MLS Slaps Beckham on the Hand, Fines Two Coaches

Ah yes, that time every week when the MLS Disciplinary Committee comes out and largely makes a fool of itself by handing down (or not handing down) punishments for the past weekend's offenses.  It's like waiting to hear about a US Supreme Court decision, only much more lame.  You may fault the Supreme Court's logic in the recent health care ruling, but they seem down right logical next to what came out of MLS today.

Rewind to last weekend's California Clasico.  Ok, first off, MLS doesn't have "clasicos."  Lets stop pretending we do.  Rivalry?  Yes.  Derby?  Sure.  Clasico?  Get outta here. 

But I digress.

Last weekend David Beckham showed us all what a complete and utter tool he can be during the Galaxy's loss to the San Jose Earthquakes.  Not only did he stomp all over the pitch throwing temper tantrums like the spoiled brat he actually is, but he got into it with the Earthquakes' MASCOT.  He also kicked a ball square at the referee, who happened to be attending to an "injured" Earthquakes player at the time.  I guess Becky-wecky was a little peeved that he didn't make the Great Britain Olympic team.

News flash dude, you play in MLS.  Your once formidable team is mired midtable.  Nobody cares.

Anyway, MLS really had the chance the drop the hammer on Beckham.  After all, Brek Shea got a three game ban for kicking the ball at a linesman a couple of months ago against the Crew.  MLS handed down Beckham's punishment today.  He got a once match ban.  Double standard much?  Yes, I know Beckham missed the last match against Philly for yellow card accumulation, but that's altogether separate.  MLS had a chance to come out and show they treat players equally in this process.  What they actually showed is that a meal ticket like Beckham is head and shoulders above everybody else, even the league's other bona fide stars like Brek Shea.  So Beckham will miss this weekend's match at Chicago.  I doubt he cares one lick.

In other semi interesting disciplinary news, MLS hit Galaxy coach Bruce Arena and Montreal coach Jesse Marsch with fines of undisclosed amounts for complaining about the officials.  Arena complains all the time.  Marsch felt his team was cheated by some questionable PK calls against Sporting Kansas City.

No word on if or when MLS will actually admit that their officials stink.

Match Thoughts Portland Timbers vs. San Jose Earthquakes

Portland's Eric Alexander and San Jose's Chris Wondolowski. (AP Photo)

The San Jose Earthquakes have looked to be near invincible at times this year.  They've been the best team in MLS at getting the crucial goal or the crucial stop just when they've needed it.  Their last two victims, RSL and the LA Galaxy, could testify to as much.   On the other hand, Portland was coming off of a 3 goal pounding at the hands of Colorado, and they needed this match in a big way.

Coach Jon Spencer had them playing like they needed it pretty much right out of the gate.  Portland moved the ball with a lot of confidence against the San Jose defense and looked poised to carve out some chances.  The first of them came in minute seven, as Franck Songo'o hit a shot on target that forced a save out of David Bingham in the San Jose net.  

That didn't quite wake the Quakes up enough.  In the 15th minute Eric Alexander found his way through the blue clad defense and hit a shot that rattled off the post and away from danger.  Then in the 22nd minute Darlington Nagbe took a little a drop off pass from Kris Boyd in the area, but banged his shot over the bar.  He probably puts that on frame eight out of ten times.

The Timbers kept up the pressure and finally broke through in the 29th minute.  The Rose City men sprung a nice looking counter up their right side and Songo'o picked out newcomer Danny Mwanga with a pass into the box.  The former Union man perfectly timed a right footed strike into the top of the net to give the Timbers a 1-0 lead over San Jose, and that score held into the break.

The Timbers had a great chance to build on their solid first half right off the bat in the second.  In minute 48, both Nagbe and Alexander had good looks blocked, and the second rebound fell to Lovell Palmer, who smacked a shot on target only to have Bingham make the save. 

However in the 59th they did succeed in doubling their lead.  It's important to note that John Busch, the regular San Jose keeper, was out with an eye injury.  Backup David Bingham dropped the ball after saving a shot from Futty Danso and Timbers Captain Jack Jewsbury was there to escort the ball over the line to make it 2-0 to Portland.

It's never over against the Quakes though.  They subbed Steven Lenhart into the match, and the Sideshow commenced.  He made an immediate impact, smacking a shot just over the bar in minute 64.  Ten minutes after that, Marvin Chavez had his shot blocked, but the ever opportunistic Alan Gordon was right there to bang home the rebound and make it 2-1 with 15 minutes left.

The Quakes put a lot pf pressure on the Portland goal throughout those last 15 minutes.  Unfortunately for them, the breaks just didn't fall their way.  They did get an obscene SIX MINUTES of stoppage time, but only fashioned one chance.  In the 93rd minute Gordon got a header shot toward net off of a free kick, but it sailed wide and the Timbers held on for the 2-1 win.

Puddle's Goal of the Midweek: Danny Mwanga vs. San Jose

Our goal of the midweek comes courtesy of MLS. Check out Danny Mwanga's perfectly timed strike as the Portland Timbers took down the 1st Place San Jose Earthquakes 2-1.

Match Thoughts: Houston Dynamo vs. Philadelphia Union

Brian Ching puts the Dynamo in the lead from the spot. (Getty Images)

The Philadelphia Union traveled to Houston and the new BBVA Compass Stadium Saturday hoping to build on the momentum of their previous home victory against Sporting Kansas City.  The Dynamo were looking forward to some home cooking after a lackluster performance last time out against the Montreal Impact.

