Leg one of the MLS Cup Playoffs Conference Semifinals was not kind to home teams. After the first two days of action, all four semis look to be virtually locked up as three teams now have to go on the road to dig out of holes and one – much to the delight of supporters of the mighty PTFC – heads home with quite a mountain to climb.
As I watched a couple of the matches on Sunday, though, I was reminded why I love the first leg of aggregate goals series – they almost always yield some of the most entertaining attacking soccer you will see. In many situations in leg two, one team will go into a shell looking to protect their spoils from the previous match. Leg one, however, is usually no holds barred. Home teams play with a certain desperation knowing they need to come away with a lead to have a legitimate chance at the series. Away teams play with the hunger of knowing if they can force across one goal – even in a close loss or a draw – they can give themselves a big leg up heading home for the return match. The result is often some genuinely beautiful play.
Real Salt Lake – 3, Seattle Sounders FC – 0
In the most lopsided match of the weekend, Real Salt Lake dominated the Sounders on a chilly evening in Salt Lake City. The Sounders looked overmatched in every single phase of the game, with perhaps their best opportunity coming off of an errant Alvaro Fernandez cross that skidded off the bar.
RSL wasn’t lacking for opportunities, however, as Alvaro Saborio logged 40th and 52nd minute goals to put the Claret and Cobalt up two. The Costa Rican poached the first from teammate Chris Wingert, as he redirected Wingert’s goal-bound slot even more securely into the net from a dubiously onside position.
If his first was a bit cheap, his second more than made up for it with class. After Javier Morales sent in a dangerous cross from the right wing, Saborio reached across the on-looking Jeff Parke with his right foot and flicked the ball behind Parke’s back to the far post.
But for the efforts of Kasey Keller, this one could have been even bloodier. While Keller made several stops, none were more dramatic than that in the 47th minute. First, Keller deflected Robbie Russell’s hard shot from distance. The rebound fell to Morales, but Keller dove to parry his point-blank effort away before Andy Williams’ final effort sailed over the bar.
Keller couldn’t single-handedly keep Seattle in this one, however, as Ned Grabavoy’s 88th minute shot deflected off of Brad Evans, past Keller and into the net.
The lopsided loss likely puts a nail in the coffin of Seattle’s season and Kasey Keller’s league cup-less career. The Xboxers now head back to the Clink needing a miracle to avoid the label of postseason choke artists.
Red Bull New York – 0, Los Angeles Galaxy – 1
A 15th minute goal from Mike Magee was all the L.A. Galaxy needed to top the Jersey-based Red Bulls. After David Beckham sent a long chip forward, the Red Bull defense relaxed, confident that Robbie Keane would be flagged for offside. Keane, however, wasn’t involved in the play, as Magee – the midfielder and emergency goalkeeper – slotted the ball far post past the observant Frank Rost.
Thereafter, with an away goal and confidence of their own superiority in hand, the Galaxy were happy to sit back and weather whatever the identity-less Red Bulls threw their way. USL Timbers alumnus Josh Saunders came up with a number of class saves, most notably a 49th minute denial of Joel Lindpere’s goal-bound shot. Ultimately that was enough to secure Galaxy the 1-0 victory, taking a huge advantage back to L.A.
The fireworks weren’t over, though, as just after the final whistle renowned whiner Rafa Marquez showed his boyish immaturity again by throwing the ball at Landon Donovan. Marquez would throw a punch in the direction of Adam Cristman, who confronted Marquez before Stephen Keel would catch an apparently errant Juninho elbow in the mouth. Neither Juninho nor Marquez will appear in the second leg as a result of red cards issued. With luck, that toss and punch will mark the end of Rafa Marquez’s embarrassing MLS career.
Philadelphia Union – 1, Houston Dynamo – 2
The Houston Dynamo are perhaps the league’s hottest team, and by far the East’s best hope to knock off the West’s juggernauts. They showed it in Portland earlier this month, and they showed it again Saturday afternoon in Phily.
In the 5th minute Andre Hainault found the end of a Brad Davis set piece and nodded it past Faryd Mondragon for the opener. Characteristic of a first half that was among the most entertaining soccer you will see, though, the Union would pull level just two minutes later when Sebastien Le Toux one-timed a feed over the top from Michael Farfan past Tally Hall.
Houston wasn’t done, however, as Calen Carr got on the end of a searching ball with a beautiful run and knocked it past a stranded Mondragon. With two road goals and a lead in hand, Houston was happy to play out the final hour. With eight orange shirts often behind the ball, the Union struggled to create anything that would wash the bitter taste out of the mouths of those in the River End.
Colorado Rapids – 0, Sporting KC – 2
Baldomero Toledo was the referee of this match, so you know we’re going to talk about the officiating. More on that in a second.
Whereas the other matches in the first leg provided early excitement, the Bulldog Supporters were treated to a dud of a first half. While Colorado had the better of the play early on, they couldn’t create anything of note.
In the 49th minute, however, Teal Bunbury leaked out of the midfield, took a Julio Cesar pass and slotted it past Matt Pickens for the opener.
Enter Toledo. After Tyrone Marshall lost track of Bunbury, the youngster collected a pass in the box and appeared to swerve into the path of the trailing Marshall and fall to the ground. Toledo quickly pointed at the spot and showed Marshall a straight red card. Bunbury rolled the penalty past Pickens for the two-goal advantage that Sporting would never concede.
The penalty and red card are both points of debate. From my view, Bunbury made the most of contact that he largely created by playing the ball into Marshall’s path. That said, Marshall is certainly at fault for putting himself in that position with some straight up awful defending. The red card, then, comes automatically by rule as Toldeo adjudged Marshall to have committed a foul that stopped a clear goal-scoring opportunity. I don’t like the referee’s judgment or the rule, but they combined to form a mountain for the ‘Pids to climb.