who did what, what it means and what to look for next:
Houston 2, at Columbus 1
Man of the match: Joseph Ngwenya scored on a tidy header at the near post, his third goal in as many matches. Then he spent the rest of the match chasing and pressuring Columbus defenders, and fighting the rugged battles as a target forward.
Bigger picture: Houston has discovered the formula, unglamorous as it might be. It's all about hard work -- and 2-1 wins, apparently. Dominic Kinnear's team has three of 'em in a row by that score. Houston is simply out-working teams and willing itself to victory.
Pressure point: Columbus manager Sigi Schmid has started 14 different players at forward or midfielder as he continues seeking a lineup that works. And on the subject of lineup choices, Houston manager Dominic Kinnear may have some interesting (and tough) ones upcoming. Houston is 3-0-0 since Dwayne De Rosario left for the CONCACAF Gold Cup, but just 2-5-1 with him in the lineup.
D.C. United 4, New York 2
Man of the match: Who had Ben Olsen in the MLS weekend hat trick pool? The veteran midfielder capped his first MLS hat trick with a crackerjack shot from distance. Not only did he score three of United's four, Olsen was the team standard bearer in terms of work rate and desire.
Bigger picture: Tom Soehn worked all week on getting his team to engage the flanks. And, voila! See what happens? It wasn't just that United created some dangerous situations (and one goal) off crosses from wide positions. Just having more ability to move the ball to the outside helped stretched the Red Bulls back line a little, further exploiting a disheveled, injury-troubled defense.
Pressure point: The Red Bulls not only gave up four goals, two of them came a man up following Bobby Boswell's second yellow for United. Bruce Arena's charges have conceded eight goals in their last three games, and 11 in their last four road matches. First-choice defenders Hunter Freeman, Todd Dunivant and Jeff Parke can't get healthy fast enough.
Chivas USA 1, at Chicago 0
Man of the match: Paulo Nagamura had played 62 MLS matches before Saturday without finding the net. But the holding midfielder, who plays alongside the steady Jesse Marsch, was rewarded for his second-half surge into the penalty area, then finished with style.
Bigger picture: Chivas USA's midfield looks increasingly comfortable as Sacha Kljestan, Marsch, Nagamura, Francisco Mendoza were largely in charge against a piecemeal Fire midfield. In the entire Chivas lineup, only Jonanthan Bornstein is away for international duty, and perhaps Preki's club can exploit that advantage in the coming weeks and make up some ground on three teams in front in the West.
Pressure point: Sometimes the numbers tell the story perfectly: Chicago, playing at home, took just three shots and put just one shot on goal. With Chris Rolfe now out for another 6-8 weeks due to a slow-healing injury, manager Dave Sarachan will have to look hard for ways to rescue a listless offense. The Fire have captured just four of a possible 21 points out of games in May and June.
FC Dallas 3, Los Angeles 1
Man of the match: Young Colombian midfielder Juan Toja might cover more ground than any other MLS player. Playing nominally on the left in a three-man midfield - but popping up everywhere -- he has three goals in the club's last six matches. Toja's first-half strike against the Galaxy came from a hard run into the penalty area, followed by an athletic finish from an implausible angle.
Bigger picture: What a contrast in circumstance: FC Dallas have such a complement of depth at the moment that manager Steve Morrow can afford to leave starters Kenny Cooper, Ramon Nunez and Dax McCarty on the bench - all while Carlos Ruiz (international duty), Roberto Mina (injured) and Adrian Serioux (injured) remain unavailable. Meanwhile, the Galaxy are so depleted that they couldn't bring a full complement of substitutes to Texas.
Pressure point: Galaxy center back Tyrone Marshall will miss at least one match due to the red card suspension - terrible news for the beleaguered Galaxy. On the other hand, manager Frank Yallop expects recent signing Abel Xavier to begin training this week and to be available for Sunday's contest against Real Salt Lake.
Houston 2, Colorado 1
Man of the match: Houston center back Eddie Robinson neutralized physical Rapids striker Conor Casey as Houston won its second match in five nights at Robertson Stadium. Both players were dishing it out and taking it all night - with Robinson winning more than his share of rounds.
Bigger picture: Houston right back Craig Waibel is making the most of his latest opportunity, as Richard Mulrooney has moved out of that spot and into Ricardo Clark's holding midfielder role for now. Waibel is getting forward and adding to the offense. A couple of others on the other team couldn't take similar advantage: Neither Jacob Peterson nor Jose Cancela did much to distinguish themselves in their first starts for the Rapids this year.
Pressure point: The Rapids were the first MLS visitor in 2007 to endure the full effect of summer nights in south Texas; high humidity and 90-degree temperatures at kickoff greeted the teams - and it's not going to be much better in Houston until September.
New York 2, at Toronto FC 1
Man of the match: Where would the Red Bulls be without Juan Pablo Angel, who had scored in five consecutive matches by the end of the weekend? His pinpoint placement free kick goal over Toronto's five-man wall was pure class. And his late game-winner was all industry and cunning, hustling into the far past and getting inside Marvell Wynne at just the right moment.
