who did what, what it means and what to look for next:
Colorado 2, Real Salt Lake 0
Man of the Match: Rapids center midfielder Kyle Beckerman was a smooth offensive conduit all night, setting counter attacks quickly in motion with good, expedient choices or sometimes slowing play when necessary. He was more involved than midfield partner Jovan Kirovski and finished matters with an opportunistic 75th-minute goal.
Bigger picture: Real Salt Lake rookie goalkeeper Chris Seitz got his first start, replacing Nick Rimando. Seitz handled two dangerous shots from long range and managed his area well, but did suffer from a couple of communication bugaboos, including one that lead to Colorado's second goal.
Pressure point: RSL did a good job of using its extra man in midfield to hold possession. But converting it into opportunities was something else against Colorado's physical back line. The chemistry still seems amiss between Freddy Adu, Mehdi Ballouchy and Jeff Cunningham. Minus the final pass to unlock defenses, RSL has been blanked in three of four matches.
Chicago 1, Houston 0
Man of the Match: Fire center back C.J. Brown was a constant and necessary presence against a very active Brian Ching. Brown got able assistance from Jim Curtin, who also had a strong night at muggy Robertson Stadium.
Bigger picture: Dave Sarachan's Fire collected 10 of a possible 12 points out of April, not bad at all considering two matches were away from Toyota Park. The Fire is getting solid play all over, especially from holding midfielders Chris Armas and Diego Gutierrez. Plus, Sunday's win came without the injured Justin Mapp, who has been lively this year.
Pressure point: Houston has just one goal in four matches, and it's not like Dominic Kinnear's team has been bitten by other-worldly goalkeeping or bad luck. To wit: Dynamo has just 13 shots on goal in those four contests, second-worst in the league. Dwayne De Rosario (with a new, dread-less look) had a little more energy but still is not approaching 2006 form.
New England 1, FC Dallas 0
Man of the match: Revolution defender Michael Parkhurst, making his injury-delayed 2007 debut, hasn't lost anything. The "free" man in New England's three-man back line took his turns against Carlos Ruiz and Kenny Cooper and contributed several important interventions as the Revs held off the home team's late thrusts. Goalkeeper Matt Reis needed to make just two saves.
Bigger picture: Revs manager Steve Nicol didn't think much of his team's afternoon, lamenting too many inaccurate passes and players who didn't always manage their energy well in the heat. But any team that prevails when not at its best, especially on the road, has accomplished something.
Pressure point: Dallas has been shut out in three of its last four games. And two 1-0 losses at home this week will provide the first true test for manager Steve Morrow. Coaching is easy when teams are winning and all is swell, but managers earn their money by dealing with matters as they start to go sideways.
Los Angeles 3, Chivas USA 1Man of the Match: Not only does Landon Donovan get his head up and see the field, he does so while dribbling at full speed. That rare ability helped Donovan earn a goal and two important assists in the first Home Depot Center derby of 2007.
Bigger picture: Has Galaxy manager Frank Yallop turned over a gem in previously anonymous Kevin Harmse? The 22-year-old Canadian, seen before kicking around in Slovakia, Norway and the USL, earned his way via a longshot Galaxy preseason tryout. He was rock solid as a holding midfielder in his first start, even striking for Los Angeles' second goal.
Pressure point: Chivas USA manager Preki removed Amado Guevara in the 56th minute, a bold move and big statement considering his team was down two goals at the time. Guevara - acquired for a designated player asset -- continues the search for his first goal or assist of 2007 and has yet to settle in to Chivas' fluid four-man midfield.
Columbus 1, D.C. United 0
Man of the Match: Crew veteran Ezra Hendrickson got the game-winner -- when most center backs around the league wouldn't even think of ranging forward during the run of play in a scoreless match. "EZ" also had a strong match dealing with D.C.'s Luciano Emilio.
