So last night New York Red Bulls took down FC Dallas at Pizza Hut Park to become the first team to advance out of the wildcard games. They subbed in Mehdi Ballouchy in the scoen half, and he immediately made an impact, getting the ball to Joel Lindpere who slotted home the eventual game winning goal. Thierry Henry score his first career MLS Cup playoff goal deep into stoppage time to make the full time result 0-2.
Tonight the Colorado Rapids went into the Eastern Conference with a home win over the Columbus Crew at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. Omar Cummings scored the game's only goal right before half time. They built on a nice effort from Brian Mullan and Sanna Nyassi, and also managed to keep Mendoza quiet and ineffective for the Crew.
So the MLS season is now over for Columbus and FC Dallas. New York Red Bulls will host the LA Galaxy in the first of a two legged series this weekend. The Rapids will host Sporting KC in the first leg of that semi final as well.
Congrats to both clubs that managed to keep their seasons alive for at least a couple more games.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011
Stevie Nicol Out As Manager of New England Revolution
Major League Soccer's New England Revolution announced today that they are parting with long time head coach Stevie Nicol. It is being described as a mutual agreement to part ways.
Despite a very successful career with the Revs, including 4 MLS Cup Final appearances, a US Open Cup, and a Super Liga title, Nicol has seen the team flounder the last couple of years as manager. The Revs had not made the MLS playoffs since 2009. This season they finished dead last in the Eastern Conference and tied the expansion Vancouver Whitecaps with only 28 points for the lowest total. They also won one fewer match.
That's a tough job up there in New England, and Stevie had held it for ten years. That's a record tenure as an MLS manager. His career record in MLS is 112-108-81. The 112 wins puts him fourth on the MLS all time list.
Best of luck to Mr. Nicol in the future. He's a quality manager.
Despite a very successful career with the Revs, including 4 MLS Cup Final appearances, a US Open Cup, and a Super Liga title, Nicol has seen the team flounder the last couple of years as manager. The Revs had not made the MLS playoffs since 2009. This season they finished dead last in the Eastern Conference and tied the expansion Vancouver Whitecaps with only 28 points for the lowest total. They also won one fewer match.
That's a tough job up there in New England, and Stevie had held it for ten years. That's a record tenure as an MLS manager. His career record in MLS is 112-108-81. The 112 wins puts him fourth on the MLS all time list.
Best of luck to Mr. Nicol in the future. He's a quality manager.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Mario Balotelli's "Why Always Me" T-Shirt vs. Manchester United
Photo Credit: epltalk.com (View the original here)
Mario Balotelli sporting his "Why Always Me?" shirt after putting City up 1-0 over United in the 22nd minute of Sunday's Manchester Derby. Balotelli was given a yellow card on the play for pulling his jersey over his head. No humor allowed in soccer.
At least it didn't say "John 3:16"
Mario Balotelli sporting his "Why Always Me?" shirt after putting City up 1-0 over United in the 22nd minute of Sunday's Manchester Derby. Balotelli was given a yellow card on the play for pulling his jersey over his head. No humor allowed in soccer.
At least it didn't say "John 3:16"
EPL: Queens Park Rangers vs. Chelsea
This match just drove me nuts as a Chelsea fan. A stupid penalty, two idiotic red cards, and a whole bunch of yellows. Oh, and a loss on a day where we could have picked up points and moved to second.
While the sides were even on men, Chelsea were definitely the better side. They were zeroing in on the goal, meanwhile QPR was hardly seeing anything of the ball.
However the house started to come down at Loftus Road in the 8th minute. David Luiz pushed Heidar Helguson in the box, with his back to the goal. In a somewhat delayed reaction, the QPR man fell on the floor and the ref awarded a PK, which Helguson himself barely managed to get out of reach of Petr Cech to make it 1-0 to QPR. Yes, Luiz gave him a little shove. Certainly not enough to knock him over. If it was, he's a wimp. Not to mention seconds before he was pushing on Luiz. A soft penalty if there ever was such a thing.
It would be the game's only goal.
Chelsea made their situation steadily worse. In the 32nd minute Bosingwa brought down Shaun Wright-Phillips. He was judged to be the last man. Bosingwa saw red and was sent off. Personally, I thought John Terry was also in the play, but the ref disagreed.
