The glorious first month of soccer has come to a close as week five is in the books and you know what that means!
Apr 5, 2015; Kansas City, KS, USA; Confetti falls as Philadelphia Union goalkeeper Rais Mbolhi (92) reacts after allowing the game winning goal to Sporting KC forward Krisztian Nemeth (not pictured) during the second half at Sporting Park. Sporting KC defeats Philadelphia Union 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
O Brother, Where Art Thou Two teams got their first wins this weekend. In the 89th minute the Philadelphia Union looked certain to make that three. And then the wheels fell off the only way the Union knows how as Sporting KC scored twice in second-half stoppage time to win a thriller 3-2.
Had Philly held on, it would have been a remarkable win at a tough environment. It was anything but pretty to watch, yet the Union stubbornly denied Sporting anything from the run-of-play, all three goals were off of restarts. “Everything was throw-ins and free kicks,” Union coach Jim Curtin bemoaned following the match.
Cascadia Rocks It was a good weekend for the Cascadia teams. All played at home, all got wins outscoring opponents 6-1.
—Vancouver Takes the Crown Vancouver climbed to the top of the MLS standings with a 2-0 victory over the LA Galaxy. The Galaxy simply isn’t a team that plays particularly well in Spring. The team has lost two in a row and this time they had Robbie Keane and some guy named “Zardez”. Kendall Waston was too much in the middle of the park, Russell Tiebert clung to Keane like a wet towel and the ‘Caps got splendid goals from Kekuta Manneh and, who else?, Octavio Rivero.
—Portland first win amid some controversy Vancouver’s climb to the top was aided by Portland got their first win, handing F.C. Dallas their first loss in an exciting, up-and-down match. What will be remembered though is the post-game handshake that never happened between coaches Caleb Porter and Oscar Pareja.
Porter shared his version of the events in his postmatch interview:
"So, I was walking over to shake his hand and he had a tissue that he put over his nose and tried to hand me a tissue. So, I thought it was very poor sportsmanship out of him. I never said one word to him the whole game. Obviously, he wasn’t happy with the loss, but I’ve never had a coach come up and disrespect me like that. So, that’s what happened.”"
Pareja would not comment specifically on the incident only to say, “The best team is the one that wins points sometimes, and we have to accept that.”
Apr 4, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; Houston Dynamo defender DeMarcus Beasley (7), Seattle Sounders FC midfielder Andy Rose (5, right of Beasley) and Seattle Sounders FC midfielder Brad Evans (3, right of Rose) react to a red card called by referee Ted Unkel against Seattle Sounders FC midfielder Gonzalo Pineda (8, not pictured, behind Dempsey) during the second half at CenturyLink Field. Seattle defeated Houston, 1-0. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
—Seattle gets it done this time being the one down Obafemi Martins got his goal putting the Dynamo defense through the spin cycle. It held up as Tyler Deric was again awesome in the net for Houston. For the third straight week, a Seattle game ended with a team a man down (the shorthanded side is 2-0-1 in those matches).
Long time gone New England hadn’t won in Colorado since 2002. To put that in perspective, there were ten teams back then, the iPod had just been released and Limp Bizkit was popular. Suffice it to say, it’s been a while.
It’s been awhile since we talked about Juan Agudelo too. Dude is back in a big time way. Great strike to open the scoring. Revs win their second in a row, 2-0.
We have ignition Also winners of two in a row? The Chicago Fire!
Well, that’s all the time we have here. Enjoy the Gin Blossoms and tip your wait staff!