who did what, what it means and what to look for next:
Chicago 0, Real Salt Lake 0
Man of the match: Real Salt Lake 'keeper Nick Rimando has rallied past some early season struggles - and how. His seven-save effort Sunday at Toyota Park included two highlight makers. He also intervened heroically by cutting down several dangerous Fire crosses in preserving the road shutout.
Bigger picture: Jeff Curtin (teammate Jim Curtin's little brother) debuted impressively along Chicago's back line, cleaning up a couple of potentially messy situations. He also made a little trouble for the Fire along the way with indecisive passing - although the occasional sloppiness could probably be due to nerves.
Pressure point: Neither team won a match in May. Dave Sarachan's Fire produced just three goals in the month, and now sag beneath the weight of four losses and a tie in the month. Jason Kreis completed his initial month in charge with three draws and a loss, as well as an elimination loss in the U.S. Open Cup. Now, June begins with a trip into New England for Real Salt Lake.
Chivas USA 2, FC Dallas 0
Man of the match: Maykel Galindo didn't just hit a cracker-jack shot from distance for Chivas' first goal; he also hustled in and took the ball off Juan Toja's foot to start the attack. If Saturday's win over Dallas inspires a run of success from Chivas USA, remember Galindo's goal as the start to it all.
Bigger picture: By the second half Saturday, Chivas USA's midfield seemed to have found the purpose and direction previously lacking. Thoroughly outplayed in the middle before intermission, Francisco Mendoza and Sacha Kljestan in particular were more alive, more engaged. The balance and purpose has been elusive since Amado Guevara's departure and Kljestan's return from suspension.
Pressure point: Young Dallas midfielder Dax McCarty is doing what's asked of him for now: pressure everything in his area and distribute cleanly. But looking forward, he'll have to expand on his offensive bag of tricks if he wants to climb the next rung of development. Just barely 20, he has plenty of time.
Colorado 1, Los Angeles 0
Man of the match: No question that Rapids forward Herculez Gomez was motivated to perform against his old club. He was all over the field, but didn't make the big impact on two huge chances from point-blank range. Finally, he struck for the big game-winner, his third goal this year.
Bigger picture: After a loss and three ties at their new ground over the last six weeks, Colorado finally began to make Dick's Sporting Goods Park a tough place to play. Ugo Ihemelu had a lot to do with that, manning the right fullback spot and menacing Los Angeles with his speed on offense and defense.
Pressure point: Gomez and Ihemelu were the two best players on the field (along with Kyle Beckerman's usual industry.) Gomez and Ihemelu were the players traded away from Los Angeles for Joe Cannon, who hasn't been at the top of his game in 2007. As the Galaxy continue to tinker with personnel, the heat will rise on Alexi Lalas and Frank Yallop to make the next trade fall favorably in their direction.
D.C. United 2, Houston 1
Man of the match: Look out, MLS: Christian Gomez is starting to find the sweet spot. United's playmaker struck a beauty of a free kick goal. Later, he won a midfield tackle, immediately pressed the attack and released Ben Olsen for the eventual game-winner. Gomez was active, alight and a leader all night.
Bigger picture: The United midfield around Gomez is starting to get things figured out, too. Olsen was busy on defense, keeping Brian Mullan and Richard Mulrooney from doing much damage along his side. Brian Carroll has settled into a rhythm after an unsettled start to the season. And on the right, Fred is linking especially well with forward Luciano Emilio.
Pressure point: With speedy rookie Corey Ashe demonstrating some ability off the bench lately, and with Houston still not producing results, perhaps a change is in the works. Dominic Kinnear will have to do something differently in the lineup, with Dwayne De Rosario about to leave for Gold Cup duty.
Columbus 2, Toronto 2
Man of the match: Andy Herron wasted no time in making an impact upon return from a four-game suspension. Others contributed heavily to both his goals, of course. But Herron provided exactly what's been missing for the Crew: someone who just plain gets it done around the net.
Bigger picture: Toronto's Jeff Cunningham, just picked up from Real Salt Lake, is already making a difference by going at people. That will complement Danny Dichio's post-up game. And Cunningham's speed will be especially handy once Ronnie O'Brien gets back out on the right (he played centrally Saturday) and begins shaping crosses in behind the back line.
Pressure point: Was it really a good idea for a guy just back from a four-game suspension (Herron) to celebrate a goal by removing his shirt? He received the automatic yellow card, of course.
Kansas City 4, at New England 3
Man of the match: Eddie Johnson didn't just score three goals, he scored three nice ones. This is Johnson's first MLS hat trick, and a worthy one considering it came against the ever-steady goalkeeper Matt Reis and a back line directed by Michael Parkhurst.
Bigger picture: Kansas City managed the win without four starters, including three veteran defenders. Yes, the Wizards' defensive holes were apparent as they allowed three goals. But credit Curt Onalfo's team with finding an alternate path to victory (via the high-scoring shootout). And it's Kansas City's third win on the road in 2007, no less.
