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MLS Week 8: The Best XI, Worst XI and Team of the Week

RalstonMcBride (ISIphotos.com) 

                                                                            Photo by ISIphotos.com

There were goals galore in Major League Soccer's Week Eight as we saw four games with four or more goals and a memorable 3-3 shootout between Toronto FC and D.C. United.

Not every defense was in a giving mood. Chivas USA and Houston continued to be the league's stingiest defenses in posting their own shutouts.

As for individual performances this week, Red Bulls striker Macoumba Kandji stole the show with his goal and two-assist effort in New York's rout of San Jose. The performance earned Kandji MLS player of the week honors in a match that earned three Red Bulls MLS Team of the Week honors.

Here are this week's MLS Best XI and Worst XI plays, performances, moments and scenes, as well as the SBI MLS Team of the Week. Enjoy:

MLS Week Eight Best XI

Mike Magee's late equalizer for LA vs. Real Salt Lake.

Paulo Nagamura's game-winner for Chivas USA vs. Real Salt Lake.

Dwayne DeRosario's brace, including his half-field run and blast.

Mac Kandji's virtuoso performance vs. San Jose.

Albert Celades' classy work in midfield in his first Red Bulls start.

Josh Wolff's streaking header goal vs. Columbus.

Matt Reis' last-second diving save to salvage New England's draw vs. Chicago.

Shalrie Joseph's inspired performance for New England.

Seattle's Sunday afternoon crowd at Qwest Field.

TFC fans marching with D.C. fans in support of a D.C. United stadium.

Philadelphia's new logo

MLS Week Eight Worst XI

James Riley's punch.

Referee Tim Weyland's less than stellar performance in the LA-Seattle match.

San Jose's first-half defending vs. New York.

Real Salt Lake's clock management vs. Los Angeles.

D.C. United's second-half defending vs. Toronto FC.

FC Dallas' anemic attack and one shot on goal vs. Houston.

Kansas City's marking on Eddie Gaven's game-winning goal.

Andy Greunebaum's whiff on Claudio Lopez's free kick goal.

Chicago's latest blown lead and tie.

The small crowds at Giants Stadium and Toyota Park.

Crew fans throwing things at KC midfielder Claudio Lopez, leading to a game delay.

SBI MLS Team of the Week (Week 8)

———-Dwayne DeRosario————–Mac Kandji————-

——————————-Mike Magee————————–

Emmanuel Ekpo———-Albert Celades———-Josh Wolff

——————————Shalrie Joseph———————–

–Kevin Goldthwaite—-Wilman Conde—–Shavar Thomas–

——————————Matt Reis————————

—————————-

Honorable Mentions: Pat Onstad, Frankie Hejduk, Geoff Cameron, Adrian Serioux, Nat Borchers, Rodney Wallace, Jorge Rojas, Paulo Nagamura, Robbie Rogers, Seth Stammler, Guillermo Barros Schelotto

————————-

Some final thoughts on this week's picks. I had a hard time leaving Jorge Rojas off the list, but midfield was loaded this week. Schelotto is another player who just missed the cut, as did Nagamura. Nice work by Matt Reis to go from goat one week, to hero the next.

What do you think of this week's selections? What player or play or performance is missing from the lists? Who should have made Team of the Week that didn't? Who's inclusion were you happy to see?

Comments

  1. you Sounder fans still can’t over this?!?!?!? hahahahahahahaha wow. Seattle is known for there Rock, not there Emo kids, get over it and move on instead of spilling your heart out for nothing….the league isn’t going to overturn it.

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  2. Berhalter should have been assessed a yellow immediately and the whole thing would have end3ed right there. His card wouldn’t be for time wasting in the 50th minute it would be for delaying the game, or not allowing the team to proceed with their free kick. I don’t agree with the red card to Riley, but I can see why they gave it. The biggest shame was the no call on Jaqua (it happened about 90 feet from where I sit) even if it was just a little contact it prevented a scoring oppotunity.

