MLS Weekend: Taking Statements

WASHINGTON, DC (Apr 13, 2008) USSoccerPlayers -- Real Salt Lake wanted to talk about statements after beating DC United's bench 4-0, but it was Columbus and Colorado making the League take notice.  Columbus didn't play out the draw after Chivas USA got two goals back to equalize late, and Colorado faced a barrage from New England and still won the game. 

San Jose 0 - Chicago 1

Playing at a baseball stadium in Oakland, the Chicago Fire took the debut big game on San Jose's calendar, with Chad Barrett hitting the winner in the 19th minute.  "Obviously the point of soccer is winning, but I am very pleased and proud of the way the guys played today," said San Jose coach Frank Yallop.  "I think that for us to come out and play that well on both sides of the ball, we should have gotten something out of the game."  What they got was a standout performance from Fire keeper Jon Busch blocking eight of their shots. 

Well, not according to Busch: "1-0 on the road, get three points, that’s the only thing that really matters. As for the shutout, it’s everybody’s.  The guys in front of me today were absolutely unbelievable. When Daniel (Woolard) came in, guys were making plays, saving goals and this shutout had nothing to do with me, it had to do with the boys in front of me because they were fantastic today for us.”

Columbus Crew 4 - Chivas USA 3

Columbus goes up 1-0 in the 26th minute when Cuillermo Schelotto converts a penalty, and Chivas responds in the 33rd from Sacha Kljestan.  That holds for under two minutes, with Alejandro Moreno getting service from Schelotto for the lead in the 35th.  Things settle, only for Chivas USA to come back with a Jesse Marsch goal in the 72nd and an equalizer from Paulo Nagamura in the 78th.  Columbus answers again, with Robbie Rogers getting the winner in the 82nd. 

That didn't sit well with Chivas USA keeper Brad Guzan:  "Obviously, the result didn't go our way. I put the blame on my shoulders. I let the team down tonight. I couldn't come up with a save when we needed it. I let the guys down, but at the same time, I think we still need to get better as a whole. We were given chances to tie the game, to win the game, and when we needed a save, I couldn't make it and I let the guys down, but we put it behind us, and we move forward and we learn from it and we get better."

New England 0 - Colorado 1

All of a sudden keeping Fernando Clavijo in charge of the Rapids looks a lot better than it did at the end of last season.  Colorado can score consistently against a variety of teams in an early going where almost everybody has crashed out to multiple goals.  Nick LaBrocca hit the winner in the 68th minute, one of only two Colorado shots on goal.  Bouna Coundoul stopped nine to get the shutout. 

Guess what Revs coach Steve Nicol wanted to focus on:  "We still didn’t deserve to lose the game; the only way they were going to win the game was on a set piece, albeit a free kick that shouldn’t have been a free kick. We had some half chances and could’ve scored, but we certainly didn’t deserve to lose the game." 

Kansas City 0 - Houston 0

A fun night out at the old ballpark, with both teams coming close but neither doing enough to really make a claim.  Tony Caig gets a shared shutout in his second start for Houston, after his midweek nightmare in Costa Rica.    Both teams get the expected post-game quotes, so we'll just move right along.

Real Salt Lake 4 - DC United 0

For whatever reason, DC United opted for the working example of why MLS needs to put money into squad depth.  Starting their backup keeper and working several new names into the starting eleven, United were hit early and often.  Kyle Beckerman opened in the 12th minute, with Dema Kovalenko grabbing his second assist five minutes later by setting up Fabian Espinolda.  Kyle Beckerman and Robbie Findley also scored for RSL. 

"We've been trying to send the message all season that this is a new Real Salt Lake," said Beckerman.  "So when it didn't happen the first two games we were a bit frustrated. We just said let's keep doing what we're doing, work hard in practice and eventually it will come for us."

Dallas 2 - New York 0

A fairly easy early pick for best team in the League got shown up at Pizza Hut Park, with the Red Bull offense missing Juan Pablo Angel but still managing to dominate shots.  Unfortunately for New York, their shots versus shots on goal totals ran 14 and 2.  Getting on the other end of the surprise early goal didn't help, with Dallas scoring in the 1st minute from Arturo Alvarez and getting a second from Kenny Cooper in the 66th.

LA 2 - Toronto 3

Jeff Cunningham came off the bench and got the late winner, as Toronto FC made things even worse for the LA Galaxy.  The second year club got their first win in 2008 the same week they once again shuffled the roster.  Amado Guevera got the start and the assist on Danny Dichio, but it was Cunningham who proved the difference, adding a third goal to the work already done by Dichio and Jarrod Smith.  Landon Donovan had both the Galaxy's goals, the second from the penalty spot.