who did what, what it means and what to look for next:
Houston 1, at Kansas City 0
Man of the match: Patrick Ianni, filling in for the injured Eddie Robinson, won most of the aerial battles in his half and prevailed on one huge effort in front of Kansas City's goal. Thanks to the reserve back's first MLS strike, his team is riding an impressive five-game winning streak.
Bigger picture: Sometimes a trade works wonders going both ways. Joseph Ngwenya is definitely doing something for Houston's offense, effective both as a target man or when running into space. He has three goals in June. Meanwhile, Alejandro Moreno is getting it done in Columbus. The pair swapped sides on May 9.
Pressure point: The Wizards have lost two in a row and are winless in their last three, and they seem a tad bit out of synch. Playmaker Carlos Marinelli is without question a quality midfielder and fabulous passer, but he sometimes slows the game when it seems other teammates prefer to press the attack.
Columbus 3, at Los Angeles 2
Man of the match: Lots of heroes on a brave 10-man Crew bunch. Midfielder Duncan Oughton did more than his share of chasing and tackling. Center back Chad Marshall looks better and better and striker Alejandro Moreno notched the winner on a bold diving header. But attacker Eddie Gaven, not just for two deserving assists, but for all his hustle and defending, deserves MOM honors.
Bigger picture: The Crew managed a paltry four goals in its first seven contests. In six matches since: 13 goals. Go figure. Biggest reasons: Moreno is scoring, Gaven looks sharp again after a slump and Ned Grabavoy continues to distribute well. But the big factor here is Guillermo Barros Schelotto, who now has an assist in a league-best five consecutive matches.
Pressure point: When the team with just two wins gives up two goals at home while a man up for more than 60 minutes -- that sounds like the definition of a pressure point. Media reports said the team kept its locker room closed for more than 30 minutes. The Galaxy did something similar two weeks ago in a loss in Dallas -- apparently without the desired effect.
at Real Salt Lake 2, D.C. United 1
Man of the match: Robbie Findley struggled in his first practice, wilting early in the thinner mountain air. No such problems, apparently, in his first match following this week's trade with Los Angeles. He scored once in each half, and he figures to be even better once RSL learns how to maximize that speed.
Bigger picture: While everyone else complains about the bad, fast field at Rice-Eccles, Jason Kreis went out and found somebody that might just be fast enough to mitigate the hyper roll and bounce. Findley might be the answer. Fast field. Fast player. RSL certainly got fast results from their new man.
Pressure point: This was D.C.'s worst match in two months, and three of the four along the back line made mistakes that contributed to an RSL goal. (Josh Gros was the only member pardoned here.) With Ben Olsen, Bobby Boswell and Jamie Moreno now away for Copa America, United must work hard to make sure this was an anomaly and not the makings of a trend.
FC Dallas 1, at Colorado 0
Man of the match: Heady holding midfielder Pablo Ricchetti was impressive, commandeering the passing lanes as always, but also distributing with particular savvy for FC Dallas. He got lots of help from industrious Juan Toja, who was quick to locate Kyle Beckerman and help quiet the Rapids' best threat in the center of the park.
Bigger picture: Sometimes the schedule is just plain goofy. Dallas has now completed half its season, and has already played 10 times on the road. As it stands, Steve Morrow's men have five wins away from Frisco, but only three on that plush Pizza Hut Park field.
Pressure point: A three-game losing streak before Saturday was certainly nothing for the Rapids to brag about. Then again, all those matches were on the road. Now, a four-game losing skid includes another disappointing evening at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. The Rapids' most recent win was a 1-0 result at home over struggling Los Angeles. Last time Colorado scored more than one goal in a match, the calendar read April.
at New England 3, Toronto 0
Man of the match: Not a particularly pretty match from the Revs' midfield. But it's hard to complain about a guy, Andy Dorman, generating two goals and an assist. He got it right when it counted.
Bigger picture: None of those fantastic fans at BMO Field can relish seeing their team visit New England. Two trips. Two losses. No goals scored. Seven goals against. At least in this one Mo Johnston's men had a chance. Matt Reis made three big stops after the Revs held a 2-0 lead, helping to tamp down Toronto's little push for a rally. Last time at Gillette -- though with an almost completely different team, to be sure -- the Canadians were barely competitive.
Pressure point: Steve Nicol will have a tough decision to make once Taylor Twellman returns. Rookie Adam Cristman is doing just about everything he can lately to keep himself among the starting 11, holding the ball as a target player, poaching busily near goal and generally being a handful for defenders. Then again, Pat Noonan has returned to productivity lately, with two goals and an assist in the Revs' last two matches.
at Houston 4, Chivas USA 0
Man of the match: Brad Davis didn't just notch his first professional hat trick, he did so within 20 sensational minutes. His two strikes during the run of play were both quality efforts, leaving Brad Guzan little chance.
Bigger picture: Dynamo are doing great things from a depth and confidence standpoint. Kelly Gray has had a couple of nice matches. Richard Mulrooney is slowly starting to resemble the dominant player of early 2005, before the ACL tear. And Brian Mullan is achieving in a new position, alongside Joseph Ngwenya at forward.
