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MLS Week 27: A Look Back

BlancoRogers (ISIphotos.com)

                                    Photo by ISIphotos.com

The Los Angeles Galaxy and Houston Dynamo move closer to automatic playoff berths in the Western Conference while the Columbus Crew and Chicago Fire kept their places atop the East in a Week 27 of action that saw four ties out of six matches.

The Dynamo downed Real Salt Lake on a late game-winner from Brad Davis, while David Beckham scored and assisted to give the Galaxy a vital victory as it tries to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in three seasons.

The loss put a dent in RSL's playoff chances, just as the defeat set Toronto FC back in a weekend that saw all the other teams in action gaining at least a point.

Here is a full rundown of the past weekend's MLS action:

FRIDAY

New York Red Bulls 1, New England Revolution 1. New England starts well, Red Bulls enjoy strong second half and Wolyniec equalizer, but missed PK call and missed breakaway by Mac Kandji forces Red Bulls to settle for tie.

San Jose Earthquakes 1, Colorado Rapids 1. Earthquakes take the lead thanks to Ryan Johnson, but Johnson gives it back with a penalty the Rapids convert at the death.

SATURDAY

Seattle Sounders 0, Chivas USA 0. Zach Thornton had arguably his best match of the season, with several close-range saves, as the Sounders once again fail to convert after creating plenty of chances.

Kansas City Wizards 3, FC Dallas 2. Jimmy Conrad's low, low header completes a late rally for the Wizards at home.

Houston Dynamo 3, Real Salt Lake 2. Dynamo score two in first five minutes, RSL rallies back, then Bad Davis ends it with a beautiful goal.

Los Angeles Galaxy 2, Toronto FC 0. David Beckham dominates, spoiling Julian DeGuzman's debut for TFC.

SUNDAY

Chicago Fire 2, Columbus Crew 2. Peter Lowry nets a brace before Guillermo Barros Schelotto matches him, with the help of an awful penalty call.

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What did you think of this past weekend's action? See the Crew locking up the Supporters Shield? Starting to wonder if Seattle will be able to hold onto a playoff spot? Think Toronto FC can rebound and reach the post-season?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Wow, RSLRob, thanks for the encouragement! You know, since you liked my name so much and it seemed like you TRULY understood the creativity and originality behind it, I’d thought I’d share with you a new one that I came up with: Real Salt Fakes.

    I hope you enjoy it! Again, thanks so much for the encouragement. It’s nice to know that there are still people who enjoy a good laugh out there! Keep doing what you’re doing!!!

    Best,

    Colin

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  2. I am beginning to wonder what kind of a run the Red Bulls could have made if Osorio “resigned” earlier in the year. Perhaps these guys are just playing for pride or their jobs but it certainly looks like maybe an earlier coaching change could have changed the season completely.

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  3. Sounders are in. They made a believer out of me with the USOC win followed by the MLS win in D.C. I’d be worried if they weren’t creating opportunities, but they’re playing great soccer. Montero, Ljunberg, and Stevie Z. are just too talented not to find the back of the net eventually.

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  4. You have no freakin’ idea what you’re talking about Andy when it comes to the april game in columbus. None, absolutely none…….you’re delusional. Ives doesn’t remember that incident because it never happened.

    No PK was awarded that game, the fire scored in the 84th from a McBride header and in stoppage from a Segares volley. The red card was because Padula went studs up waist high on Blanco, not because of any gifts (despite what the tin-hat contigent say).

    It’s a call that get made in any league with decent refs, it’s sheer thuggery, that’s what it was. It’s no wonder Schelotto, Blanco and yes……Ljunberg (remember that red card for his dive?), but it’s no wonder they flinch at the hint of contact….it’s out of self-preservation.

    Proof? Padula, the first thing he did sunday was to hit Blanco from behind and take him with his studs showing…missing the ball the whole time. Vinnie Jones would have been proud of it. Again, in any decent league that would have been a red card. Look at the replay, Padula is waving off the ref before he even stops moving…he knew it was red card worthy. He’s a thug, straight up….that’s why he got thrown out in their 1st game, because he deserved to. I only wish Geiger had the balls to call the game consistently.

