MLS Weekend: Chivas USA Makes The Points

WASHINGTON, DC (May 18, 2008) USSoccerPlayers -- DC United once again get to be part of the main story for all the wrong reasons, dropping a 1-0 lead to end up losing against a club that has never - NEVER - come back to win an MLS game.

DC United 1 - Chivas USA 3

It would be hard t overplay the significance of Chivas USA's win on the national Saturday night game, with everyone stressing squad depletion and handing Preki's squad the easy excuse.  Jesse Marsch too sole possession of the 10th spot in the most games played list in defense, and DC midfielder Marcelo Gallardo took advantage to beat him for the game's opening gaol in the 30th minute.

"I wasn't sure who was going to play in the back, so I thought he did a solid job in the first half," Preki said. "Obviously he has never played there in the past, and the way we were playing in the first half I thought, 'OK, I'm going to put him back in his normal spot." But I thought Jesse was OK.  Obviously he got himself in a good spot to score the first goal. He was pretty solid."

Marsch got that one back by himself in the 73rd, with Sacha Kljestan doubling that three minutes later, and Jorge Flores getting the third in the 82nd. 

"As much as we can talk about the stat of us never coming (from behind to win), this year we've come back from three deficits and two of them we gave away," Marsch said.  "But I feel like we're getting over the hump with that kind of stuff. I feel like we've got some fight in us."

As for DC, if the game plan was to take advantage of a depleted squad with players out of position in a new tactical system, it was only good for one goal when they ended up needing four.

"The first half I thought we had a game plan and we stuck to it," DC coach Tommy Soehn said.  "We were hard to play against, we got our goal. In the second half they came out with a bit more intensity and I don't think we handled it well."

Los Angeles 5 - Dallas 1

Sunday's game gave us the other big statement, with Los Angeles taking second-place and beating Dallas without Landon Donovan or David Beckham scoring.  Instead, it was Edson Buddle powering the Galaxy offense with three goals to add to Chris Klein's opener and a Dallas own-goal.  Dominic Orduro scored for FC.

"In the first half, especially, we played some really good football," said Galaxy midfielder David Beckham.  "We kept the ball, and we played some really good football."

Not surprisingly, the mood was a little different for the Frisco faithful.  "It was an embarrassing performance," said Dallas coach Steve Morrow. "We're all ashamed of ourselves in the locker room and, ultimately, I'll take responsibility for that as a coach. But, obviously, we're going through a rough time at the moment."

Kansas City 1 - New York 1

Danleigh Borman scored for the second week in a row with New York a goal and a man down in the 81st minute.  One would think this would have been enough in a game they had been trailing since Jimmy Conrad's opener in the 20th minute. 

"This is five games unbeaten and the guys get more confidence every game and I think for me personally, I will be very frustrated because I think we probably deserve a little bit more," Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio said. "If I am realistic, they only created chances from set plays and that's something that we have to work on and keep improving. As far as open play, I think it was another solid performance from our back four, back five. So, I am glad for the point for the guys."

We were also treated to another soon-to-be patented Borman goal celebration, but the League's apparent antipathy towards YouTube denies us the privilege of video.  Let's just say it looks a little elaborate.  Earlier in the week, Borman himself talked about it's debut against LA, saying: "They gave me a hard time.  I heard it was the worst celebration ever."

San Jose 0 - New England 2

Though James Riley's own goal in the 23rd minute only doubled a New England's lead from Kheli Dube's 6th minute opener, it says all you need to know about San Jose.  For a team structured around defense, they're not doing the job.

"It wasn't a good performance," said Earthquakes coach Frank Yallop. "At least we didn't roll over and die at the end. That was important. I said to everyone at halftime that it's about character. We're not going to win every game."

San Jose has only one once and drawn once this season, with even the woeful Western Conference now pulling away from them at the bottom of the standings.

Columbus 0 - Toronto 0

Crew keeper Will Hesmer stopped the most shots on Saturday, with Toronto dominating the offense in a game that ended up being more about Columbus' hesitation in the attack.  That didn't seem to be a concern for Columbus coach Sigi Schmid.

"A little bit was because they played well," he said.  "It was important for us to play to zero in the back and see if we could maybe grab a goal on the road and I thought we came close a couple of times."

Toronto coach John Carver was in agreement that there was more to it than just getting a draw against the best team in the League: "You know they've come here with a game plan, made it very difficult for us, but we still had opportunities and you've got to put the ball in the back of the net, but the pleasing thing is they're (players) all sitting in there very, very disappointed."

Houston 2 - Chicago 1

The Dynamo finally show why they're the defending champions, beating Chicago in a game they should've probably drawn at best and one they led from the 17th minute when Dwayne De Rosorio scored the opener.  Calen Carr responded eleven minutes later for Chicago with a service from Cuauhtemoc Blanco, but a club that showed so well in the second half against DC stalled. 

Bobby Boswell took advantage in the 82nd minute, staying onside in the view of the officials and hitting the winner.  Houston kept up the defense to hold on with extended injury time.  Chicago looked like the poorer team, something that's rarely said. 

"It just came together," said Houston midfielder Ricardo Clark.  "I thought we played pretty well. I think the rain helped us out, it made the ball move a little quicker. You know we're trying to come here twice to win instead of sitting back. I think we showed that by keep on attacking. Obviously they threw a lot of guys forward there at the end. I think we withstood a very good, very scary first two and a half minutes from them."