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MLS Matchday Four: Live Commentary

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The busiest matchday in MLS history is set to kick off today as 14 teams face off in seven matches across North America.

Starting with FC Dallas/Toronto FC and Chicago/San Jose at 4pm, and concluding with KC/Seattle and Chivas USA/LA Galaxy at 10:30pm tonight, there will be non-stop MLS action for the next eight hours.

Here is today's full schedule of matches:

SATURDAY

  • 4pm- FC Dallas at Toronto FC (Direct Kick)

  • 4pm- Chicago Fire at San Jose Earthquakes (Telefutura)

  • 6pm- D.C. United at Real Salt Lake (Direct Kick)

  • 7:30pm- Colorado Rapids at Columbus Crew (Direct Kick)

  • 8:30pm- New York Red Bulls at Houston Dynamo (Fox Soccer Channel)

  • 10:30pm- Chivas USA at Los Angeles Galaxy (ESPN2)

  • 10:30pm- Kansas City Wizards at Seattle Sounders (Direct Kick).

I will be providing commentary on the Toronto FC/FC Dallas and Chicago/San Jose matches (you can follow after the jump). If you will be watching today's action, please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below (and be sure to follow SBI's match commentaries for the Red Bulls-Dynamo and Chivas USA-Galaxy games tonight).

Enjoy the action.

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FINAL– That's all for now. Feel free to share your post-game thoughts, and your thoughts, opinions and play-by-play on the rest of tonight's matches in the comments section below.

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FINAL- Fire 3, Earthquakes 3. San Jose probably had the better of the play throughout but the Fire kept fighting back and finished some great chances.

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93rd minute– San Jose pushing for a winner despite being a man down (Salinas red card). Busch with a late save.

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FINAL- Toronto FC 1, FC Dallas 1. Textbook example of the better team not getting the three points and being punished for not putting a match away with a second goal. Credit to FC Dallas for fighting for an equalizer.

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90th minute– Toronto has only itself to blame for not putting this one away and now an FC Dallas team that was poor all day will escape Toronto with a point (assuming they survive three minutes of stoppage time).

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88th minute- GOAL FC DALLAS!!!! Pablo Richetti hits the equalizer. TFC has to be disgusted. A corner is redirected into the mixer and Richetti back-heels it into the net. Dallas 1, TFC 1.

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88th minute– Cannon is going to be kicking himself when he watches that one again.

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86th minute– The Fire have come back three times in this match. It wouldn't shock me if they won now.

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85th minute- GOAL FIRE!!!!! And it's Chris Rolfe with the BLAST. Fire 3, Earthquakes 3!!!! Cannon tried to punch it away but didn't get enough of the ball.

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79th minute– The referee just gave Denis Hamlett a stern warning. Not sure what that was about. Chris Rolfe is in the match now for Mapp.

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75th minute- GOAL SAN JOSE!!! Arturo Alvarez converts the penalty kick. San Jose 3, Fire 2.

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74th minute– San Jose draws a penalty!!! Dasan Robinson called for fouling Convey in the box. Not sure about that call.

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72nd minute– Some handbags in the San Jose-Chicago game. Yellow cards for Robinson and Salinas.

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70th minute– Back to the Fire game. It sure looks sunny and beautiful in San Jose. I just might want to move there. Okay, maybe not. How about a long weekend?

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69th minute– Danny Dichio is in for Barrett.

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67th minute– SAVE FREI. The rookie stops a Dave Van Den Bergh volley. The kid has GREAT hands. Those teams that passed on Frei in the draft that needed goalkeepers are kicking themselves. He's the real deal.

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66th minute– Eric Avila comes in for Andre Rocha. Not sure if that'll provide the spark Dallas needs.

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64th minute– As well as Toronto FC has played today John Carver can't be happy that it's still just 1-0. They need that insurance goal to avoid any late-game drama.

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60th minute– Bakary Soumare with the great long pass to Blanco, who heads to McBride. Ryan Cochrane got caught ball-watching and McBride made him pay with the quality finish.

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60th minute- GOAL FIRE. And it was Brian McBride with the finish on a beautiful turn and finish off a Blanco pass. Fire 2, San Jose 2.

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58th minute– Toronto FC is putting serious pressure on but can't finish. Chad Barrett couldn't hit water if…you know the rest.

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57th minute– Sam Cronin with a great run into the area, where he receives a wide-open pass, but his first touch lets him down.

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55th minute– Ferreira with a weak attempt at a dive in the area. That should be a yellow card.