Then Didier Drogba got himself sent off a few minutes before half time with a stupid two footed tackle. Not blaming the ref for this one at all, just a dumb move by Drogba.
Chelsea played the entire second half down to NINE men. Despite this, they had the best chances and were still clearly the better side. Anelka had a couple of really good looks and both Lampard and Luiz had penalty appeals turned down, each of which I thought were at least as legit as the softer than soft one QPR got.
QPR went on to win 1-0. I'm not going to blame the ref. He doesn't kick the ball, and Chelsea had plenty of chances. Still, Foy was obviously card happy and seemed bound and determined to play a lead role in today's match. Unfortunately in the end it was the lack of discipline that undid the Blues.
While the sides were even on men, Chelsea were definitely the better side. They were zeroing in on the goal, meanwhile QPR was hardly seeing anything of the ball.
However the house started to come down at Loftus Road in the 8th minute. David Luiz pushed Heidar Helguson in the box, with his back to the goal. In a somewhat delayed reaction, the QPR man fell on the floor and the ref awarded a PK, which Helguson himself barely managed to get out of reach of Petr Cech to make it 1-0 to QPR. Yes, Luiz gave him a little shove. Certainly not enough to knock him over. If it was, he's a wimp. Not to mention seconds before he was pushing on Luiz. A soft penalty if there ever was such a thing.
It would be the game's only goal.
Chelsea made their situation steadily worse. In the 32nd minute Bosingwa brought down Shaun Wright-Phillips. He was judged to be the last man. Bosingwa saw red and was sent off. Personally, I thought John Terry was also in the play, but the ref disagreed.
Then Didier Drogba got himself sent off a few minutes before half time with a stupid two footed tackle. Not blaming the ref for this one at all, just a dumb move by Drogba.
Chelsea played the entire second half down to NINE men. Despite this, they had the best chances and were still clearly the better side. Anelka had a couple of really good looks and both Lampard and Luiz had penalty appeals turned down, each of which I thought were at least as legit as the softer than soft one QPR got.
QPR went on to win 1-0. I'm not going to blame the ref. He doesn't kick the ball, and Chelsea had plenty of chances. Still, Foy was obviously card happy and seemed bound and determined to play a lead role in today's match. Unfortunately in the end it was the lack of discipline that undid the Blues.
EPL: Manchester United vs. Manchester City
Well, if you've ever wanted to see United totally get their butts kicked at Old Trafford, then I hope you caught this derby today. Personally, I pretty much never pull for either of these sides, but as the match wore on, I kept pulling for City to keep pouring it on and give United a bit of their own medicine.
Things didn't start out bad for the Red Devils though. In fact they controlled the possession for a good bit of the opening half. What they weren't doing though is creating any chances. Joe Hart wasn't quite able to pull out a deck chair, as the action was in his half, but United seemed to be having trouble breaking down City's defenses. The only half chance they got came in the 17th minute, but Ashley Young saw his shot blocked.
Then City climbed into the match. Actually I'd say they put everybody on notice. In the 22nd minute James Milner sent a cross into Mario Balotelli. The somewhat troubled Italian striker slotted it past David De Gea cool as you like in the bottom corner to give City the 1-0 lead. Balotelli promptly pulled up his shirt to reveal a T Shirt that read "Why Always Me?" It was hilarious. The referee didn't fins it funny though and gave Balotelli a yellow card.
Now it was time to see if the strike would wake up the Red Devils. It didn't really. They tried, a little. Both Anderson and Rooney forced saves out of Joe Hart before half time, but neither of them were particularly difficult, at City lead 1-0 at the break.
Whatever Sir Alex said to his club during the interval was tossed out the window almost immediately in the second half. In the 47th minute Johnny Evans hauled down Mario Balotelli around the penalty arc denying a clear goal scoring opportunity. He received the red card and put United down a goal and a man. Thirteen minutes later Balotelli completed his brace, flicking home yet another beautiful ball from Milner to make it 0-2. Then in the 69th Sergio Aguero got his first derby goal off another cross to make it 0-3, and that looked to be all she wrote,
Well, not so fast. United did manage a goal here. Darren Fletcher managed to beat Joe Hart in the 81st minute to make it 1-3. Chicharito checked in and the United crowd came to life, hoping for another historic comeback.
