I promised you MLS coverage, and here it is.
Still, Chivas USA and New York kicked off shortly after the start of things in Spain, which means a bit of split focus; doing my best to watch both, but you know how these things go.
5 PM UPDATE
Chivas USA-New York
Looks like everyone in LA stayed home to watch Real Madrid and Barecelona. Unfortunate timing, and it is interesting the the only West Coast game of the day actually goes off first.
Santos gets the start for Chivas. Really? That miss last week would seem enough to bench him to me.
No Galindo for Chivas either, which is even more puzzling unless he's picked up an injury during the week. Galindo might be the only offense Chivas have at the moment.
New York came out stronger in the first few minutes, but Chivas picked things up shortly thereafter. Most of the Goats attack came from long balls, and Jonathan Bornstein managed to create a chance inside of 10 minutes that Chijindu put over the bar.
For a team with speed up the flanks, New York played through the middle entirely too much in the early stages. If Juan Pablo Angel was frustrated, I don't blame him.
Telefutura does a terrible job with their replays. I missed a blatant dive from Sacha in the box; that was never going to a penalty, and Kljestan would have been better off trying to continue the play. He might have been able to score had he stayed upright.
New York had a chance to score in the 18th, but couldn't get the ball from a scramble off a corner. Zach Thornton got very lucky.
Johnny Bornstein worked his butt off in that first half, and troubled New York's defense more than any Chivas player. That's fine, but they'll need better contributions from their forward players. Especially Kljestan.
Chivas had a great chance in the 30th, when a nice breakout had Chijindu and Santos all alone behind New York's defense. Offside flag went up, unfortunately. Looked like it was the right call.
Kandji put a well-struck header just over the bar from 15 yards or so out shortly thereafter, New York's best chance since the corner scramble early in the match.
To this point, neither side looked like they were going to create a solid chance, and any goal would come from a defensive mistake or a great individual play.
Ante Jazic was forced to limp off in the 39th minute, stealing any momentum the game had. During the stoppage, we got a nice shot of the Union Ultras tifo. Very nice.
Jazic couldn't continue, and Jesus Padilla entered the match. New York proceeded to streak up the left side through Dane Richards, but the little Jamaican could only weakly tap the ball back to Chivas on an attempted cross.
For some reason, Bornstein decided a 35 yarder was worth a try at the very end of the half, and he didn't miss by much. Chijindu broke in behind just after and should have scored, but missed wide of the far post. Terrible missed chance.
Halftime. Chivas should be leading, but can't finish. New York needs a new idea, and Dane Richards was terrible.
Chivas USA 0 - New York 0
One half of one game down. Back at 6.
6 PM UPDATE
Back at it, still with only Chivas-New York to worry about. Oh, and trying to keep an eye on some game in Spain.
Chivas finally got their goal just after half, and wow, what a way to score. Jesus Padilla got a deflection off a long shot, the ball beat Coundoul and came off the post, but the New York keeper put it in himself trying to recover. Ay yi yi.
New York brought on the newly signed Salou Ibrahim in the 54th, pulling Seth Stammler. Chasing a goal, they needed another offensive option; Juan Pablo Angel was ineffective, and Mac Kandji had done little.
Apparently Galindo wasn't hurt, because he comes in for Maicon Santos in the 58th minute. I had completely forgotten Santos was still in the match at this point.
Sacha Kljestan refuses to take a shot with his left when he had time and a angle. Instead, an ineffectual pass into the middle where Galindo was marked by two men was the choice he made. Kljestan hasn't been terrible overall, but that was a terrible moment.
Chijindu with a wicked blast in the 65th. It would be been awesome if it had gone in. Alas, New York remained in the game despite being pretty bad; Richards was still stinking it up on the right, and nothing New York did showed any threat.
A massive wave of disinterest came over humble blogger at this point, and I nearly turned the game off.
Kljestand's dancing with the ball really started to get to me as well. In the box with an angle, space, and on his right foot, he instead choose to cut back. The ball was knocked out for a corner, but the sequence summed up the ineffectual nature of Chivas in the final third.
New York got their best chance of the second half just on the strike of 74 minutes, but Salou Ibrahim couldn't settle the ball enough to get off a good shot. Opportunity wasted, after New York did well keep pressure with a deep cross.
Lahoud entered the match in the 77th after Maykel Galindo came up lame. Can Galindo ever stay healthy for longer than a few games at a time?
A nice stretch of possession by New York yielded nothing, with the best chance coming from a long Jeremy Hall shot that went high and wide. Angel continued to get lost in the Chivas defense, and the Red Bulls found no consistent way to get him the ball. Stretching things wide helped, particularly up the left side with Roy Miller overlapping and hitting a few driven crosses, but those efforts ultimately came up empty.
Backe went for broke in the 83rd, giving rookie Connor Chinn his
With a New York goal seeming unlikely, Dane Richards decided his energy was better served to smack Chijindu across the face while challenging for the ball.
Telefutura named Chijindu man of the match in the 87th. I guess that's fair, but he certainly should have scored. Points off for being dangerous but not putting the ball in the net when you had a chance, Chukwundi.
Jesus Padilla sealed the deal in the 89th by beating Jeremy Hall to a long ball coming out of the back. Ugly stuff from New York, but calmly done by Padilla.
For a side that played so organized the first two weeks, the New York performance today was extremely disappointing. Chivas was able to find gaps in the Red Bull defense on several occasions, and obviously Coundoul's gaff didn't help; but offensively, New York had literally nothing, and was punished for not taking advantage of the goalmouth scramble in the first half.
Final: Chivas USA 2, New York 0
One game down, Philly-United next. Back at 7 with a halftime report for that game.