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54th minute– SAVE FREI. He dives to his right for a great save on a Kenny Cooper blast.

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51st minute– Fire with a chance in the area, but can't get a clear shot on goal.

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50th minute– Someone should probably tell the Chicago/SJ color commentator that CJ Brown hasn't been a regular Fire starter since 2007.

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48th minute– Segares works the overlap and sends a hard shot well over the bar.

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47th minute– Blanco's first pass is awful. Apparently he didn't warm up at halftime.

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46th minute– Cuauhtemoc Blanco is in for Prideaux. Saw that one coming. Eric Denton replaced Campo for San Jose.

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46th minute– Andwe're back at BMO Field in Toronto. No subs that I've heard of.

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HALFTIME– Toronto has controlled its match so no subs need to be made yet, though I might consider Pablo Vitti for Chad Barrett. As for FC Dallas, I'm not sure what Schellas Hyndman can do to spark this team. Jeff Cunningham is an option.

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HALFTIME– What changes might we see at halftime? For Chicago, Denis Hamlett might consider putting Tim Ward at right back because Prideaux has been a weak link. Replacing Mapp with Rolfe and swapping Pappa to the left wouldn't be a bad move. Blanco in for Prideaux wouldn't be objected to either. Something needs to happen because the Fire looks flat.

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HALFTIME– Earthquakes 2, Fire 1. San Jose has had the energy and the better chances. The Fire has looked lost for stretches and multiple halftime subs wouldn't surprise me.

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HALFTIME– Toronto FC 1, FC Dallas 0. TFC has controlled the play and FC Dallas looks no closer to a first win. 

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43rd minute- GOAL EARTHQUAKES!!! And it's Bobby Convey with the finish. Convey races onto a poor clearance attempt from Prideaux, gets into the area and beats Busch. Great individual effort. Poor effort from Prideaux. San Jose 2, Chicago 1.

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43rd minute– I've seen San Jose a few times this year and have yet to be impressed with Campos. Not sure why he starts.

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41st minute- GOAL FIRE!!! And it's Marco Pappa with the equalizer. Great pass from Logan Pause to slide a pass to Pappa on the wing. He takes a touch and beats Cannon from 15. Fire 1, Earthquakes 1.

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39th minute– Tim Ward takes a shot from 20 and comes close. He's one of the few bright spots so far today for Chicago.

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39th minute– Dallas rookie George John looked to foul Chad Barrett in the area but no call is made.

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38th minute– Toronto has a penalty appeal waived off. Here comes FCD on the counter.

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37th minute– Here's a thought. Soccer really doesn't need sideline reporters, or at least they should be used in moderation. There, I said it.

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35th minute– I'm trying to decide who looks worse so far today, Justin Mapp or Marco Pappa. I say Mapp. Chris Rolfe needs to get into this match.

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34th minute– Was trying to figure out why the San Jose/Chicago Fire game was better to watch than TFC/FC Dallas and it's because San Jose/Chicago is in HD and it's sunny in San Jose, while TFC/Dallas is on regular cable and it's not as sunny in Toronto.

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32nd minute– David Ferreira has a chance from the top of the 18 and just shanks it into the stands. FC Dallas still trails 1-0.

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31st minute– SAVE BUSCH. He tips a Johnson header over the bar to save a goal. Chicago looks shaky.

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30th minute– Chicago has deployed Brandon Prideaux at right back, with Tim Ward playing in a defensive midfield role. While Ward has looked good in the middle, Prideaux has looked shaky vs. Huckerby.

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29th minute– Fire keep the ball in the area but can't get any clear shots on goal.

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28th minute– Fire with a corner kick.

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26th minute– Hate to say it but Chicago looks off today. A bad performance today will certainly open the door to "Why didn't Blanco and Rolfe start" questions.

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23rd minute– FC Dallas is struggling to keep possession. Toronto has had the better of the play early on, with more purposeful passing.

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17th minute- GOAL TORONTO FC!!!!! Andf it's Dwayne DeRosario with a header off a long throw-in from fellow Toronto-area native Adrian Serioux. TFC 1, FC Dallas 0.

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16th minute– Chris Leitch with a great long ball to Darren Huckerby, who slots a pass to the front of goal, where Johnson finishes easily.

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15th minute- GOAL SAN JOSE!!! And it's Ryan Johnson with the goal for the home team. Earthquakes 1, Fire 0.

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15th minute– Nothing comes from the TFC corner. Still scoreless in Toronto.

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14th minute– Marvell Wynne with a dangerous run down the right flank that draws a corner kick for TFC.

