MLS Crashes and Burns in CCL. Again.

Cruz Azul's Mario Pavone scored a hat trick as Azul demolished Sporting KC.

Remember last week when there was a little more than cautious optimism about MLS sides in CONCACAF Champions League play?  Reigning MLS Cup champs Sporting Kansas City took down Cruz Azul at home, and the LA Galaxy managed to hold off the Xolos of Tijuana.  Even San Jose managed to fight back late to earn a home draw against Toluca.  Things looked fairly bright.  If all three MLS clubs could pull a sweep in Mexico, it would guarantee that an MLS club would make the CCL final and have a chance to play for the trophy and a spot in the FIFA Club World Cup.

Then reality set in starting on Tuesday night, really harsh reality.

That night the LA Galaxy took on the Xolos at Estadio Caliente in Tijuana, and things went rotten quite quickly.  The 1-0 lead they had from winning at home evaporated in less than a minute.  The Galaxy couldn't clear their own box and the ball finally managed to fall to Xolo Jaime Ayovi, who easily knocked in the first goal of the match on 57 seconds, equalizing the aggregate.  By halftime, the Galaxy found themselves down 3-1.  Oops.  Still, the Xolos didn't have a road goal, and the Galaxy scored one through Robbie Keane out of halftime to make it 3-2.  One more goal and the Galaxy could take the series on road goals.  However, things fell apart in the last ten minutes Richard Ruiz scored for Tijuana in the 82nd, which put the Galaxy into full kitchen sink mode.  Keane managed his brace in the 85th, but they Galaxy were never able to tally the last needed goal and fell to the Xolos by a 4-3 aggregate.  The Galaxy fought hard, but just could not overcome the dreadful first half.

The first of two ties on Wednesday night involved Toluca hosting the San Jose Earthquakes, who came into the match tied 1-1 after yet another Goonie style comeback at Buck Shaw last week.  As an MLS fan, you have to hand it to the Quakes who were playing at 9,000 ft, much higher than Rio Tinto Stadium or even Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado.   The Quakes actually took the lead in the tie in the 56h minute through Ty Harden, but Toluca equalized 13 minutes later, sending the tie into extra time.  In the 96th minute Alan Gordon appeared to tally his second of the tie, but the goal was ruled out for offside.  It was really close call, but if you freeze fame the replay, he certainly looked even.  At any rate, the match ended up going into penalties, where Toluca picked up the victory 5-4.  The Quakes might feel a bit hard done by, but they certainly represented the league well.

That was certainly not the case for defending MLS Cup Champs Sporting Kansas City.  Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I'm still a little bitter over the MLS Cup final, and Cruz Azul is my favorite Liga MX side, so this probably isn't unbiased, but SKC laid a total egg at Estadio Azul.  Backup 'keeper Erick Kronberg got hammered and Azul blew up the the KC defense who suffered while Aurelien Collin sat on the bench.  They did their best keystone cop impression and Mario Pavone scored a hat trick on the way to a 5-1 victory in the match and 5-2 on aggregate.  It was a clueless performance from the champs, who from what I managed to see, didn't really look all that interested.  That's nice, because the supposed "best team in MLS" got obliterated on Mexican soil.  It was a result that I think sets the league back 2 or 3 years in CCL play.  Thanks Peter Vermes.  Why don't you let somebody who wants to play in next time, say, Seattle or RSL?

At any rate, MLS bows out yet again without even getting a team into the semis, let alone into the finals.  Both Houston and Canadian Champions Montreal were eliminated in the group stage.  For us RSL fans, we can continue to hold on to "we're the only ones to make the final," which stings a little as Portland was handed our spot when the qualification rules were changed AFTER the MLS season and playoffs last year, which doesn't seem fair, but whatever.  Next year we'll have the Timbers. the Red Bulls, and Sporting KC in as well as DC United (thanks to RSL's own massive egg laid in the US Open Cup final, and probably Vancouver, TFC, or Montreal provided they win the Canadian Championship.  I don't expect anything from DC United barring a massive improvement, Portland still has issues on the road and has only managed draws in it's first two home matches this season, Thierry Henry will probably come up with a reason not to play, and I really can't see Sporting KC doing any better.  So uh, maybe we hope TFC wins and goes in?  That's the ticket.

Another year, another disappointment for MLS fans.

Quakes Bounce Back to Draw Top Seed Toluca

Alan Gordon scored a stoppage time equalizer to draw Mexican side Toluca (sjearthquakes.com)

Stop me if you've heard this one: A team favored to beat the Earthquakes makes the trip to Buck Shaw Stadium, takes the lead, then seemingly has it all wrapped up going into stoppage time.  Of course, then this guy named Alan Gordon shows up, puts the ball in the back of the net, and the rest of us have to hear about "Goonie Magic" until the Quakes play again.

