Week 11 was a wild one across MLS. More happened than we have room for in one sitting, but here's a few highlights not to be missed.
Midweek mania
Depending on your perspective, weeknight games can be a drag, or a blessing. But the realities of the calendar make them inevitable, and a key challenge for MLS teams to negotiate through the heart of the season, which we are now entering.
This past Wednesday offered up a busy slate of five games. LAFCcruised past a shorthanded Minnesota United side, Columbus and Chicago earned narrow home victories and the Seattle Soundersknocked off Toronto FC at BMO Field in a rematch of the past two MLS Cup finals. Yet the evening’s biggest headline was created at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where Sporting Kansas Cityupset red-hot league leadersAtlanta United in their own house – aided, it must be said, by a costly red card to Brad Guzan that forced rookie goalkeeper Paul Christensen into a baptism by fire for his MLS debut:
Last Friday night…
We’ve witnessed some odd and/or absorbing matches on Friday nights this season, and in Week 11 it was Vancouver and Houston who served up some weekend-opening strangeness. Not only did their 2-2 draw feature frenetic, end-to-end play and dramatic injury-time goals from both teams, it also delivered what we might once have crowned the “not-goal of the week” from Brek Shea, who contrived to squander a clear look at an empty net from four yards out or so.
Going streaking...
Who’s hot in MLS? Who’s not? As mentioned above, Week 11 saw Atlanta’s league-best eight-game unbeaten run ended at home by Kansas City at midweek – and then on Sunday it was Atlanta’s turn to do the same to Orlando City, putting the sword to the Lions’ six-game winning streak with a well-earned 2-1 win in the Sunshine State.
The Portland Timbers have won four straight, three of them marked by clean sheets, and the New York Red Bulls have reeled off three consecutive victories. With a sterling week of two shutout home wins and a road draw in eight days, Columbus Crew SC now own a five-game unbeaten string, a span in which they’ve conceded just three goals (and none in the last 315 minutes of play). And bolstered by the opening of their Banc of California Stadium home, LAFC are 4-0-2 in their last six.
...and doing the opposite
Meanwhile, the leaky LA Galaxy are on a four-game losing skid after their latest barnburner loss, a 3-2 setback at FC Dallas. With nine goals allowed during that slump, it would appear that changes of some sort are needed for the five-time MLS Cup champs.
The same can be said at the opposite end of the pitch for the Colorado Rapids, who have now lost four straight, scoring just twice during that time. At least the San Jose Earthquakes stopped their run of rot, dropping Minnesota 3-1 on Saturday to earn their first win since opening day and turn the page on an 0-5-2 stretch.
Superman and Wondo
We’re going to spend a bit of extra time on that Loons-Quakes match, partly because it featured another step in Chris Wondolowski’s pursuit of history – the San Jose legend bagged one of his team’s two penalty kicks to push his career regular-season scoring total to 136 goals, leaving him just nine back of all-time leader Landon Donovan. But the game’s real highlight was this gloriously clinical – and resourceful – strike from Minnesota’s Christian “Superman” Ramirez, who exploited a slack Shea Salinas back pass with breathtaking speed of thought and execution:
TFC in trouble
It was easy to give Toronto FC a pass as they sleepwalked through the early stages of their league schedule. The Reds were locked in on their pursuit of the Concacaf Champions League title and started what were effectively reserve teams in more than one MLS match. And even after their Champions League dreams ended in heartbreak, some lenience was due given the traditional “CCL hangover” and the injury crisis that accompanied it. It’s now been nearly three weeks since that painful night in Guadalajara, however, and TFC continue to drop points. In two losses this week, they looked like a flawed shadow of themselves. When, and how, will they find their best selves again?
Gyasi does it
But let’s end this week’s edition on a high note, by saluting Gyasi Zardes, Gregg Berhalter and Crew SC. The squad is rolling, scooping up results in a variety of ways, and with three goals in his past two games, Zardes – now the MLS Golden Boot co-leader, alongside Josef Martinez, with eight goals – is the latest of Berhalter’s successful restoration projects. I enjoyed writing about Zardes’ new life in Ohio earlier this year and it’s fun to watch him thrive in a system that makes the most of his talents and minimizes his limitations. Mike Grella’s dummy made this one the pick of the litter (if you agree, go vote for it as Goal of the Week):