Pressure point: Maybe a break from MLS will do Sacha Kljestan some good. He hasn't scored or assisted since May 20, and his inattention to defensive detail contributed heavily to Houston's second, back-breaking goal. Now Kljestan will spend some time under former Chivas boss Bob Bradley on Copa America duty.
at Columbus 2, Kansas City 1
Man of the match: In search of something more from the left back spot, and with Rusty Pierce unavailable due to injury, Sigi Schmid may have stumbled onto a real gem. Midfielder Stefani Miglioranzi filled the spot and looked like a veteran back there. He's a big presence in the back, and provides a little more athleticism to a lineup that currently needs it. Oh, and he notched the game-winner, too.
Bigger picture: Slowly, Guillermo Barros Schelotto is beginning to form partnerships. He seems to be synching up with Ned Grabavoy, who continues spreading the ball around better than any other Crew midfielder. If they can link up a little more, Columbus might mount a playoff charge after all.
Pressure point: Why does Kansas City have such a propensity to fall behind, making things so tough on themselves? They've done so in six consecutive matches now -- still managing to win two and tie two of those.
THIS AND THAT FROM WEEK 12
Technician's notebook:
• No telling what Dominic Kinnear will do now that Dwayne De Rosario is back and the Dynamo manager has one more (pretty darn good) option for the center midfield duo. But if Kelly Gray keeps playing, this much is certain: the man isn't afraid to shoot from distance. And he's pretty good at it. He just needs to be perhaps a bit more selective. See Kyle Beckerman or Ricardo Clark for examples of central midfielders who know when to pick their spots on long shots.
• We know Chris Klein can play along the right in the midfield, as he has for so many years. We know he can play right back, as he did occasionally for Bruce Arena. Apparently, he can play some central midfield, too. He lined up alongside Kevin Harmse for the Galaxy, while Cobi Jones kept his spot on the right.
• Frank Yallop continues to say he wants David Beckham to play centrally in some sort of 4-3-3 alignment. So far, the Galaxy have lined up mostly in a 4-4-2.
• Sunday, while down 1-0 but up and man against Columbus, Yallop reorganized at halftime and went all out in a 3-4-3 look. He removed Quavas Kirk from the back line, asking Abel Xavier to play in a free role behind markers Kyle Veris and Ty Harden. Yallop inserted Peter Vagenas into the match in midfield, then pushed Cobi Jones into an advanced role. It all went terribly wrong when the Crew's Grabavoy slipped in completely unattended, exploiting the Galaxy's unfamiliarity with the new arrangement for the game-winner.
• D.C. United's back line surely knew about Robbie Findley's speed. And yet, the back four seemed to be caught playing too high, providing too much space for the RSL rookie to run into behind them.
• Real's Mehdi Ballouchy had perhaps his best match in months in the win against United, apparently getting comfortable in his new spot. For the second consecutive match, Real Salt Lake manager Jason Kreis played the sophomore attacker wide on the left, in Freddy Adu's former spot. Carey Talley, returning after an extended absence, played opposite Ballouchy on the right.
• Kansas City wants to attack teams quickly on the transition, before they can organize defensively. But what if teams stack most of the team behind the ball, making it quite difficult to attack them with speed? That's what Columbus did in the midweek win against the Wizards.
• FC Dallas subdued Colorado's midfield thrust thanks largely to Juan Toja, who played at the top of a central triangle. Toja positioned himself near Kyle Beckerman whenever the Rapids took possession. Through about 40 minutes, Beckerman had just 16 touches. He completed a pass on every one (except for twice being fouled by Toja), but never did much to truly effect matters. The frustration built, and in the last five minutes of the half, Beckerman pressed a bit and gave the away the ball twice.
More tough stuff to come?: Suggestions that Abel Xavier was brought to Los Angeles as some sort of "protection" for David Beckham -- that is, to be the team's chief enforcement arm -- seem wholly unfounded. Xavier so far has been anything but physical. Perhaps a harder version of Xavier is still to come. But for the moment, far more physical defenders are stationed all around MLS.
Five for Houston, and counting: Long winning streaks don't happen often in MLS, what with parity and all. But Houston has won five in a row. With a win this weekend in Dallas, Dominic Kinnear's team could match the league's longest winning streak since 2000. Since then, three clubs have won six in a row: D.C. United did so last year, Colorado managed it in 2005 and the now-defunct Miami Fusion reached that number in 2001.
Back in 2000, Kansas City rode Tony Meola's exceptional goalkeeping and Miklos Molnar's timely goals to a seven-game winning streak.
By the numbers: A couple of the best statistical notes from the weekend came out of Houston, where Dynamo continued building on their dominance against Chivas USA in south Texas. Kinnear's men are now 4-0-1 against Chivas USA at Robertson Stadium. Further, Thursday's 4-0 victory set standards for both clubs. It was the largest margin of victory yet for Dynamo (over just a season and a half, of course.) And it was the most lopsided defeat yet for Chivas USA.
Yellow card for the red: What is it with left backs around the league? In Kansas City, Jose Burciaga, Jr., has some serious artwork carved into the back of his buzz cut these days. And in Dallas, Chris Gbandi just debuted the new "do." It's red. Yikes.
Best quotes:
"I've got the biggest mouth on the team and I'm speechless. I don't have any clue how to turn it around." -- Galaxy goalkeeper Joe Cannon, to the L.A. Daily News, on how to reverse the spiral.
"We talked about it all week that no matter what game it is -- we said there are no layups in our league no matter who you play." -- D.C. United manager Tom Soehn on the loss to Real Salt Lake.
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.