Bigger picture: Where will Crew coach Sigi Schmid use new Argentinean acquisition Guillermo Barros Schelotto? Given his attackers' lack of productivity, Schmid has plenty of candidates. Eddie Gaven, Kei Kamara, Joseph Ngwenya, Ricardo Virtuoso and Jason Garey continue to look dangerous but have precious little to show for it.
Pressure point: D.C. continues to be effective in movement and possession, even in tight spaces, but continues to lack in productivity inside the opposition third of the field. Too many times D.C. prefers one more pass or touch over the effort toward goal. Just like Columbus, D.C. has three goals in four matches.
Kansas City 1, at Toronto FC 0Man of the Match: On-form striker Eddie Johnson decided the match with a burst of speed, a quick change of direction to free up more shooting space, and finally with a well-placed shot into the near post.
Bigger picture: Here's what debuting K.C. manager Curt Onalfo faced for his first 15 days of competitive soccer: five matches in five different cities in 15 days (including a U.S. Open Cup match in Salt Lake City.) His club took nine of a possible 12 points from the MLS matches. They'll need a little down time to heal now, especially after Toronto FC committed 27 fouls Saturday.
Pressure point: It was SRO at BMO - and the heat will rise quickly despite the grey weather in Toronto to perform for a swell bunch of fans. Not only was the place absolutely packed and awash in red, but all those Toronto FC scarves (given as a gift to the 14,000 season ticket holders) looked awesome. Finally, they applauded at the end, even though their team fell. That's a classy gesture.
New York Red Bulls 1, at FC Dallas 0
Man of the Match: Hunter Freeman, playing just minutes from where he grew up, was having a fine match even before he settled Dave van den Bergh's cross and buried it from in close. Freeman ranged forward often and supplied several good crosses from his right fullback spot.
Bigger picture: The Red Bulls five-man midfield overwhelmed Dallas. Seth Stamler and Dema Kovalenko screened the defense while Reyna played at the head of the central triangle. If Stamler and Kovalenko keep up the gritty work behind Reyna, it will help preserve the U.S. captain and keep him on the field more this year.
Pressure point: If any doubt lingered about the Red Bulls, the nationally televised win against Dallas should remove it. This team is playing tight soccer, and doing it without recently signed Juan Pablo Angel. Demanding manager Bruce Arena has subtracted any element of sloppiness on the field. The pressure will be on teams facing New York in the near future.
Kansas City 3, Toronto FC 0
Man of the Match: New K.C. signing Carlos Marinelli was big in midfield. He manufactured lots of nice touches and passes on a horribly wet night that made anything technical quite difficult. His speed of thought is perfect for the way Curt Onalfo wants Kansas City to play, with rapid transitions into attack and fast movement forward.
Bigger picture: TFC rookie Maurice Edu (the league's No. 1 overall pick) played wide on the right for Mo Johnston. His better spot is in the middle (where the home fans at BMO saw him later in the weekend). At either spot, Edu has quite a presence, hardly carrying himself like a rookie.
Pressure point: K.C. manager Curt Onalfo has plenty to like about his team. But he'll probably have a word about two silly yellow cards, one for Eddie Johnson for a personal message on his T-shirt (an automatic caution) and one for Marinelli for kicking the ball away on a restart. Those cards add up.
THIS AND THAT FROM WEEK 4
Technician's notebook:
• The Galaxy added significant midfield bite with the insertion of Kevin Harmse, who made his first MLS start. Plus, Galaxy manager Frank Yallop brought forward Nate Jaqua back into the midfield to add even more grit. The former Chicago Fire attacker played that spot often last year at Toyota Park. Landon Donovan paid attention to the directive to be more physical: the quick attacker committed a couple of tough fouls himself.
• Opposing Chivas USA's Jonathan Bornstein and Francisco Mendoza, Galaxy right back Chris Albright could not be nearly as active getting forward along the Los Angeles right side.
• Versatile Pablo Mastroeni, playing in Colorado's reconfigured defense for the injured Brandon Prideaux, kept dangerous Jeff Cunningham bottled up for most of the match. Mastroeni seemed unbothered by the Utah fans who booed most of his touches, the residual from some post-game antics at Rice-Eccles last year.
