who did what, what it means and what to look for next:
Houston Dynamo 1, Real Salt Lake 0
Man of the match: Dynamo midfielder Brian Mullan was a two-way force, especially early in the match, supplying most of his team's chances. While's Mullan's assist totals don't match other midfielders in MLS, he is surely among the league's busiest flank players, shielding the defense on his side as well as anybody.
Bigger picture: The win puts Houston in position to overtake Chivas USA for the Western Conference crown with a win Saturday at The Home Depot Center. But both teams must carefully measure how much weight they want to put into one match, with the playoffs beginning next week. Chivas USA needs only a tie to keep ahead of Dynamo and has a decided edge since both Houston center backs will miss the match due to suspensions.
Pressure point: Real Salt Lake manager Jason Kreis and the club's rebuilt front office gets one more match to evaluate personnel before significant offseason rebuilding. Kreis will get to see his players in something of a pressure environment, as RSL has a chance to crush the playoff dreams of rival Colorado in a regular-season closer in Commerce City.
Colorado Rapids 2, Chivas USA 1
Man of the match: Ugo Ihemelu was all over the place on defense, then popped up in the right spot to even the match for 10-man Colorado. It might have looked like a simple finish, but Ihemelu was still on the ground as the ball comes his way. He rose athletically to net the important goal. Later, just before Omar Cummings' dramatic game-winner, Ihemelu helped bust up another good Chivas opportunity, which would have sealed the Rapids' playoff fate.
Bigger picture: Chivas USA was bidding to become the second MLS team (after San Jose in 2005) to go undefeated at home. Cummings' goal (largely off the hard work of Conor Casey) scuttled the effort, and you could see the disappointment on Chivas USA players at the final whistle.
Pressure point: Although he played late in the midweek match against Dallas, Ante Razov sat out Sunday's match and might now be done for the season due to a knee injury. That's awfully bad news for Chivas, which has been pretty lucky this year on the injury front. Razov does a lot for the Chivas offense, checking back into midfield often and helping account for the lack of a true playmaker.
Los Angeles Galaxy 2, Toronto FC 1
Man of the match: Landon Donovan was feeding dangerous balls into the attacking third all night. He deposited the penalty kick and assisted on the game-winner as he continues to carry his weight and then some down the stretch. Donovan has three goals and four assists in the Galaxy's current six-game unbeaten streak.
Bigger picture: A certain amount of luck has fallen the Galaxy's way during the current five-game winning streak. Three times during the run the Galaxy struck for the game-winning goal while playing a man up. In one of those matches the Galaxy actually finished two men up. Frank Yallop's team still has work to do -- and they can't count on the continued luxury of doing it with a man advantage.
Pressure point: Credit the Galaxy for getting the result. But it was closer than perhaps it should have been against a depleted Toronto side. Los Angeles must be a little better at retaining possession late with the lead. Too many ill-advised passes went right back to TFC, and too many balls went backward, leaving Joe Cannon to boot the ball forward, usually resulting in TFC winning possession.
D.C. United 0, Chicago Fire 0
Man of the match: Chicago immediately pushed hard for the win, getting numbers forward despite playing on the road. And Juan Carlos Osorio's men could well have taken all three points but for a big effort from Troy Perkins, who had eight saves in the first half alone.
Bigger picture: The tie by Chicago put just a little more pressure on the Los Angeles Galaxy, eliminating just a little more wiggle room for The Home Depot Center bunch and providing the Fire just wee bit more operating space. For D.C. United, it's all about getting as healthy and sharp as possible for the playoffs. United have the latitude to let Fred and Josh Gros heal up at a slower pace.
Pressure point: Tom Soehn's team has slowed down a bit after a fabulous September. Counting the Copa Sudamericana loss in Mexico to Chivas, the team is 0-1-2 with just one goal scored in October. So United would probably like to win the regular season finale against Columbus, if only to scoop up a little momentum before the playoffs.
New York Red Bulls 2, Kansas City Wizards 1
Man of the match: Juan Pablo Angel did everything you'd ask of a striker at crunch time: he converted a penalty kick, punished a defensive mistake with a clinical, calm finish and worked extremely hard off the ball. Only a nifty save off a header by K.C. 'keeper Kevin Hartman prevented the Angel hat trick.
Bigger picture: Closing in on playoff time, but still with holes to plug in the back, Bruce Arena made wholesale changes in the back. Goalkeeper Ronald Waterreus went to the bench in favor of Jon Conway, while Hunter Freeman and Carlos Mendes once again claimed spots along the back line. Overall, Arena chose an attacking lineup, with Francis Doe, Jozy Altidore and Juan Pablo Angel all in the starting 11. Altidore played in the midfield, out on the left.
Pressure point: Two mistakes by Jose Burciaga Jr. led to RBNY goals. Burciaga might be the league's best left back going forward, but his defensive deficiencies have kept him from moving to the national team level. Saturday, in a tight game, with little room for mistakes, he was taken out at the break.
Columbus Crew 3, New England Revolution 2
Man of the match: Guillermo Barros Schelotto changed the match with his second-half introduction, proving yet again how valuable he is to the team. Columbus' offense suffers greatly when he's not around. Saturday a clever little pass led to Eddie Gaven's goal on a rebound. And Schelotto supplied the game-winner with a bold effort that beat Matt Reis to the near post.