Well that's exactly what happened to Mexican side Toluca in CONCACAF Champions League play last night.  Toluca came in as the top seeded team in the knockout phase of the tournament and figured to have somewhat of an easy ride against the Quakes.  Toluca has had a pretty good 2014 Clausura campaign in Liga Mx as well, sitting second only to Cruz Azul.  I'll even admit that I didn't give the Quakes a chance at all in this tie.

I don't want to give the impression that the Quakes just showed up in stoppage time though.  They actually acquitted themselves fairly well for much of the match, but it was a mistake that cost them the lead in the first place.  In the 67th minute Jason Hernandez attempted to clear the ball from the Quakes' end, but saw his kick go only as far as Raul Nava, who is NOT the guy you want to gift the ball to at the edge of the box.  Nava deftly volleyed the ball past Jon Busch to give Toluca the 0-1 lead.

Fortunately for the Quakes fans, their club continued to press,  If you've watched MLS and the Quakes over the last couple of years, you know they don't give up, it just doesn't seem to be in their DNA, even after they changed coaches midway through the 2013 MLS season.  In the 79th minute Steven Lenhart headed a cross from Shea Salinas off of the crossbar.  Both JJ Koval and Alan Gordon had chances to tie the match on the rebound from this opportunity, but neither could get the ball through all the traffic in front of the Toluca goal.

So it seemed like that might be all she wrote as the match entered second half stoppage time.  Of course as it turns out, the Quakes had Toluca right where they wanted them.  In the fourth minute of added time, Salinas again provided a dangerous cross into the box.  This time it was Gordon who got his head to it first, and he didn't miss, bouncing his header in off the post to knot the match at 1-1, which was also the score at full time.

All in all the Quakes did a pretty good job last night, but Toluca are still going to be in the driver seat in this tie.  Next week the two sides will head down to Mexico and Toluca's Estadio Nemesio Diez to settle the score.  I don't think the Quakes will be able to rely on "Goonie Magic" in Mexico.  They'll have to finish their chances and more importantly keep the high flying Toluca side out of the goal as well.  It's just really hard to see San Jose coming away with a win in Mexico, but then again, you can never count this team out until the final whistle has sounded.

Mixed Results for MLS at the End of CCL Group Stage.

The group stage of the 2013-2014 CONCACAF Champions League wrapped up last night, and it was a mixed summer for MLS squads.  This year the LA Galaxy, Houston Dynamo, San Jose Earthquakes, and Sporting Kansas City filled the four US slots in the tournament while fellow MLS side Montreal Impact took the one Canadian slot available.  Three of the five MLS clubs will be moving on, but each one will face a tough Liga Mx side in the quarterfinals.

As RSL found out last year, the new tourney format with 8 groups and only the winner advancing is quite unforgiving.  The Dynamo learned this lesson last night as well as they fell to Arabe Unido 1-0 in Panama, which knocked them out of the tournament.  Of course, they continued to participate in what to me is a disturbing trend, MLS clubs fielding weaker sides in these matches.  Now, it's hard to blame the Dynamo for doing this when they have their regular season finale this weekend with the playoffs on the line, but it still goes to show where most MLS clubs rank this tournament.

Also in action last night were the LA Galaxy who traveled to El Salvador to take on to take on Isidro Metapan.  The Galaxy also fielded a weakened side, but their passage to the next round was already assured.  However, Metapan forward Nicholas Munoz dropped an insane 4 goals on the defending MLS Champs to crush them 4-0.  The Galaxy dropped from the 1 to the 6 seed in the next round with the loss, which as we'll see in a minute, created an interesting matchup.

Wednesday night Sporting Kansas City and the San Jose Earthquakes secured their passage to the knockout rounds as well.  Sporting held Honduran side Olimpia to a 0-0 draw at Sporting Park and the Quakes managed a 1-0 win over Heredia at Buck Shaw, thanks to a goal from Chris Wondolowski.

With all that said, here are the CCL Quarterfinal pairings, with the higher seed listed first:

Toluca vs San Jose Earthquakes
Cruz Azul vs Sporting Kansas City
Club Tijuana vs LA Galaxy
Arabe Unido vs Alajuelense

Honestly, I don't see much hope for MLS sides in this draw.  The Liga MX sides will be into their second half and the MLS sides will be looking at preseason type form.  Toluca should smash the the Quakes.  Sporting could have a shot at Cruz Azul if they can win at home.  The most interesting matchup is Tijuana and Herculez Gomez vs the Galaxy.  The Xolos haven't exactly been setting Liga Mx on fire, currently placed 12th out of 18.  However I still think this is going to be a tough ask for the Galaxy.  Should be a great tie to watch though.  Maybe Fox Sports 1 will actually show it, if not I can watch it on the Mexican broadcast I guess.  I'm sure Fox will have better things to show, like 20 consecutive replays of it's highlights show.

Puddle's Goal of the Weekend: Juan Carlos Cacho vs, Guadalajara

For my goal of the weekend I take you to the first week of action in the newly rebranded Liga Mx. Check out this outside of the box strike from Toluca's Juan Carlos Cacho. It would prove to be the game winner.

