missing training due to illness.
"It is always good to have your best players out there," Beckham said. "Obviously Landon is one of the best players we have got so it is good to have him out there. He has been ill for two or three days and he has not even trained so it was impossible for him to start from the word go. When he did come on it changed the game and it set their players back because they know his pace and they know what he can do. It put us on the front foot and gave us for opportunities to create chances."
"To be honest, this season so far between the first game and last week's game, we have a lot more to come from this team," Revs coach Steve Nicol said. "I don't think we've played our best between the first and last week. We're starting to pass the ball better. It's probably a shame that we don't have any league games for the next month. We've started passing the teams a lot better, putting teams under pressure, whether at our place or away from home."
Thursday
Houston 0 - Salt Lake 0
Weren't we fortunate this got the ESPN treatment. Otherwise, how would we know that raining concessions is the appropriate response for Chris Wingert getting shown red late?
"I was on the ball, ready to walk away and I got pushed off the ball for no reason, so I pushed somebody back," Wingert said. "Then De Rosario and Corey Ashe were both there. We got in a shoving match and that was it. First of all I don't think there should've been any red cards, but for sure if I'm getting a red card, somebody else should too."
"I'm tired of it," added RSL coach Jason Kreis. "I'm exasperated. I've just absolutely had it up to my, above my head ... I'm only 5-8. I should be 6 feet, and it'd still be up to my head. It's absolutely ridiculous. Every single week we play [at home], I feel like we're playing away."
