It's Sunday morning, and there's still one game left on the schedule, but it seems to be that we just had the best week yet in Major League Soccer's 2009 season.
Intriguing matches abounded, be it a top of the table clash in LA, another round of the I-95 rivalry in Foxborough, the return of a superstar to his former stomping grounds in Houston, or a Cup winning coach welcoming in the club he led to glory in Seattle.
Amazingly enough the rest of the slate, despite lacking the story lines, managed to entertain as well.
In LA on Thursday, Chicago and Chivas USA did battle in an engaging back-and-forth game that resulted in a Chicago victory thanks to a controversial penalty call. In fact, three penalties were called in that match, and while that's not the preferred method for separating the two best teams in MLS, it certainly made for an entertaining night.
Saturday's early games were barn-burners both. The Rapids, aka The Conor Casey Show, went into New Jersey and won a five goal affair full of action, including another penalty. The Red Bulls had no answers for Colorado's attack, and a brace from Casey led the Rapids to victory.
In New England, two bitter rivals did battle at Gillette Stadium. Fred opened the scoring for DC, finally putting one home after United had been denied by the crossbar on several occasions. Shalrie Joseph equalized for the Revolution, climbing the ladder for fantastic headed goal. The climax though, came when Taylor Twellman flopped in the box, earning the second controversial penalty of the week. Ralston made no mistake with the opportunity, and New England earned a much-needed three points.
The worst game of the weekend (to date, FC Dallas has yet to play Chicago as I write this) wasn't without it's appeal. Former league MVP Dwyane DeRosario returned to Houston for the first time after being traded to his home town side in the off-season. The Dynamo left the welcome mat in storage, however, thumping the Reds by a scoreline of 3-0. Houston's goals all came within a five minute span, and while the rest of the match bored thanks to the large differential, the Dynamo did more than just hold serve at home; they also put the rest of the league on notice that they're still very good.
In Seattle, the story line revolved around Sigi Schmid coaching against the club that he led to a league title last year. Columbus went into Qwest desperately needing three points after an abysmal start to their season, and while a spirited effort and a world class goal by Alejandro Moreno nearly won them the game, Nate Jacqua and the Sounders had other ideas. 29,000+ exulted when Freddie Ljundberg earned a first half penalty, but the Swede pushed the shot wide. The equalizer finally came in the fifty-eighth minute, when Nate Jacqua coolly finished a Ljundberg chip. Though the game ended in a anti-climatic 1-1 draw, it was yet another engaging match in a wonderful atmosphere for MLS Week 11.
On paper, the late games looked to be the worst of the day; but in both LA and San Jose, fabulous goals and attacking play made for edge-of-your-seat viewing. The Galaxy and Wizards played back and forth for 80 minutes plus, with the LA side hitting the frame of goal on several occasions. It was Kansas City who broke through first, however, thanks to a Davy Arnaud redirection off of a powerful headed by Roger Espinoza. The Galaxy pushed hard for the equalizer, and it was the introduction of Edson Buddle that gave them the spark they needed. Landon Donovan found Buddle on a diagonal run to the left side of the box, and the striker did well to fire it past Wizards keeper Kevin Hartman. Los Angeles continued their drawing ways, but the two teams put on another show worthy of the Week 11 trend.
Meanwhile, in San Jose, Real Salt Lake and San Jose ended their match with the home side taking three needed points. Newcomer Cornell Glen started the scoring for the Earthquakes in the fifty-second minute, on a nicely placed header off of a cross by fellow newcomer Michael Zaher. Arturo Alvarez added to the lead with a Goal of the Week candidate, a left footed rocket that screamed past RSL keeper Nick Rimando. While the visitors pulled one back thanks to the work of sub Robbie Findley, it wasn't enough to bring them back.
A hell of a week, to say the least. If you haven't done so, I suggest you head over to MLSnet.com and watch the highlights for each and every game; Week 11 was a fantastic showcase of how good MLS can be, poor officiating (I'm looking at you, Hilario Grajeda) or not.
The play on the field was fantastic, and the league even did well in the stands across the board (okay, except for New York). A brief look at attendance, just from Saturday's matches:
New York v. Colorado: 12,039
New England v. DC United: 15,271
Houston v. Toronto FC: 16,037
Seattle v. Columbus: 29,126
LA Galaxy v. Kansas City: 19,673
San Jose v. Real Salt Lake: 10,153
What was your match of the weekend to this point? Do you think the league is turning th corner on attendance, even just a little bit?