    The positive for Sounder fans is that if we can keep 11 on the field they will be better than the majority of the teams.

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  3. I’ll echo all the apparent Sounders fans here… Sunday was a travesty, Ricketts is a drama queen, there should’ve been five more minutes of stoppage, Weyland deserves a pink slip, and the Galaxy will be slaughtered when SSFC visits LA in August… as long as the refs aren’t playing for LA again.

    I was just proud of Ljungberg’s sticking up for every single teammate and fighting every single bad call. Our underwear model is so much better than LA/Milan’s.

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  4. My support for the Sounders as my #2 MLS team is quickly disappearing. LA came and surprised you with a MUCH IMPROVED defense and Seattle wasn’t ready for it… tough luck.

    LA’s six game unbeaten streak continues…
    Posted by: Colin

    Sure things don’t work out for any team on a weekly basis and the Sounders do need to show some nuts. but ….Sounders fans don’t need your belated support.. How can you have a 2nd favorite team? what a clown.

    Sounders get 6 on the road and beat Colorado at Starfire

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  5. The three minutes of stoppage time was also a travesty. The whole Berhalter-Riley scrum itself took three minutes. Add on another minute for the late nap the Girlixy keeper decided to take on the field to rest off his “injury.”

    Posted by: TheKingofNorway | May 12, 2009 at 11:32 AM

    Why in the world would ricketts fake an injury when we had the run of play? In what twisted world are you people living in? I think all that starbucks is getting to you seattle.

    Posted by: Kid Presentable!!! | May 12, 2009 at 11:44 AM

    Had the run of play?!? Were you watching that game at all? LA with a man advantage was running scared and trying to kill time. The Sounders were carrying the play in the final 10 minutes. If Ricketts was truly injured why didn’t he leave the field?

    I still can’t believe Weyland only gave 3 minutes of added time and blew the game dead with the Sounders carrying the ball on the attack.

    Posted by: Matt | May 12, 2009 at 12:08 PM

    Of course i was watching the game. And if YOU were watching the game, you would know that la had already used up all of thier subs on klien, lewis and buddle. And that was the reason seattle controlled the last 10 minutes of the game

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  6. The three minutes of stoppage time was also a travesty. The whole Berhalter-Riley scrum itself took three minutes. Add on another minute for the late nap the Girlixy keeper decided to take on the field to rest off his “injury.”

    Posted by: TheKingofNorway | May 12, 2009 at 11:32 AM

    Why in the world would ricketts fake an injury when we had the run of play? In what twisted world are you people living in? I think all that starbucks is getting to you seattle.

    Posted by: Kid Presentable!!! | May 12, 2009 at 11:44 AM

    Had the run of play?!? Were you watching that game at all? LA with a man advantage was running scared and trying to kill time. The Sounders were carrying the play in the final 10 minutes. If Ricketts was truly injured why didn’t he leave the field?

    I still can’t believe Weyland only gave 3 minutes of added time and blew the game dead with the Sounders carrying the ball on the attack.

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  7. As a Galaxy fan, I just think it’s hilarious how we can go up to Seattle’s precious Nintendo 64 Pitch or whatever it’s called and pull out a draw after playing 3 games in 9 days.

    Riley’s red card was completely justified, and those of you who throw in Berhalter’s “time wasting” (in the 50th minute? give me a break Seattle fans) or Jaqua’s dive or anything else are just throwing in red herrings. Look at the individual play. Riley made a series of stupid decisions over a 3 minute span, and THAT’S why he got the red.

    Ives, I’ve got your back on this one. Riley should know better. Berhalter’s a seasoned vet and he knows how to play the game. Before Riley slapped Magee on the head, he first grabbed Berhalter, took him to the ground, stood over him, and aggressively yanked the ball from him. Yellow card right there. Then, in the scrum, he overreacts to Magee grabbing him, so he does the SAME THING back to Magee. Magee was smart to go to the ground and play it off as a punch.

