Here are the top 15 stories everyone's talking about this morning:
1. LEAVING IT LATE
It was a great night for Jordan Allen on Sunday, as Real Salt Lake’s Homegrown forward stepped up to score an 89th-minute winner and hand his side a 2-1 win over Toronto FC (HIGHLIGHTS). The result was particularly frustrating for the visitors, considering they’d managed to score an equalizer just moments beforehand. RSL's Devon Sandoval also had a great night, but for a completely different reason.
2. ROWE RUNS RAMPANT
Kelyn Rowe took care of the New England Revolution’s early-season woes, scoring the club’s first two goals of the season to guide them to a 2-1 win over the San Jose Earthquakes (HIGHLIGHTS). The Revolution hope that there will be plenty more to come now they’ve cleared that first hurdle. But despite a sloppy start, the Quakes were pleased with their second-half efforts.
3. RED BULLS REWARDED
Gregg Berhalter
condemned his own Columbus Crew SC side while praising the opposition
following Saturday's 2-1 loss to the New York Red Bulls (
HIGHLIGHTS
), in which
the visitors also scored their 1,000th MLS goal
. For the Red Bulls,
it was all just reward for their high-pressure tactics
.
4. KAKÁ TURNS IT ON
Having taken a two-goal lead over Orlando City, the Montreal Impact were looking good value for their first win of the MLS season on Saturday afternoon. But instead, manager Frank Klopas was left to rue what he described as two soft goals, conceded within two minutes of the Impact’s second, as Kaká showed exactly why he’s a former Ballon d’Or winner by guiding the Lions back to a 2-2 draw (HIGHLIGHTS).
5. TRUST IN EARNSHAW
Robert Earnshaw only signed with the Vancouver Whitecaps on Wednesday, but Carl Robinson’s faith in his fellow Welshman was rewarded when the late-game substitute scored a stoppage-time winner, the Caps' second in as many games, to lead them to a 2-1 win over the Portland Timbers (HIGHLIGHTS). Yet with the number of chances the Timbers created, Caleb Porter can’t understand how his side didn’t win.
6. FIRE FINALLY WIN
A solitary goal was enough to give the Chicago Fire a 1-0 victory over the Philadelphia Union (HIGHLIGHTS) and ensure their first win of 2015. With Shaun Maloney away scoring penalty kicks for Scotland, Harry Shipp was left to run the show, and run it he did. But from the Union’s perspective, Jim Curtin wasn’t interested in excuses.
7. STRAIGHT FROM THE TRAINING GROUND
With David Villa a late scratch from the team sheet and the club’s other DP, Frank Lampard, watching from the stands, New York City FC fell to their first MLS defeat on Saturday, losing 1-0 to Sporting Kansas City (HIGHLIGHTS). NYCFC felt a draw would have been a fair result, but they fell victim to SKC’s perfectly practiced long throw-in.
8. PONTIUS ON POINT
Chris Pontius ended his own mini-scoring slump on Saturday, scoring a stoppage-time winner to consign the defending champion LA Galaxy to a 1-0 defeat (HIGHLIGHTS) and their first loss against D.C. United in six years. Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena was unsurprisingly displeased, stating, “losing that game was ridiculous.”
9. STILL UNDEFEATED
Although Kellyn Acosta knows his challenge was a bit rough, the midfielder didn’t expect to get thrown out of Saturday’s game. Yet despite his ejection, FC Dallas were able to remain undefeated this season, as the Seattle Sounders failed to make their man advantage count in a 0-0 draw (HIGHLIGHTS).
- RECORD-BREAKING RAPIDS
The Colorado Rapids set a new mark following their latest 0-0 draw with the Houston Dynamo (HIGHLIGHTS). Problem is, they’re not the kind of records the Rapids want. However, while the Dynamo had scoring problems of their own on Saturday, head coach Owen Coyle chose to accentuate the positives.
11. A GOOD FIRST IMPRESSION
The US Under-23 national team won the first competitive game of their 2016 Olympic preparations, beating Bosnia-Herzegovina 5-2 on Friday. Just like the senior team, Andi Herzog’s squad will take on Mexico in April as they continue preparations for CONCACAF Olympic qualifying. But next up for the U-23s is Denmark on Tuesday and they’ll have to face the European side without Jordan Morris, who’s been called to the senior side to replace Aron Johannsson.
12. CONFIDENT CANADA
Canada earned their first win of 2015 and just their second since 2012 following a 1-0 victory over Guatemala on Friday. The Canadian team now face Puerto Rico today (7:30 pm ET) but go into that game now knowing that they’ll face Dominica in their first round of World Cup qualifying.
13. OTHER INTERNATIONAL ACTION
While his domestic form may be suffering due to a lack of playing time, Javier Hernandez was able to shake off the rust and show he’s certainly not short on confidence, scoring the only goal as Mexico beat Paraguay 1-0 in front of 88,409 at the Los Angeles Coliseum on Saturday. Meanwhile, two MLS stars led Jamaica to a 2-1 victory over Venezuela.
14. BACK IN THE USL
While six teams played the weekend before, the rest of the USL got underway this weekend, with Timbers 2 beating the Real Monarchs, Sounders 2 easily overcoming Whitecaps 2, Sacramento Republic edging out LA Galaxy II, Toronto FC II taking down FC Montreal and New York Red Bulls II held to a 0-0 draw by the Rochester Rhinos.
- A GREAT FINNISH
Freddy Adu has a new club. Yet, despite heavy talk of “interest” from two Swedish sides, the 25-year-old has instead landed in nearby Finland, signing with Kuopion Palloseura.
MLSsoccer.com Musts
Armchair Analyst: Mistaken identities, signs of life and more from Week 4
Plays of the Night: Leave it to Kaká to conjure some magic
Generation adidas Cup: Sporting KC, Dallas buck international trend
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