7 PM UPDATE
Joe Biden slowed things down dramatically in Philly, and it annoyed me. That's nothing against Biden, but it looked like the crowd had trouble getting into the stadium because of the Veep's security detail. Way to help out with the atmosphere, Joe.
It was cool to see Walter Bahr there though.
A much different look for the Union from their Seattle mess, with experienced players all over the field.
The Union came out all sorts of fired up. Even if he frustrated while in DC, Fred clearly makes a difference for Philly. How much of this early push was just adrenaline and how much was improvement over Week 1, was tough to tell.
The Union scored their first ever goal in the 4th minute almost entirely thanks to Roger Torres. Le Toux put the goal in off his head from a Torres cross, and Philadelphia took full advantage of the energy in the building.
Pena was forced to step off the field in the 15th minute, bad news for a United defense that looked supremely shaky. Not to mention over-matched. Against an expansion team.
Even as DC took more control of things towards the middle of the first half, things weren't good. Rodney Wallace still has trouble crossing, and Dejan Jakovic was injured in a collision with teammate Julius James.
It's probably FSC audio, which has never been very good, but the crowd did not come through on TV at all. We should probably just blame Joe Biden.
Wallace picks up the first card of the match with an tackle on Fred that might have been pretty legal in the 35th.
United was just a touch better at this point than in the first stages of the match, but the Union isn't laying back; a goal by either side before the half would have had major implications for the second stanza.
And the Union get it done. A magnificent cross-field ball from Alejandro Moreno put Sebastian LeToux in clear on Troy Perkins, and the Frenchman finishes. United's defense was stretched, and Moreno found the gap with a perfect ball from the halfway line. There were no pictures to confirm it, but the guess here is that the sweat on Curt Onalfo's brow was beginning to flow heavily.
Desperately poor first half from DC United, but give the Union credit for pushing and getting two deserved goals.
Halftime: Union 2, United 0
Back at 8, which means my first update for two matches - New England and Toronto kick off at 7:30.
8 PM UPDATE
Union - United
Jaime Moreno replaced Christian Castillo to start the second half. That's fine, and gives United more quality on the ball, but they needed to win the midfield battle for it to make a difference. Pontius on the wing would presumably provide more direct play.
LeToux got through on Perkins AGAIN in the 53rd, but DC keeper managed to cut down the angle quickly and make the save. That would have been the dagger, and given the Union hero a hat trick.
In the 60th, Rodney Wallace surges forward and earns a free kick just outside the box when Arrieta takes him down. Good play from the fullback, and a sign that United still had a way back. Unfortunately, Pontius deposited the ball into the stands on the free kick.
Quaranta pulled one back in the 63nd, firing good shot from a run to the top of the box, and got a little help from a deflection to beat Seitz.
Allsopp almost leveled directly after the Quaranta goal, glancing a nearpost header at Seitz from a corner. United appeared intent on getting something out of the match at this point, good for both the team and head coach Curt Onalfo.
United equalized without warning when Jaime Moreno took the ball off of Union keeper Chris Seitz; Seitz was fooled by Moreno's feint when going to punt the ball. A completely undeserved goal, but smart stuff by the all time league leader in goals.
DC went down to ten men in the 79th minute when Dejan Jakovic pulled down Alejandro Moreno just outside of the 18 yard box.
LeToux completed his hat trick on the resulting free kick, driving a shot low and hard to Perkins right. No chance for Perkins, and the Union home debut celebration looked to be back on.
Frustration clearly showed for United when Adam Cristman, who came on for Allsopp, picked up a late yellow card for dissent/bumping Terry Vaughn.
Attedance for Philly's home opener, despite the problems getting in, was 34k+. Very nice.
Union close it out, winning their first ever home match and making a great first impression on the local. Le Toux is man of the match for me thanks to the hat trick.
United gave the Union lanes to make passes all night, and the loss of Pena in central defense clearly hurt DC. I'm not sure what Peter Nowak did over the past two weeks, but this was a much different Union team than we saw in Seattle. Much more disciplined, and it's clear that the intervening time has allowed Roger Torres to settle in. The kid is the real deal, and can create with his feet in ways that few players in MLS can.
United has to be somewhat happy with their comeback despite their struggles through most of the match. It took two pieces of individual effort to get their goals, but they did fight hard as a team in the second half.
It just wasn't enough.
Final: Union 3, United 2
Revolution - Toronto FC
Julian de Guzman was scratched for TFC, bad news considering Shalire Joseph was back for New England.
Joseph made his presence felt early, heading down a cross that Kheli Dube should have subsequently buried. New England really is a different team with Joseph in the middle.
Toronto's newest player, whose name I can neither spell nor pronounce, picked up a yellow in the 11th minute. With TFC's troubles at left back, starting a brand new signing is must; there's a Jim Brennan-sized hole in that spot.
This is DeRosario's game, clearly. He's chomping at the bit to let a screamer go, and put one over the bar in the early going.
Things were just about as expected through 20 minutes, with neither team getting much attacking momentum. New England at home appears to be the better team, and if there's first half goal to be had (not sure there is), it should be New England that will get it.
As I posted this, Sanyang is down for Toronto.
24th Minute: New England 0, Toronto FC, 0
Just a note; the depth of these is probably going to go WAY down as we head into the night, partly due to home life responsibilities and partly due to the pure number of matches. I still haven't decided which one(s) I'm going to focus on.
9 PM UPDATE
Okay, so the experiment is over. There is just too much going on, making it impossible to follow any one game in a way that enable me to provide reasonable insights.
Thanks to anyone that read this; I'm glad I did it, even if it didn't come out quite like I hoped.