Mexico Match Thoughts: Toluca vs, Chivas de Guadalajara

Toluca's Juan Carlos Cacho celebrates his first goal of the season (AP Photo)

To say that Chivas disappointed in last year's Clausura is a bit of an understatement.  Going winless in their last 5 in domestic league play, they made some high profile changes in the off-season.  They brought in former Melbourne Heart manager John Van't Schip to take the helm of the club, and they added two high profile players, Luis Perez and Rafael Marquez Lugo.

 

Toluca didn't seem to care a lick about this though, and showed it very early in the match.  In the very first minute midfielder Zinha smacked a shot on target that had to be saved by Luis Michel for Chivas.  His respite didn't last long though.  In the second minute, Chivas turned the ball over in the midfield and Toluca forward Carlos Esquivel came charging toward the goal.  He unleashed a drive toward the inside of the near post, and Michel dove over it, totally missing the ball as it went into the net and Toluca took a 1-0 lead.

 

Conceding seemed to wake Chivas up a bit, and they started to control the ball.  Their first chance came on 16 minutes as Ernesto Perez set up for a direct free kick outside of the penalty arc.  Unfortunately for the Goats, his shot sailed high and failed to trouble the 'keeper.

 

Toluca would manage to tack on another goal before the half as well.  In the 32nd minute, Lucas Silva played Juan Carlos Cacho in behind the rather high Chivas back line.  The Toluca attacker then slammed a shot toward the near post from outside of the area.  Michel dove to his right, and managed to get a hand to it, but it wasn't enough to turn the shot away as Toluca took a 2-0 lead into halftime.

 

Chivas largely took control of the match in the second half, and slowly started to zero in on the Toluca goal.  In the 62nd minute the aforementioned Rafa Marquez Lugo got a decent look from close range, but his shot was from a rather tough angle, and he missed the target.  Lugo wasn't done though.  In the 67th minute he unleashed another shot that just missed the far post.  Finally in the 68th he took a ball from Erick Torres and slotted home his first goal in a Chivas kit to make it 2-1.

 

That was about all the Goats could manage though.  In the 79th minute, Jesus Sanchez tried his luck at an equalizer, but Toluca 'keeper Alfredo Talavera was up to the task, saving the shot and preserving the 2-1 win for Toluca at home.

Mexico Match Thoughts: Toluca vs. Pachuca

This was definitely was one of the better matches I've seen out of Mexico this year. Okay, well maybe not the best played, but it really was entertaining. I don't know all of the history of the Primera Division that well, but it's certainly one of the best comebacks I've seen as a footy fan.

So why exactly did Pachuca have to execute such a comeback in the first place? It really was a nightmare start for the visitors. In fact I don't think I could say I've ever seen a worse start to a match. Toluca brought the ball into the area right off the kick off, and tried a cross. The ball deflected off of Pachuca defender Javier Munoz Mustafa and into the net to make it 1-0 after just 14 seconds. Damn.

Life didn't get any better for Pachuca in the early going either. After what was to happen in the 9th minute, Mustafa probably just wished he could just go back to bed. He brought down Toluca's Ivan Alonso in the box to concede a PK. Oops. Alonso then in turn iced the spot kick to make it 2-0 to Toluca on 11 minutes.

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse for Pachuca, it did. In the 16th minute Nestor Calderon ended up with the ball after a short corner. He blasted it into the top corner of the far post to make it 3-0. There was absolutely nothing the 'keeper could do about it. At least that goal wasn't self inflicted though.

It looked like the route was on, and Toluca continued to go through the rest of the first half controlling possession, but Pachuca had no intention of going away. Their weapon of choice to get back into the match was the counter attack. They sprung the first in the 36th minute as Mauro Cejas streaked into the Toluca eighteen and slid the ball past the 'keeper to make it 3-1.

Still, Toluca didn't panic. The thought had to be to get into the half without giving up another goal and regroup. Again, Pachuca had other ideas. They struck on another counter in the 41st minute as Daniel Arguello nailed a GOLAZO from the top of the box into the top of the net to make it 3-2 going into the interval.

The second half had a very different tone, and Pachuca was in charge, despite being down a goal. Toluca just looked like they had completely fallen out of a match they once led by three goals. The equalizer finally came in the 64th minute when Marco Bueno Ontiveros knocked in a cross off of his foot to make it 3-3.

Toluca gained a little life after that, but never really threatened to take the 3 points back. Their best chance came in the 69th minute as Esquivel forced a save out of the 'keeper, but that was about all Toluca could manage.

The match went into stoppage time and looked to be headed for a certain draw, but Pachuca took the chance to seize the three points late. In the 1st minute of added time, Ontiveros broke free and got one on one with Toluca keeper Alfredo Talavera. Talavera made a diving stab for the ball near the top of the area, but brought down Ontiveros in the process, conceding a PK. It was the right call, and Talavera really didn't put up much of a fight. In the end, Cejas stepped up and converted the penalty to give Pachuca a 3-4 win. All in all a thrilling conclusion to an entertaining if sloppy match.