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11th minute– San Jose with some attacking possession early. Wilman Conde is not in uniform today, he is out with a sinus infection. Dasan Robinson starts in Conde's place.

Chicago with a free kick drawn by Tim Ward. The corner is deflected away.

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9th minute– No score in the Chicago-San Jose match yet. Earthquakes with a corner.

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7th minute– Toronto still attacking. Barrett sends a close range shot right at Ray Burse. Another chance wasted by TFC.

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1st minute- TFC almost scores in the first minute bot DeRosario has his shot cleared off the line. Toronto is off to a fast start.

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PRE-GAME– No Cuauhtemoc Blanco in the starting lineup for Chicago today.

Comments

  1. Crew’s makeshift defense (3 guys out) held Colorado in check for 89+ minutes. But the 1 minute they let Conor Casey get free, he made’em pay and tied it up. Ref let a very, *very* rough game go with a lot of contact before any fouls were called on either side.

    Brunner got the start in the middle of the defense and did a very good job of bottling up Casey for most of the night. Warzycha didn’t overtax the kid, his only assignment was to follow Casey around and deny the ball. The only time Casey really got loose was the one time Brunner was out of position.

    The Crew clearly had the better run of play and were a better team tonight, but it looked like they were afraid to play a physical game and that cost them. The need to muscle back on teams that try to push them around, and they need to take a LOT more shots. The Colorado defense was giving a lot of space at the top of the box and Columbus never took advantage.

    Reply

  2. the rsl/dcu game was good. the field was wet and there were some good tackles by both sides. morales’s goal late was well deserved, and once again mathis played well. the fans who came out were great, but there were only about 12,000. dcu had a very solid defense and did well against movsisyan and findley.

    Reply

  11. There’s still 4 1/2 matches left……

    It’s gonna be a good night. I’m making the prediction….the Sounders go down tonight and the Galaxy/Chivas match will be an epic one.

    Reply

  12. I think it’s just me and you jtd.

    RSL- good movement off the ball but there not giving themselves enough time on the ball to create. It’s like they are rushing everything.

    DCU-I can’t understand why Fred takes it wide for the cross and then kicks it back out to Pontius everytime? I will say that I will be surprised if Pontius doesn’t score. He’s getting closed down on pretty fast with little time on the ball. I see that changing.

    Good match so far though. Now I’m off to pick up my pizza.

    Reply

  13. The Fire-Earthquakes match was the best MLS game I’ve seen so far this year. Plenty of action, lots of players going forward, five quality goals (plus the PK). I hope to see more of that as the night moves on.

    Reply

  14. Color commentator for RSL told his play by play man that RSL needed to float the ball over the back three and have someone run onto it, how sad. In the last five minutes RSL did just that and turned the ball over every time. If they had played those same balls on the ground Findley might have been in alone with only one defender to beat.
    Ives, I just can’t believe that float the ball over is still advocated in the USA.

    Reply

  25. Both of these squads have alot of underrated players. Alot of overrated too but DiRamando is the most underrated keeper in MLS if not Sala. Clyde Simms may be the most underrated midfielder in MLS.

    Just looking at these lineups it is easy to see how much more quality MLS has than 5 years ago.

    Reply

  28. thanks, this guy. hard to tell with the internet feed. plus, i’m a little slow today.

    btw- i dig the pace of this match so far.

    Reply

  29. I think the announcers were being sarcastic. It looks like it is raining.

    Rio Tinto is a beautiful stadium too, it is irritating. I drive 4 hours to see the Fire at Toyota Park and some fans won’t drive 15 minutes to see a solid RSL squad in a nice stadium.

    Reply

  30. there’s, what, like six people at the RSL/DCU game? the commentators even said,”It is a beautiful day for a match.” What’s going on with attendence?

    Reply

  32. I think MotM should go to Bobby Convey or Marco Pappa.

    I love a full Saturday of MLS.

    Quakes are solid in the midfield. I think by far the best Mids in MLS. I still can’t believe KuWahTeMoh still fills the stands.

    Reply

  35. Can’t wait for the next SJ-LA game. Might be 10-10 with their defenses. Looks like they shouldnt hav made James Riley available in the expansion draft

    Reply

  36. The Quakes announcers won’t quite whining.

    A bad penalty call and a bad double yellow.

    It evens itself out.

    A draw is a fair result.

    Reply

  37. Rolfe got the player of the game? I thought the goal was great, but I’m not sure if that’s worth player of the game. Glad to get a point from that one but I question the decision to play Prideaux in the first place.

    Reply

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