Well it wasn't to be today. In fact, after the Fletcher goal, United fell completely apart. City would pour on not 1, not 2, but three goals in the remaining minutes. Dzeko scored 2 after subbing in and David Silva added one to make the final tally 1-6 in favor of City.
How historic was this? Well, It was the worst home loss for United in 80 years. It was their worst loss in the Premier League era, and was the worst loss ever for Sir Alex either as a player or manager.
Noisy Neighbors indeed.
Things didn't start out bad for the Red Devils though. In fact they controlled the possession for a good bit of the opening half. What they weren't doing though is creating any chances. Joe Hart wasn't quite able to pull out a deck chair, as the action was in his half, but United seemed to be having trouble breaking down City's defenses. The only half chance they got came in the 17th minute, but Ashley Young saw his shot blocked.
Then City climbed into the match. Actually I'd say they put everybody on notice. In the 22nd minute James Milner sent a cross into Mario Balotelli. The somewhat troubled Italian striker slotted it past David De Gea cool as you like in the bottom corner to give City the 1-0 lead. Balotelli promptly pulled up his shirt to reveal a T Shirt that read "Why Always Me?" It was hilarious. The referee didn't fins it funny though and gave Balotelli a yellow card.
Now it was time to see if the strike would wake up the Red Devils. It didn't really. They tried, a little. Both Anderson and Rooney forced saves out of Joe Hart before half time, but neither of them were particularly difficult, at City lead 1-0 at the break.
Whatever Sir Alex said to his club during the interval was tossed out the window almost immediately in the second half. In the 47th minute Johnny Evans hauled down Mario Balotelli around the penalty arc denying a clear goal scoring opportunity. He received the red card and put United down a goal and a man. Thirteen minutes later Balotelli completed his brace, flicking home yet another beautiful ball from Milner to make it 0-2. Then in the 69th Sergio Aguero got his first derby goal off another cross to make it 0-3, and that looked to be all she wrote,
Well, not so fast. United did manage a goal here. Darren Fletcher managed to beat Joe Hart in the 81st minute to make it 1-3. Chicharito checked in and the United crowd came to life, hoping for another historic comeback.
Well it wasn't to be today. In fact, after the Fletcher goal, United fell completely apart. City would pour on not 1, not 2, but three goals in the remaining minutes. Dzeko scored 2 after subbing in and David Silva added one to make the final tally 1-6 in favor of City.
How historic was this? Well, It was the worst home loss for United in 80 years. It was their worst loss in the Premier League era, and was the worst loss ever for Sir Alex either as a player or manager.
Noisy Neighbors indeed.
A League Action: Adelaide United vs Sydney FC
Coming into this one at Hindmarsh Sydney FC had yet to score a goal on the new A League campaign. I guess you'd have to forgive Adelaide if they thought they were going to have it easy in front of a great crowd at their home ground. However, it didn't quite turn out that way.
Sydney was really the better side from the opening whistle. You could tell by the the crisp way they moved the ball that they were coming out in a positive frame of mind and were determined to give the Reds all they could handle. Brett Emerton seemed to be playing a more important role and was settling in a bit, which should please Sydney fans. He forced a save from Galekovic in the 8th minute, and Bruno Cazarine hit the post in the 13th, preventing Sydney from taking a deserved lead.
Then in the 29th minute, a defensive blunder cost Sydney dearly. During some scrambling in the Sydney penalty area, defender Michael Beauchamp tried to chest the ball down so he could clear it from in front of his own net. However, his touch was poor and the ball bounced off him right to the waiting personage of Dario Vidosic who emphatically slammed it into the net giving Adelaide a 1-0 lead.
Sydney had two more nice chances before the half. Terry Antonis forced Galekovic into a point blank savw in the 36th minute, and then in the 43rd Nick Carle watched his strike hit the crossbar. Antonis got the rebound for a followup shot but once again Galekovic stoned him, preserving the 1-0 Adelaide lead at half time.
The second half was pretty much all Syndey. Adelaide seemed to really go into some kind of funk, even in front of their own fans. In the 60th minute Jamie Coyne lashed a golazo into the roof of the Adelaide net to tie the match at 1-1. As good as Galekovic had been in goal, he had no shot at it.
