Puddle's Goal of the Midweek: Osvaldo Alonso vs. Cal FC

I'm not sure a better goal will be scored in the US Open Cup this year. Check out Ossie Alonso's strike vs. Cal FC. It's the obvious goal of the tournament so far.

Edson Buddle Set to Miss Up to 6 Weeks

Bad news on the injury front for the LA Galaxy.  It seems that the horrible year for the defending MLS Cup champs just keeps getting worse.  They reacquired Edson Buddle before the season after he was released from his German side.  It's been a tough year, as he's only scored 2 goals. 

He missed the Galaxy's US Open Cup loss to the Carloina Railhawks despite making the trip.  Yesterday the Galaxy announced that Buddle will miss the next 3-6 weeks after having knee surgery.  Oops.  They are know without both Buddle and Robbie Keane at least until Ireland is eliminated from Euro 2012.  Plus it honestly doesn't seem like the Ireland Captain is that enamored with MLS in the first place, so I wouldn't be surprised to see him exit in the summer transfer window.

I'm not a Galaxy fan in the slightest, but the Puddle wishes Buddle a speedy recovery.  He is a very good player, and the league is at it's best when the best players are on the pitch.  On a side note, Galaxy midfielder Dan Keat (who?) will also miss up to six weeks with a knee injury.

US Open Cup 4th Round Review

Last night wasn't quite as bad for MLS teams in the US Open Cup.  After all, DC and Colorado lost to other MLS sides.  However, there was at least one major disappointment for the MLS faithful to swallow as well.

That disappointment was the New York Red Bulls.  They lost 3-1 to the Harrisburg City Islanders in extra time.  The Islanders are known for giant killing in this tourney, but that's not likely to console the Red Bulls.  With the match knotted at 1-1 in the 4th minute of extra time, former Red Bull Sainey Touray lobbed a shot in over Ryan Meara to make it 2-1.  After the Red Bulls were incorrectly denied a PK for a handball, Lucky Mkosana fired home the final nail in the coffin in the 112th minute to make the final 3-1.

Handball in the box also played a significant roll in Chivas USA's 1-2 at the Carolina Railhawks.  Carolina had just taken down the Galaxy in the last round, but couldn't pull off the double over the LA teams.  Juan Pablo Angel hit a penalty kick in second half stoppage time after a Railhawk's defender handled in the box to give the Goats the win.

As mentioned earlier, there were two matches that took place between MLS sides.  Philadelphia needed extra time to overcome DC United 1-2 at DC.  At Livestrong Sporting Park, Sporting Kansas City shut down the Colorado Rapids en route to a 2-0 win.

The most interesting match of the night was supposed to be Seattle Sounders vs Cal FC at Seattle's Starfire Sports complex.  Amateur side Cal FC, coached by former US Soccer great Eric Wynalda, pulled off the upset in round 3 against Portland, but Seattle was just too big of an ask.  Despite being held scoreless in the first half, the Sounders poured on five in the second, two by Fredy Montero, to make it 5-0 at full time.

The evening's slate was rounded out in San Jose where the Earthquakes were pitted against Minnesota Stars FC, who took down Real Salt Lake last week at Rio Tinto Stadium.  Minnesota couldn't pull off the upset for the second straight week, as a goal from Steven Lenhart propelled San Jose to the 1-0 win.

Two other matches were held without MLS sides.  The Dayton Dutch Lions beat the Michigan Bucks 2-1 and the Charlotte Eagles took down NASL's San Antonio Scorpions 2-1 in extra time.

EPL: Liverpool and Aston Villa Name New Managers

Liverpool named Swansea Boss Brenden Rodgers as their new manager

Late last week two of the bigger questions in the EPL offseason were answered.  Who would take over the helm at both Liverpool and Aston Villa?  Liverpool sacked King Kenny after spending a ton of money and only getting the League Cup to show for it.  Aston Villa sacked Alex McLeish for sucking so bad that the club was nearly relegated.  Interestingly enough, both clubs went with younger managers who had brought their respective former teams up to the Premier League the year before.

First in line Liverpool announced on Friday that Swansea City boss Brenden Rodgers had been selected as their new man.  Rodgers led newly promoted Swansea City to an 11th place finish on 47 points.  His side was credited with playing some of the most attractive football in the Premier League.  The 39 year old has previously managed Watford and Reading as well.  He also worked under Jose Mourinho at Chelsea.

Swansea will not come away empty handed though.  Liverpool will compensate them for the fact that Rodgers was still under contract.  According to Swansea the two teams also agreed that Rodgers would not attempt to sign any Swansea players for 12 months.  Liverpool has yet to confirm this however.