    If he’s not willing to give a red in the 1st minute, he shouldn’t give a PK in the 75th.

    I wouldn’t honestly care if I felt the PK was legit or if they had scored some other way and earned it. Like the Fire did in their stadium or how they did last year in TP. But nope, the ref cheated the players, fans and anyone else watching, a sporting event when he decided to play god on that play. It became a farce after that. People don’t play good money to see the ref decide games out of incompetency.

    But it happens all too often in MLS. It pretty much happens weekly and as a supporter of the sport and league…..it’s absolutely (crap). The standard of play would rise if we simply had refs who called the game like it’s meant to be called and reined in the hacks/bullies.

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  5. Chicago fans are a funny bunch. You sat there and smiled from ear to ear when a phantom penalty allowed your team to even up in Crew Stadium (followed by Jerseygate), then complain about a bad call yourselves. Kinda like complaining about Crew players diving when Blanco is the most blatant diver in the league. Anyway, from my crappy feed, it looked like the ref called the penalty on an elbow to Moreno, though that didn’t look PK worthy either. Whatever, karma’s a b!tch.

    And of course, Ives doesn’t remember the incident and joins the Fire fan tantrum.

    Nobody likes us, we don’t care.

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  6. vivalosburros, the pk call was a terrible call. Both players kicked at the ball at the same height. Conde kicked the ball and Lenhart kicked Conde. There is no basis whatsoever for a PK call on that play.

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  7. The PK call was horrible. Big Bird kicked Conde in the face, roundhouse style.
    I guess NeverFirst didn’t go that far in his frame by frame analysis.
    Crew fans are a funny bunch.

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  8. The pk against Chicago may have been harsh, but it was not a terrible call. As a defender you have to be very careful when you put your leg straight out in the direction of the attacker at the level of his stomach. I think a similar situation occurred with Bocanegra in the Trinidad game where he took out the guy, and luckily for us it was not called, but if it was it would have been difficult to really argue against because as a defender you just cannot put yourself in the situation where it is up to the ref.

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  9. RLW2020, Luckily we have 3 of our last 4 on the road 😉

    I’m slightly more optimistic about our chances after the DC road win. We’ve got two tough matches, N.E. and Columbus on the road, followed by two matches against teams that should be mathematically eliminated by the time we play them (KC away and Dallasat home)

    As it stands we’re in 7th if you use points per match. A tie in New England will put us in good shape even if we lose in Columbus since it would deny NE 2 home points. In that case 4 points out of those two games should put us in the playoffs with 43 points.

    If I was Adrian Hanauer would I sleep soundly? Probably not, but I’d be confident enough to start making plans to open up the upper deck at Qwest field.

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  10. cjbrown, Crew had 4 points taken from them at the beginning of the year due to awful penalty calls as well. Fortunately, there has been enough awful officiating that it all evens out.

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  11. …aaaaanyway…

    as a sounders fan, I wasn’t sure if I wanted LA or TFC to win this weekend. think I’m alright with the outcome, gives us a little more breathing room in the playoff race.

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  12. Ha ha ha! Oh man, Colin. Calling the Sounders the “Flounders”? That is SO hilarious. Honestly, wow, did you come up with that by yourself? Because you changed the name of the Sounders, ever so slightly, to the Flounders. And in doing so you are infering the the Sounders are floundering. Wow, so funny. And you know what? So new and original too. Man, I could go on and on (obviously) about how funny that name is. I’ll stop though, I want to make sure to leave room for other MLS fans to come up with other similarly hilarious names. Flounders…I am STILL laughing.

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  13. just ticks me off that the standings are so radically affected right now by the ref calls of the past two weeks. columbus should have one point in the past two weeks rather than four and chicago should have four rather than two. so instead of cbus 43, chicago 40, it should be chicago 42, cbus 40 with a game in hand.

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  14. I beg to differ, SurfGuy. Beckham really hustled – singular – for this ONE game and made things happen for this ONE game. Up until this game, he has been completely disinterested. Let’s wait and see if he can play like this for the rest of the season or if this is just a one-off.

    Reply

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