    Anyone who’s grown up with siblings knows what Magee did. You get the first hit in, and then when you get hit back, you react as if you did nothing wrong.

    Riley needs to stop making stupid plays and Seattle needs to grow a pair and quit whining. My support for the Sounders as my #2 MLS team is quickly disappearing. LA came and surprised you with a MUCH IMPROVED defense and Seattle wasn’t ready for it… tough luck.

    LA’s six game unbeaten streak continues…

    Reply
  8. Ives,

    I think you need to add Marvell Wynne to your “Worst XI”. As a TFC fan, I love the guy – he’s got great hustle, always seems to give his all and has the speed to make up for his mistakes – but twice this year he’s been called for a hand ball in the box late in games. He’s got tonnes of talent but needs to learn to defend with his arms at his sides!

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  9. northzax,

    It all depends on where their hands are. His hands were protecting his face, not out. I saw Chelsea’s keeper do the exact same thing two weeks later and not a word said on the broadcast or even a complaint from the other team. Anyway, Keller’s card has already been disscussed at nauseum, I am sure. By the way, I was called by Ives a card carrying Sounder fan. PROUD TO BE! ALONG WITH 22,000 OTHERS. Being a supporter of your team doesn’t mean you can’t be impartial.

    Reply
  10. I agree if Riley deserved a red card then so did Magee for an identical ‘punch’. I hope that is addressed, in reviewing the incident.

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  11. Terry, sorry, but you’re wrong. Keepers get extra protection inside the box in exchange for stricter rules outside the box. if you are a keeper and you touch the ball with your hand outside the box, you will see red. there are three things, as a general rule, keepers get carded for: wandering outside the box, playing the player not the ball and time wasting. otherwise, inside the box they can do pretty much anything they want. but if stopping a ball going into an empty net with your hand isn’t a red card, I’m not sure what is.

    Reply
  12. Hopefully what few FC Dallas fans are at the match on Saturday will throw the ridiculous “Drew Carey” glasses the team is giving away at Schellas Hyndman. Only the Dallas FO would run a promotion supporting the visiting team.

    Reply
  13. Sam, or Jared, or whatever you want to go by now, you can feel free to think what you want, but I’ve had the Red Bulls in last place in my Power Rankings repeatedly and have written enough critical pieces about the MetroStars/Red Bulls in my career to wallpaper your house so spare me the “Homer” label. It’s a tired refrain from folks who hate the Red Bulls and get miffed anytime something positive is written about them. I’ve covered them for a dozen years and have been much more critical of them than most of the beat writers in MLS have ever been about the teams they cover.

    Reply
  14. The three minutes of stoppage time was also a travesty. The whole Berhalter-Riley scrum itself took three minutes. Add on another minute for the late nap the Girlixy keeper decided to take on the field to rest off his “injury.”

    Posted by: TheKingofNorway | May 12, 2009 at 11:32 AM

    Why in the world would ricketts fake an injury when we had the run of play? In what twisted world are you people living in? I think all that starbucks is getting to you seattle.

    Reply
  15. @bud– If the league wants it’s Seattle franchise to keep outdrawing the rest of the league (and the NBA, NHL, and half of the MLB) then they need to solve this referee problem and put some refs in Qwest Field who won’t wilt under the pressure.

    Seattle and its fans are in this. For anyone to suggest there will be some exodus from Qwest over this one match is out to lunch. And for those fairweather fans who don’t take the option on next years tix.. there are thousands waiting to sit in their seats.

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  16. I think the red for riley was fine, he has to know better then have his hand near an opponents head in a fracas. It just invites a card especially in a game that was getting out of hand.

    Reply
  17. The three minutes of stoppage time was also a travesty. The whole Berhalter-Riley scrum itself took three minutes. Add on another minute for the late nap the Girlixy keeper decided to take on the field to rest off his “injury.”