Aston Villa announced their new manager over the weekend as well, though with considerably less fanfare and more controversy.  They appointed Norwich City manager Paul Lambert as their new boss.  This did not make Norwich very happy.  Supposedly Lambert tendered his resignation to Norwich last Tuesday, but the Canaries did not accept it.  There hasn't been much word on other details.

Lambert led Norwich to a 12th place finish last year, also on 47 points.  His managerial experience includes Livingston, Wycombe, and Colchester before leading the Canaries up through the ranks.  Villa was also criticized for prying McLeish loose from Birmingham City last year, so it will be interesting to see how this newest experiment works out.  Personally, I think Villa needs more than a new manager.

Puddle's Goal of the Weekend: Danny Welbeck vs, Belgium

Not a ton of goals to be seen out there this weekend, but check out Danny Welbeck's silky smooth finish vs Belgium that ultimately led to the 1-0 win for the Three Lions

USA Settles For Uninspiring Draw vs Canada

Herculez Gomez & Kevin McKenna fight for the ball.  (Getty Images)

So fans of US Soccer were wondering which US team would show up tonight, the team that handled Scotland 5-1 or the team that looked brutally bad in the loss to Brazil?  In the end, it wasn't quite either.  While the US side didn't have total defensive meltdown that they did against Brazil, they didn't have any of the attacking creativity that they showed against Scotland either.  The final result was a goalless draw in Toronto that Canada should have won.

It was an exciting night to start for the USA.  Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey were starting together for the first time since Jurgen Klinsmann took over, and hopes were high for some decent offensive output from the two best Americans on the pitch.  It really didn't come off though.

The Canadians were more than happy to let the USA come out and play kickball.  Klinsmann's boys spent a good portion of the first 45 minutes kicking the ball around the edge of their offensive third, but really couldn't get much traction against a very organized and determined Canadian defense.  The lone real highlight of the first half, as far as the Americans were concerned, came in the 15th minute when Fabian Castillo lobbed in volley from 35+ yards.  It looked like it might creep under the bar, but Canadian 'keeper Lars Hirschfeld tracked back and tipped it over for a corner.

Canada really should have had a lead going into halftime though.  In the 34th minute Dwayne De Rosario got the ball to Nik Ledgerwood on the USA left flank.  Ledgerwood smacked the ball into the goal to seemingly give the home side the 1-0 lead, however the linesman raised his flag for seemingly invisible foul and the goal was disallowed.  DeRo told Kyle Martino that he asked the linesman about it at halftime, but the linesman could not tell him who the foul was on or the circumstances.

Things really didn't get any better for the Americans in the second half.  In fact Canada spent a lot of time on the front foot.  They peppered Tim Howard with shots, but nothing really troubled the Everton 'keeper.  The match had 0-0 draw written all over it.

Both teams took a shot late on though.  In the first minute of stoppage time DeRo sent a nice centering pass into the six yard box.  Simeon Jackson got to it, but somehow poked it wide of the near post, leaving the Canadian fans in agony.  Then the USA nearly stole it in the final minute of stoppage time.  Michael Bradley sent a ball into the box and it found the head of Clarence Goodson, who put the shot on target.  Fortunately for Canada Hirschfeld jumped up and made a great save, preserving the draw on the Centennial Celebration of the Canadian Soccer Association.

Both teams will play World Cup qualifiers later in the week.  On Friday Canada will play at Cuba and the US will host Antigua and Barbuda in Tampa, FL.

Galaxy and the Union Feel the Sting of MLS Suspensions

The MLS disciplinary returned from their memorial day vacation today and dropped the hammer on players from the LA Galaxy and Philadelphia Union.  The Houston vs. LA match featured two incidents, and the TFC vs. Philly game featured another.

The biggest news comes out of the LA matchup.  Galaxy midfielder Michael Stephens was suspended 1 game for his challenge of Houston's Adam Moffat in the 46th minute.  This comes under the "endangering the safety of his opponent" heading.  Forward/wannabe 'keeper Mike Magee was also suspended 1 game for something new called "aggravated dissent."  This includes throwing a ball in the general direction of the referee in the 92nd minute.  FC Dallas fans are probably wondering if Magee would have gotten 3 games had he hit the ref.  I'm wondering, since we can suspend guys for "aggravated dissent," can we suspend David Beckham for "aggravating dissent?"  Both players were fined the obligatory undisclosed amount.

There was more bad news for the Union as well.  Not only did they actually lose to TFC, but forward Lionard Pajoy was suspended for 1 game and fined as well.  His suspension arises from the cleaning out of TFC's Joao Plata in the 29th minute.  This is pretty bad for the Union as Pajoy has been one of the only players who really looks capable of scoring goals.