Monday, September 1, 2014

Guardians of the Galaxy - MLS Weekly Recap

The Galaxy continued their surge as they snatched 6 points in matches against DC United and Chivas USA outscoring their opponents 7-1 and getting goals from six different players. Landon Donovan finished with a goal and four assists and suddenly the Galaxy find themselves just 2 points behind Seattle on the verge of pulling ahead into first place in the Western Conference. Here's a rundown of all the week's matches.

Los Angeles 4 DC United 1

Landon Donovan and company continued their surge scoring 3 times in the first half against the previously red hot DC United, cruising to a 4-1 win. Even with their leading scorer Robbie Keane unavailable, Landon Donovan continued his solid form delivering an insurance goal and a pair of assists while Alan Gordon, Omar Gonzalez and Baggio Husidic all chipped in with goals as well. Gonzalez's goal was his third this season, a career high, in just 13 matches.

Houston 3 Sporting KC 1

Brad Davis delivered a pair of assists off set pieces as Houston delivered Sporting another tough loss, 3-1. David Horst and Ricardo Clark converted Davis crosses into headed goals to break a 1-1 tie in the second half and sent Sporting to a third loss in four matches. Dom Dwyer did score his 17th goal of the season in a losing effort bringing him within one of Preki's club record set back in 1996, the inaugural season of MLS. Will Bruin also added a goal for the Dynamo, giving him 10 on the year. The 24 year old Bruin now has 30 goals over his last 3 seasons with the Dynamo.

Seattle 1 Colorado 0

Clint Dempsey scored for the 2nd time in 7 days and Stefan Frei took care of the rest as the first-place Sounders hung on for a 1-0 win over the foundering Rapids. The 28 year old Swiss keeper made a pair of saves and tallied his league leading 15th win of the season and his league best 8th shutout.

New England 3 Toronto 0

The Jermaine Jones era got off to a solid start as the Revs took their show north of the border and throttled Michael Bradley and Toronto FC 3-0. Lee Nguyen, Teal Bunbury and Kelyn Rowe all scored while Jones got a 25 minute shift off the bench in the shutout win. Bobby Shuttleworth made 3 saves to earn his 7th shutout of the year.

Montreal 2 Columbus 0

Designated Player Ignacio Piatti scored his first two MLS goals and Evan Bush, starting just his 6th game in net this season, made 5 saves as the Impact won for just the 5th time this year, 2-0 over the Crew.

Chicago 1 Dallas 0

With multiple starters out due to injuries and suspensions, FC Dallas was unable to keep their streak going as the Fire dealt them a 1-0 loss snapping a run of 10 matches without a defeat. Robert Earnshaw, who was the hero last weekend in Toronto, came off the bench again to deliver a late game winner. The Zambian-born Welsh international, who has English Premier League experience with West Bromwich Albion and Derby County is the only player to record a hat trick in all three divisions of the English Football League, the Premier League, the FA and League Cups, as well as internationally for Wales. Sean Johnson made three saves to complete the shutout.

Real Salt Lake 1 San Jose 1

San Jose's season has been nothing to write home about, but for the fourth time this month, they took points from one of the Western Conference powers, this time from Real Salt Lake. Sam Cronin's early goal was matched by a penalty from Javier Morales, but that was all the two teams could muster in a 1-1 draw. Chris Wondolowski assisted on Cronin's goal giving him points in each of his last three matches and 5 goals and 4 assists since returning from Brazil.

Portland 3 Vancouver 0

The Timbers got second half goals from Alvas Powell, Maximiliano Urruti and Rodney Wallace as they picked up a huge three points north of the border against rival Vancouver. With a 2-point lead and a match in hand, the Whitecaps were poised to earn some breathing room in the competitive Western Conference. Instead, they found themselves dropping into 6th place and looking up at Portland. 37 year old Donovan Ricketts picked up just his third shutout of the season, but his second in the last three weeks. He now has 49 in his career.

DC United 2 New York 0

Bill Hamid made 5 saves and had an assist on Luis Silva's game winning goal as United upended the New York Red Bulls 2-0. Eddie Johnson came off the bench to score his 5th goal of the season in stoppage time to seal the win. It was Johnson's 4th goal in his last 7 appearances.

LA Galaxy 3 Chivas USA 0

Gyasi Zardes struck twice and Robbie Keane added a goal as a substitute as the Galaxy continued their surge by blowing out crosstown rival Chivas USA 3-0. The 22 year old Zardes, with 12 goals on the year, now leads all Americans in MLS in scoring. Landon Donovan added 2 more assists giving him 12 on the year. He has 4 goals and 8 assists in 8 games since July 28th. The Galaxy are 6-1-1 in that stretch outscoring their opponents 22-11. Erick Torres, Chivas USA's leading scorer, was sent off with a straight red in the second half after a dangerous tackle. Dan Kennedy made 6 saves in a losing effort.

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