    Reply
  18. Ives,

    To be honest, I don’t think Berhalter did anything that other players don’t do. He was wasting time. It is up to the referee to stop that. I think Riley should have composed himself more, but you see guys all the time trying to get the ball back from the opposing player. My problem is not with Magee either. It’s with the Red. Riley needs a good earfull from the coach on how to compose himself, but when a little bit of heated competition gets you a red card, then that is not good for the game. Give reds for players who purposely try to hurt other players or knowingly break the rules. (Keller’s by the way was a sly move, that would never be called in Europe) Don’t take players off the pitch for unless totally necissary. By the way, my question about you watching the play was because maybe you didn’t see the actual footage and were just going off printed info. No dis-respect intended. It just seems pretty obvious after watching the video, that it was just two guys grabbing each other and one flopping. Agree to disagree.

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  19. Ha, I love Ives telling someone that they’re a card carrying fan, this coming from the absolute Homer Ives. So is any of your commentary regarding the Red Bulls valid? I love your site, but give me a break.

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  20. Lost in the red-card discussion is the fact that the ref ended play with the Sounders carrying play, with numbers, into the Gals end.

    It was a total F-you from the ref, and in any other country, it would have lead to a pitch invasion.

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  21. Berhalter grabbing the ball wasn’t any worse than Seattle players just standing there with a second ball on the field that was at their feet yet they didn’t make a move to clear it off the field. That happened twice in Sunday’s game.

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  22. What the heck happened to Crew fans? When this league started they were arguably the best fans in the league, and now they are known for that racist incident and throwing crap at people. Well done idiots.

    Paul…isn’t that the point of being a fan? What kind of fan would you be if you WOULDN’T take 10 Sounders against the rest of the league?

    Reply
  23. Do folks questioning the Riley punch realize it happened AFTER the wrestling over the ball? It was a good three or four seconds later when other players arrived.

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  24. A ‘trick of the trade’ is fine on its’ own. But taken in the context of the entire game, it was a bookable offense, since LA had been doing it all game.

    That’s where the ref blew it.

    If the league wants it’s Seattle franchise to keep outdrawing the rest of the league (and the NBA, NHL, and half of the MLB) then they need to solve this referee problem and put some refs in Qwest Field who won’t wilt under the pressure.

    Fairly-called games, that’s all we want.

    (Off topic: The Sounders announced on Sunday that they are selling another 2000 more season tickets for the 2nd half of this season, completely opening up the rest of the south end. Not sure that’s been mentioned here.)

    Reply
  25. Ha, MLS refs inconsistent? Differing standards apply? Nothing new.

    I remember Tab Ramos standing over a free kick with a defender refusing to back up, stepping over the ball and faking a swipe at the defenders shin. The ref was positioned right there and gave him a straight red. Not long thereafter, Ante Razov did the same thing, with a ref right next to him, and wasn’t even assessed a foul.

    Refs are inconsistent at EVERY LEVEL. I happen to think that the one ref system puts unrealistic expectations on a single match official. Fact of the matter is that in soccer, if you want to be guaranteed a win, you had better truly outplay your opponent. Seattle fans are new to this whole soccer thing, evidently.

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  26. Agreed that that would have been a better response by Riley. I still feel Weyland could have given a yellow to both of them and taken control of the situation (as Steve Davis has pointed out in his article).

    I seem to remember that in the U-20 world cup several years back, they made a concerted effort to tell teams that refs were going to give yellows for time wasting and then the refs followed up on it. It seemed overly harsh at the time because a little tap of the ball here or there after a foul was being punished with a yellow. But it served FIFA’s purpose of saying, ‘this is what we want and don’t want for the flow of the game.’ It seems that MLS/US Soccer should not only look at a referee’s ‘performance’ but also what types of plays they want to discourage for the flow of games and enteratainment value to the fans. I’m not saying they should overlook physical altercations. But I am saying that if players know that they can trust that the refs will take care of time wasting, they won’t feel that they need to take matters into their own hands. Thoughts?