• D.C. United manager Tom Soehn replaced Facundo Erpen with Devon McTavish along the three-man back line and configured the midfield to provide slightly more cover. But the same old problem bit United, as a Brian Carroll midfield giveaway led to Columbus' only goal.
• Chivas USA defender Claudio Suarez usually compensates for a lack of speed with astute positioning. But he also has to do a lot of covering on the left for Jonathan Bornstein, who is never far from his next trip forward. You have to wonder how much that will wear on the veteran Mexican international.
• Ned Grabavoy continues to perform at a high level in the center of Columbus' midfield. In addition to releasing the through ball that turned into the night's only goal, the former Indiana University standout did his part to tamp down United playmaker Christian Gomez, who had a relatively quiet night.
• Also in Columbus, with Ricardo Virtuoso behind on his fitness and currently limited to about 60 minutes, Crew manager Sigi Schmid took the opportunity to insert experienced midfielder Stefani Miglioranzi. Schmid wanted Miglioranzi's presence as his team held a tenuous 1-0 lead. So he moved Eddie Gaven out wide to the spot vacated by Virtuoso and kept Miglioranzi inside, playing ahead of Grabavoy and Danny O'Rourke.
• FC Dallas manager Steve Morrow subtracted a midfielder and boldly added a forward after intermission Sunday, as his team trailed New England 1-0. So his team merged from its 4-3-1-2 look back into a 4-2-1-3. And with Ramon Nunez not always coming back to help on defense, Dax McCarty and Juan Toja were asked to hold the midfield. The plan backfired somewhat as the Rev's five-man midfield was able to generate more possession than New England had enjoyed before the break.
• The continuing conundrum in Dallas: what to do with Bobby Rhine. The converted forward is prone to defensive slip-ups; Taylor Twellman got inside Rhine for game's only goal in Frisco. But without Rhine the team struggles to pass or attack out of the back.
Travelers delight: A dandy week for the travelers, as road teams won five of eight for the week. (Two home losses were suffered by the same team, FC Dallas.) Road teams had collected just three wins in 18 matches in Weeks 1, 2, and 3.
Dallas lost just three matches at Pizza Hut Park last year, but already has suffered two home defeats this year. At the other end, Kansas City won just three on the road last year, but already owns two triumphs away from Arrowhead in 2007.
Quote du jour: Veteran Revolution midfielder Steve Ralston, after FC Dallas goalkeeper Shaka Hislop sprinted 40 yards from goal to intercept a long through ball: "I was cramping while I was trying to get there. That was two old guys chasing the ball. And one of them was cramping."
Donde esta Guevara?: In his post-game comments, Chivas USA manager Preki was quite candid about his decision to remove valuable midfielder Amado Guevara: "He couldn't find the ball. Defensively, he just wasn't working hard. In a game like this, you need 11 guys to fight for each other. In my opinion, when you put on the Chivas jersey, you've got to represent that with a lot of pride. I thought tonight he wasn't the Amado Guevara we know."
Ref's call spot-on: In Columbus, referee Jorge Gonzalez was especially on top of things. He spotted Luciano Emilio's deliberate handball near the Crew's goal, promptly cautioning the D.C. United forward. Emilio, moving fast and battling Ezra Hendrickson at the far post, could easily have gotten away with the slap at the ball, which ended up in the net and could have drastically changed the match. Later, Gonzalez was on the spot again to yellow card Christian Gomez for diving inside the Crew penalty area.
Home Depot Center neighbors sharing: In the strange turnabout of the weekend, Chivas USA forward Laurent Merlin got his first significant minutes of the season - against the team that "discovered" him. Merlin, formerly a French under-19 international, was one of two players who made it through a high-profile preseason tryout with the Los Angeles Galaxy. When Frank Yallop's team declined to sign him, Merlin, 22, joined Chivas USA instead. Merlin played the entire second half Saturday, and it was his shot that led to Claudio Suarez's deflection goal.
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.