Bigger picture: What do to about Clint Mathis? The Red Bulls seemed to miss him as he served a one-game suspension. Angel needed the extra link in the offense, someone to play behind the heady the striker. But if Mathis continues collecting red cards as fast as goals, what's the point? On the other side, Toronto central midfielder Maurice Edu had another nice match in a rookie season that continues rising.
Pressure point: The cushy part of TFC's schedule is coming to a close. After facing FC Dallas this Sunday, Mo Johnston's men won't return home until July 29 against the Chicago Fire - a stretch of six consecutive away games while BMO Field is used for the under-20 World Cup.
THIS AND THAT FROM WEEK 10
Technician's notebook:
• Houston played with Kelly Gray and Richard Mulrooney in the center of the 4-4-2 in two matches over four days. In both cases, they were outnumbered in the middle because opponents played a 4-3-3. But neither Colorado nor Columbus could exploit the man-advantage in the middle. Gray and Mulrooney are working hard as they replace Ricardo Clark and Dwayne De Rosario. But the key here is the work Brian Mullan puts in along the right, and the fact that Brad Davis drifts inside naturally from the left. That helps neutralize that man-advantage in the center.
• Colorado's Ugo Ihemelu returned to center back after a brief spell along the right. He clearly looks more comfortable in the middle, and he had a good night last Thursday. He was probably the best player on the field; both Dynamo goals originated from the left side of the Rapids' defense. (In fairness, it was right back Brandon Prideaux who kept Joseph Ngwenya onside on the early Dynamo goal, however.)
• Juan Pablo Angel won his share of balls played into the Red Bulls offensive third Sunday, despite a nice match from D.C. defender Facundo Erpen. But the Red Bulls around Angel weren't getting into position for the second balls, and the Colombian striker's efforts often went wasted.
• It looks like New York's fragile back line is adversely affecting its midfield. Claudio Reyna seems to be working so hard on defense and organizing the team shape, he mitigates his offensive contribution. Dave van den Bergh, on the left, hasn't been much of a factor lately. Perhaps he, too, is overly compensating for an inexperienced fullback behind him and paying too much attention to the defensive end.
• Markus Schopp played both matches last week for the Red Bulls at right back. It's a way to add experience to the back line, while getting both Schopp and impressive rookie Dane Richards on the field. (Right midfield is the favored position for both players.) But Schopp doesn't look comfortable there and struggles with his positioning and decision-making.
• Minus first-choice center midfielders Clark and De Rosario, Houston typically pushed the ball wide in a hurry against Colorado, therefore using the flank space available against Colorado's trio of central midfielders. Brian Mullan and Brad Davis were charged with moving the ball to the forwards, whereas Gray and Mulrooney were asked to concentrate on clogging the Rapids' passing lanes.
• Speedy rookie Corey Ashe continues to serve as a Dynamo second-half replacement for Brad Davis along Houston's left side. Ashe can certainly trouble defenders, but needs to find more ways to get involved. And Dynamo must identify ways to get him the ball in spots where he can wreak havoc.
An RFK special: Ben Olsen, at D.C. United since 1998, had 22 goals in 184 matches before Saturday. That's about one goal every 8.36 matches, which isn't bad for a career midfielder. So getting three in one contest is truly a special afternoon.
The worst of days: Talk about a bad day. Kenny Cooper had one on Saturday. First, he was benched for the team's home match against Los Angeles. Manager Steve Morrow said he simply didn't get enough productivity out of Cooper in the last few matches. "His form is just off," Morrow said. "It happens to players from time to time. ... But his attitude and his energy are as good as always, and he'll work his way out of it."
Only, he'll have to wait 8-10 weeks to do so. Cooper came in as a sub against the Galaxy. In the 88th minute, with FC Dallas ahead 3-1, Tyrone Marshall's tough tackle near the sideline broke Cooper's right tibia. Marshall was ejected.
Just for fun: If the playoffs began Monday, New York, Kansas City, FC Dallas and Houston would move into the postseason as the first- and second-place teams in their conferences. The other four participants would be New England, D.C. United, Colorado and Chivas USA. (None of this early, just-for-fun accounting factors games in hand.) So the outsiders looking in would be: Chicago, Columbus, Toronto FC, Los Angeles and Real Salt Lake.
Thick irony, indeed: What a sight it must have been for Crew fans on Sunday to see Joseph Ngwenya score. (For the third consecutive match, no less.) If Ngwenya had scored - maybe just once would have been enough - for Columbus this year, manager Sigi Schmid probably wouldn't have traded him. On the other side, Alejandro Moreno struck for Columbus. He might not have been shipped out of Houston if he had done that a little more for Dominic Kinnear's team.
Adding it up: Galaxy manager Frank Yallop just celebrated his one-year anniversary in charge at The Home Depot Center. He was hired on June 7, 2006. Los Angeles is 1-4-3 after eight matches this year. The team was 2-5-1 at the same spot in the schedule last year.
Steve Davis is a freelance writer who has covered Major League Soccer since its inception. Steve can be reached at BigTexSoccer@yahoo.com. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com.