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  27. As a Rev fan, I’m still fond of Riley, but that was pretty stupid of him – certainly red-card eligible. Unfortunately, he’s always had a penchant for making reckless, stupid decisions. Not as bad as some (Ivan McKinley, where art thou?), but he’s got enough of a history that I’m not surprised the ref went for red rather than yellow.

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  28. Onion Bag, I agree about the time-wasting, and I would offer up this theory. What if Riley hadn’t gone after Berhalter and kicked off that incident? What if he had simply pointed out what Berhalter was doing? Maybe Weyland gives a yellow for time-wasting. Once the skirmish kicked off though, Weyland had bigger fish to fry.

    And let’s be honest, what Berhalter did is done in leagues all over the world, and doesn’t always merit a yellow (moreso late in matches). Doing it in the 50th minute doesn’t necesarily tell the ref that the player is trying to waste time. That move is hardly something that is ruining the game. It’s a trick of the trade that veterans pull to let their team get set up to defend a free kick.

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  29. Juan, Pontius goal was nice, but not really Best XI worthy, and you don’t get honorable mention on Team of the Week for coming off the bench and scoring a nice goal. No need to tell me about Pontius, I’ve been singing his praises from day one (and I’m pretty sure he’s made Team of the Week once or twice).

    And Terry, not for nothing, but you’re a card-carring Sounders fan, not exactly an impartial voice in this discussion. That doesn’t mean you can’t have an opinion, but I can’t help but wonder what your opinion would be if someone like Kovalenko had done what Riley did, and someone like Brad Evans was in Magee’s place.

    Again, COULD Riley have gotten away with a yellow? Possibly, but as a player you have to know better than to do things that put you in positions to be penalized. Consider his reaction to Berhalter’s time-wasting move. Was that a rational reaction? Rather than running after Berhalter why not simply point out the move to the referee?

    I think we agree that Weyland was terrible on Sunday, but we’ll disagree on that red card being terrible.

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  30. Thanks for the explanation. And I’m not equating time wasting with what Riley did. What I’m saying is that time wasting should be punished as well as someone acting out physically when play is stopped. Whether they are punished the same or not could be based on the grievance. But in this case, to not even acknowledge the time wasting makes the Seattle players start to lose their cool. I think the league needs to crack down on time wasting in the exact same way other leagues/tourney’s have done in the past. The question is, what type of game/experience does the MLS want to have?

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  31. Players get heated up and pushing matches happen all the time. Give them yellows and get on with it. Riley lost his cool a bit, but that still doesn’t justify the team going down to 10 men. How many players do similar things to what he did? Because the referee made a horrible decision, does not make Riley’s any worse than other players who get involved in those scuffles. Totally disagree with you Ives.

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  32. It wasn’t a punch. If he was intending to punch him, he had every opportunity to do that. Instead, in my view, he was reaching around the other guy’s head, and attempting to grab him.

    Yellow? Yes. But the time-wasting was a yellow too.

    LA was pathetic Sunday.

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  33. Ives,

    No credit to Pontius’ goal? It’s even a GOW nominee and he isn’t even in your honorable mention. He came in with 15 minutes left and scored 10 minutes later, pretty impressive for a rookie, don’t you agree?

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  34. And Terry, are you serious with this line, “None of their red cards have been justified”? Say what you want about Montero’s red card, which I agreed with but could see an argument against, but Kasey Keller’s red card was absolutely and unequivocally a red card.

    I probably should have hyphenated “punch” since it wasn’t exactly a connecting jab, but the reason it made the Worst XI was because Riley didn’t need to do it and it cost his team.