Bigger picture: Gaven had a goal and an assist as he continued his spectacular late-season form. The young U.S. international won't get to carry it into the playoffs; Columbus was officially eliminated Saturday despite the win. Still, it's something to carry into the offseason as Columbus reconfigures its roster -- probably building around Gaven, Marcos Gonzales and, of course, Guillermo Barros Schelotto.
Pressure point: Similar to D.C. United, the Revs might be a little uninterested in the MLS home stretch. Steve Nicol's men have two losses in MLS matches since prevailing in the U.S. Open Cup finale. With one match remaining, at Toronto, Nicol probably would prefer not to wade into the postseason on three consecutive losses.
FC Dallas 0, Chivas USA 0Man of the match: Arturo Alvarez provided many of the highlights in a rather uneventful match between two teams without very far to go up or down in the standings. Alvarez nearly broke open the deadlock late, surprising Chivas goalkeeper Brad Guzan with a shot from an awkward position, which rattled off the post.
Bigger picture: When Chivas USA couldn't find the one goal in a game without lots of good chances on either side, Preki's men effectively lost any chance at the Supporters' Shield. Still, to go from where the team was two years ago (four wins total) to a Western Conference crown is big accomplishment for the three-year-old team.
Pressure point: Juan Toja hasn't been the same since an ankle injury suffered just after the All-Star Game. If Dallas is to make any noise after this (the final regular season) weekend, Toja will have to regain that previous form.
THIS AND THAT FROM ROUND 29
Technician's notebook:
• It seems that Houston has endless options for striking dead balls, an embarrassment of set-piece riches, if you will. The candidates include Richard Mulrooney, Stuart Holden, Dwayne De Rosario, Brad Davis and Brian Mullan, to name a few. On the other side Monday night, Real Salt Lake continually struggled to find somebody to supply a little pace and precision on free kicks and corner kicks.
• Nathan Sturgis made his return to the RSL starting lineup, working 90 minutes in Real Salt Lake's midfield. He is one of the options manager Jason Kreis has for the central spots next year, along with Carey Talley, Kyle Beckerman, Andy Williams, Atiba Harris and others.
• Brad Davis partnered with Richard Mulrooney in the middle of Houston's usual 4-4-2. Ricardo Clark remains suspended and Dwayne De Rosario missed the match for personal reasons. Stuart Holden was on the left, making his first start since August.
• How about Frank Yallop's substitutions Saturday against TFC? Gavin Glinton comes into the game in the 53rd minute. Three minutes later, he draws the important game-changing penalty kick and the equally important game-changing red card. Edson Buddle enters in the 77th minute and just one minute later he collects the game-winning goal.
• With so many options overruled by injury or international duty, Mo Johnston piecemealed a lineup that included defender Adam Braz in central midfield, newcomer Gabe Gala at left midfield and newcomer Tyler Hemming at right back. Marvell Wynne, brought in as a right back, was once again playing in the midfield.
• Who can take a penalty kick now for Kansas City? Carlos Marinelli has missed one this year. Eddie Johnson, who always looks quite uncomfortable in his PK preparation, has missed one. It will be interesting to see what happens if K.C. gets on this week against Dallas, a match the Wizards might have to win to get into the playoffs.
• Watch the really intelligent run Colorado's Jacob Peterson makes to help keep his team playoff dreams alive. As Conor Casey bears down on goal late at the Home Depot Center, Peterson makes an odd little near-post run that would ordinarily be ill-advised, as it brings a defender closer to Casey. In this case, he's marked closely but he knows that Omar Cummings behind him has a step or two on his marker. So Peterson creates the space and Cummings gets the tap-in at the far post that spoils Chivas USA's bid for the rare undefeated home season.
• If Frankie Hejduk, 33, wore down at all throughout the season, it wasn't very much. He was still getting forward regularly against the Revolution on Saturday, unaffected by the artificial turf that some players find so troubling, and also unfazed by New England's Khano Smith, whom other players find so troubling.
• See above. Insert the name "Ben Olsen." The United midfielder, 30, was all over the place against Chicago, scrappy as ever.
• FC Dallas defender Drew Moor, stationed on the right for the most of the year, played centrally on Thursday against Chivas USA, a spot where he has always seemed more comfortable. Bobby Rhine played on the right.
• Ray Burse played in goal for Dallas while Dario Sala continued to rest a slightly injured knee. Burse has made some impressive saves, but his tendency to punch instead of catch could eventually get him in trouble.
Weekend of close ones: Major League Soccer had seven matches from Thursday to Monday. The outcomes were two draws and five one-goal margins. A week without at least one two-goal win is fairly rare in MLS. It happened just twice before this year through 28 previous rounds of play.
Lamenting lost chances: All those matches that Sigi Schmid's Crew dominated this year, but couldn't put away due to imprecision and just plain ineffectiveness in front of goal must be absolutely haunting right now. If just one of Columbus' 11 losses would have been a win, the Crew would be well positioned to claim a spot on the final regular season weekend. As it is, the Crew haven't made the playoffs since 2004.
Broadcaster's line of the week:"You can't spell mullets without the 'M,' the 'L' and the 'S.' -- ESPN's Rob Stone, having fun with Juan Toja wig night last week at Pizza Hut Park.
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.