The Union have certainly been playing better since the dismissal of Peter Nowack as manager, but the Dynamo controlled this match early on.  Brad Davis was very active, as per usual, and they were also featuring a brand new designated player.  Honduran attacker Oscar Boniek Garcia, a Gold Cup veteran, made his debut for the club and looked pretty good.  He didn't do anything flashy, but definitely helped set up the attack as Houston debuted a new 4-3-3 formation.

The Dynamo put some decent pressure on the Philly goal in the first 20 minutes, and it finally paid off in the 19th.  Mac Kandji took a cross from Boniek Garcia near the top of the area and laid it off to Brad Davis.  Davis, ever the expert marksman, chipped the ball over the 'keeper and nestled it into the side netting to give the Dynamo a 1-0 lead.

Houston would also have a chance to double the lead before the half.  Set pieces are a forte of this club, and they nearly made another one pay off in the 34th minute.  Brad Davis found the head of US International Geoff Cameron, but the big central defender somehow missed the target with his shot and the half ended at 1-0.

The Union came out like a totally different team in the second half though and equalized almost immediately.  In the 46th minute Brian Carroll connected with one Keon Daniel, who blasted the ball past Tally Hall into the bottom of the goal to tie the match at 1-1 and send the Dynamo reeling.

Philadelphia would continue to press for the go ahead goal in the next minutes and the Dynamo put out a lot of work to withstand the storm.  Michael Farfan had a shot saved by Hall in the 48th minute, and Gabriel Gomez had a shot blocked in the 53rd.  Their best chance came in the 72nd minute when super sub Antoine Hoppenot sent a shot just over Tally Hall's crossbar.  

However the game changer happened in the the 81st minute when Gabe Farfan brought down Brian Ching in the 18 to concede a PK.  The Houston main-stay then stepped up himself to take the kick, and iced it to make the score 2-1 in the 82nd and hand the Dynamo 3 points at home.  It was also his first goal in the new Stadium, which is often called "the house that Ching built."

Match Thoughts: Columbus Crew vs. Real Salt Lake

RSL's Borchers & Tanaka battle the Crew's Tony Tchani (Getty Images)

A major storm system blew through central Ohio early this weekend and left many of the residents without power.  This included the guys from Real Salt Lake, who were in town to play the Columbus Crew Saturday night.  Power was restored to Crew Stadium and the match was held, but RSL continued to suffer a power outage on the pitch as the Crew roared to a convincing 2-0 victory.

RSL barely had time to get a feel for the match when the Crew took advantage of the Claret and Cobalt's continued defensive woes to tally the first score.  In the 16th minute Emilio Renteria took a ball from Sebastian Miranda and worked his way past RSL's Chris Wingert.  He laid the ball off to Tony Tchani, who was hanging out in the middle of the penalty area, and Tchani expertly slid the ball into the RSL net to make it 1-0 to the Crew'

However it wasn't just the defense that struggled for RSL in this one.  They also had issues getting anything going on offense.  This can be par for the course against the Crew, who can be pretty stingy in their half of the pitch.  Plus Andy Gruenebaum has been outstanding in net all year.  Javi Morales managed to get a free kick shot on target in the 36th minute, but it went right to the aforementioned G-Baum for an easy save.  It would be one of only two shots on target for RSL.

The Crew doubled their lead in the 44th minute, and it was yet another goal from a set piece chance.  These have doomed RSL of late.  Chris Birchall sent in a corner and Josh Williams managed to bring it down for Eddie Gaven.  Gaven then calmly stroked the ball past Nick Rimando to make it 2-0 going into the half.

There honestly wasn't much doing for either side in the second half as the Crew were in complete control.  RSL did have a decent chance to get one goal back in the 71st minute when Emiliano Bonfigli forced a late clearance from the Crew defense in front of goal.  In the end it was all RSL could muster and the Crew hung on for the comfortable 2-0 win.

NOTES:  RSL was without Captain Kyle Beckerman, who was suspended for yellow card accumulation.  Also Ned Grabavoy and Jamison Olave did not travel with the team due to injury concerns.  The match started 1 hour late due to the power issues, and RSL had no AC in their hotel for most of the weekend.  However, the team correctly refused to make excuses either for loss by blaming either of these conditions.  They'll look to right the ship at home Wednesday against Seattle.  The Crew will get some down time, as their next match is July 8 in Montreal.

Puddle's Goal of the Weekend: Wondo Flicks Quakes Past L.A.

Our goal of the weekend takes us to Major League Soccer's California Clasico.  Late in the match MLS leading scorer Chris Wondolowski put the Quakes ahead for good with this cheeky little flick goal!

Congrats to Spain! Euro 2012 Champions!

Action Images

The Puddle would like to extend congratulations to the players, staff, and supporters of Spain for capturing the Euro 2012 Championship.  Today they completed their incredible run to their latest trophy, beating Italy in convincing fashion, 4-0.

By capturing the title, they also made a little bit of history.  With previous wins in Euro 2008 and the FIFA World Cup in South Africa in 2010, they earned their 3rd consecutive major international trophy.  Very impressive!  They're clearly the best in the world right now, and in my opinion, they have to be in the argument for best national side ever.

There's an extra little tidbit for my fellow Chelsea supporters:  Fernando Torres was awarded the Euro 2012 Golden Boot!