    By the way, is there a weaker counterpoint than, “Did you watch the play?”? Just because someone disagrees with you, or holds a different opinion than you do, doesn’t mean they didn’t watch and you did. It could quite possibily have more to do with prejudices and allegiences, or the lack thereof, as much as one person having seen an incident and another not.

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  35. Listen guys, nobody said James Riley resembled Manny Pacquiao with his punch, closed-hand push or whatever you want to call his action. What matters is Riley did something he shouldn’t have and it cost his team. You don’t put yourself in that situation. And people bringing up Berhalter’s time-wasting move as if that somehow justifies Riley’s actions are way off-base. An opposing player’s time-wasting doesn’t give you just cause to do something equally, or more, egregious.

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  36. Turtle, a little off-base here. No one is disputing that what Riley did deserved a yellow. “Waaaay” over the line is waaaaaay overstating what happened. He reacted inappropriately and it cost him a red. But if you look at the replay, it was really nothin’. Probably should have been a yellow…. but that’s soccer.

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  37. Ives,

    I agree with the first post. Did you really watch the incident? There was no punch thrown. Never should have been a red. Changed the entire game. The Sounders might as well start with 10 every game. From what I have seen, none of their red cards have been justified. Makes you wonder why the league would accept the refs taking the players everyone wants to watch off the pitch so easily. Thus, ruining the game that they are trying so hard to get people to watch.

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  38. Onion Bag has it right. There was no “punch” and, if it was, momma definitely raised a wuss. It was a shove to the neck (because that was as high as poor little Riley could reach!!).

    On the other hand, I’m starting to lose some faith in you, Ives. Any clear look at the video on this by a knowledgeable soccer fan wouldn’t illicit the absurd assessment of this being a “punch.” You’re starting to lose some major credibility here. If after today, the MLS hasn’t handed down an additional suspension for the “punch” (as they WILL do if it is determined to be such), I think we need a retraction of that word. No matter what you might think of the usage, it clearly has a very, very poor connotation in soccer. Riley is a class act (perhaps too much so for a defender) and he deserves better from you. So do YOUR fans.

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  39. “Crew fans throwing things at KC midfielder Claudio Lopez, leading to a game delay.”

    He was hit in the face, stay classy Ohio. C. Lopez is nothing but professional in what he does, there really isnt a worse guy to do that to.

    Ives- Wolff and Lopez are both forwards, they sometimes are put at midfield but thats just Onalfo being stupid/trying to be creative.

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  40. Onion Bag – Riley crossed WAY over the line and deserved what he got. Magee received a well deserved yellow. (And Jaqua dived). The ref was more right in that game than wrong. I’m impartial – have no MLS team to follow.

    I think Miami FC should schedule a friendly against San Jose. After two straight losses Miami FC we could use a confidence boost. Look what it’s done for the Redbulls – player of the week, team of the week…wow.

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  41. If Berhalter had been appropriately cautioned for time wasting the rest would not have happened.

    Horrible job by the ref

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  42. My 2c:

    The Best XI should replace the Josh Wolff header with the service on the header – pinpoint perfect pass. At the very least, the cross to Wolff deserves as much mention as the finish itself.

    And a space needs to be found somewhere for Frankie other than the honorable mentions. Everyone bangs on Frankie over his cross ability, but he had a perfect back-post cross for an assist on Schelotto’s goal, and he also had a great cross from the endline for an assist on Moreno’s first-half goal that was called back for a phantom offsides somewhere.

    Any of you want to apologize to Frankie at this point, feel free.

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  43. I think you favor RBNY a bit too much in the team of the week. Yes, they got a win, but it was againstly lowly San Jose. I’d take Guillermo Barros Schelotto over Albert Celades this week.

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  44. Don’t get me wrong, James Riley lost his cool. But I’m really starting to get annoyed with people referring to it as a punch. Watch it again. If Riley “punched” Magee, then Magee “punched” Riley first. And let’s not forget the incident was started with Berhalter’s time wasting which has not been talked about.

    Reply

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