Pressure point: New England manager Steve Nicol will move to prove that Saturday's loss was an aberration, and not the beginning of a trend. Michael Parkhurst, Shalrie Joseph and Jay Heaps had off nights, while a couple of others continued a season of inconsistency or struggle - and Nicol can't be far from making some adjustments to the starting lineup.
New York 3, Chicago 0
Man of the match: Pity the MLS fan who hasn't seen Juan Pablo Angel's second goal from last Thursday. His space-making feint was sublime. Others may make the same move. But to employ it right in front of goal, and at that speed, takes the rarest combination of wits, skill and composure. He had two goals and an assist on the night.
Bigger picture: Talk about rolling right along despite significant injury adjustments in defense: Midfielder Dave van den Bergh filled in for Todd Dunivant on the left; midfielder Dema Kovalenko filled in for Hunter Freeman on the right. Taylor Graham replaced center back Jeff Parke at halftime. And, of course, Claudio Reyna remains out of the midfield lineup.
Pressure point: Chicago did manage to point 21 shots towards the Red Bulls' goal, and did force a season-high 10 saves from Jon Conway. Still, the Fire offense lacks finishing power in a major way with Chris Rolfe out of the lineup.
THIS AND THAT FROM WEEK 8
Technician's notebook:
• With Chris Albright gone for perhaps the remainder of the season, Cobi Jones looks like the only Galaxy player capable of providing good service from the wings into Landon Donovan. And that's a problem, since Jones is no longer a 90-minute player. Otherwise, the Galaxy offense right now is largely dependent on releasing Donovan on the counter-attack. Donovan can certainly do some damage that way - but the Galaxy need more.
• While Herculez Gomez struck for the game-winner, Ugo Ihemelu probably made the play of the match at Dick's Sporting Goods Park on Saturday when he made up about five steps on Landon Donovan, who had broken clear of the Rapids' defense. Ihemelu then made a very athletic play as he poked away the ball just before Donovan could unleash a shot. And, in case you didn't know, Donovan isn't exactly slow. Making up ground on him is no small accomplishment.
• Curious thing about the Rapids-Galaxy match: Rapids flank midfielder Terry Cooke was having a productive evening, and Galaxy midfielder Kyle Martino was struggling to contain him. Following Martino's ejection, and the Galaxy's subsequent defensive adjustments, Colorado stopped working the ball wide to Cooke.
• FC Dallas outside backs Drew Moor and Chris Gbandi are getting forward more lately. They did so frequently in the first half of Saturday's loss to Chivas USA, as Dallas all but dominated play. But when Chivas forced the pair to defend more after intermission, the FCD offense went limp.
• Interesting lineup from Mo Johnston for Toronto FC. Andy Welsh lined up on the right, instead of his preferred spot on the left. (And looked pretty good early, going at defenders, although he seemed to back off a bit as the game went on.) Ronnie O'Brien filled in centrally for Carl Robinson, who was away for international duty. O'Brien is a decent replacement part in the middle, but rarely has the same impact on games when he's away from his better spot, wide on the right.
• Recent Crew signing Guillermo Barros Schelotto looks like he's slowing figuring out Frankie Hejduk. Once Schelotto understands the timing of those late dashes down the right side, Schelotto can consistently open up defenses with telling diagonal passes to the right corner. Pretty soon, he'll understand: make the pass, Frankie will be there.
Slowing restarts: Columbus created a good chance against Toronto with the quick free kick at one point Saturday. That one-time reliable tactic (the quickly-taken restart) has been all but non-existent this year. Defensive players understand that kicking the ball away after a foul may be punished (although infrequently, at best). But picking up the ball and carrying it a few yards, then tossing it back to the general area of the restart has become the new, preferred method (and tacitly permitted) method of delaying a restart.
Serioux return: In Dallas, Clarence Goodson is quietly putting together a good season in the center of Steve Morrow's defense. He's maintaining better focus, not allowing his emotions to rule him, and fighting through screens better on restarts. But injured defender Adrian Serioux is running again and hopeful of a June return. When he does come back, he's most likely to play in defense (as opposed to the midfield), which means Alex Yi or Goodson will take a seat.
Gruenebaum working wonders: Anybody remember when Columbus goalkeeping situation was seen as a weakness? Funny how things work out. A lack of scoring has been a big bummer on the Crew's season. But Andy Gruenebaum has been rock solid. He pulled off a wonder save against Jeff Cunningham late Saturday to preserve the tie. And his save on a close-range shot from Chris Pozniak in the first half was quality stuff, too.
Bouna on, too: Colorado's Bouna Coundoul is another goalkeeper who is answering questions, even if he does look slightly unconventional at times. But he securely handled all the long balls coming into his penalty area Saturday. And his 83rd-minute save on Nate Jaqua was something special.
Houston, we have a problem: Brian Mullan and Brad Davis are both active for Houston, each providing some decent service from his side. So why the offensive malaise for Dominic Kinnear's team? It appears to have more to do with Brian Ching's poor finishing at the moment, and with Dwayne De Rosario's lack of pep and form. "De Ro" did score Saturday against D.C. United. But he's still not impacting the overall game as he has in the last couple of years.
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.