In the 82nd minute Nick Carle got the goal that gave Syndey the three points that they richly deserved. Driving into the Adelaide area, the Syndey midfielder slotted a shot through the legs of Galekovic to make it 1-2 to Sydney. Adelaide never really threatened in the closing minutes, and that was our final score.
Sydney really put it all together in this one. They did have a scare in the second half as Emerton pulled up lame and subbed out, but the bench said it was just a severe case of cramps.
Sydney was really the better side from the opening whistle. You could tell by the the crisp way they moved the ball that they were coming out in a positive frame of mind and were determined to give the Reds all they could handle. Brett Emerton seemed to be playing a more important role and was settling in a bit, which should please Sydney fans. He forced a save from Galekovic in the 8th minute, and Bruno Cazarine hit the post in the 13th, preventing Sydney from taking a deserved lead.
Then in the 29th minute, a defensive blunder cost Sydney dearly. During some scrambling in the Sydney penalty area, defender Michael Beauchamp tried to chest the ball down so he could clear it from in front of his own net. However, his touch was poor and the ball bounced off him right to the waiting personage of Dario Vidosic who emphatically slammed it into the net giving Adelaide a 1-0 lead.
Sydney had two more nice chances before the half. Terry Antonis forced Galekovic into a point blank savw in the 36th minute, and then in the 43rd Nick Carle watched his strike hit the crossbar. Antonis got the rebound for a followup shot but once again Galekovic stoned him, preserving the 1-0 Adelaide lead at half time.
The second half was pretty much all Syndey. Adelaide seemed to really go into some kind of funk, even in front of their own fans. In the 60th minute Jamie Coyne lashed a golazo into the roof of the Adelaide net to tie the match at 1-1. As good as Galekovic had been in goal, he had no shot at it.
In the 82nd minute Nick Carle got the goal that gave Syndey the three points that they richly deserved. Driving into the Adelaide area, the Syndey midfielder slotted a shot through the legs of Galekovic to make it 1-2 to Sydney. Adelaide never really threatened in the closing minutes, and that was our final score.
Sydney really put it all together in this one. They did have a scare in the second half as Emerton pulled up lame and subbed out, but the bench said it was just a severe case of cramps.
Match Thoughts: Real Salt Lake vs. Portland Timbers
I'm not going to pretend that I didn't have a good time last night, it would have been perfect except for that last minute Portland equalizer. Before I get to the match, I just want to say how awesome it was having Timbers Army in the house at the RioT. That might sound weird coming from an RSL fan, but the way those guys party is the class of the league. More people in our section spent more time bitching about how the Timbers fans were obnoxious than they did watching the match, which is horribly lame. Those are football fans, people. The atmosphere in our section at Rio Tinto is more like that of a golf tournament. We did have some Timbers fans sitting next to us that were guests of some of the other season ticket holders in our section. I tried to join in the Tetris dance/chant, but failed.
As for the match itself, for the most part it was the Real Salt Lake that most of us have been hoping to see again for weeks, particularly in the first half. We controlled the ball and created quite a few chances. You can't underestimate how important having Javi Morales back in the midfield is. He directly orchestrated more than a few of the chances.
RSL took the lead right before half time in cheeky style. Fabian Espindola, who played like a beast all night, sent in a gorgeous long ball that found Alvaro Saborio slipping in behind a ball watching Portland defense. He lobbed the ball over Troy Perkins and into the net to give RSL the lead at the half, 1-0.
Portland came out and got in RSL's face a little in the second haalf, and I think it threw us off a bit. Nick Rimando had to knock a way a distance shot from Eric Alexander as soon as the 47th minute.
Then it looked like Portland was sure to equalize in the 55th minute as Wingert conceded a PK for a handball in the box. Many people in our section were upset about it. It was a handball, not intentional, but a handball. I've seen PKs given for less, and I think it was justified, then again, I try not to be too much of a homer. Portland captain Jack Jewsbury stepped up, but knocked the spot kick off the crossbar and into the crowd. Oops.
Potland did find their equalizer in the 90th minute though. RSL really had their only lapse at the back all evening, and Portland took advantage on the break. Brian Umony sent a ball into a pretty much unoccupied RSL 18 and Futty Danso headed it in. Too many people forward for RSL. They should have just controlled the ball at the end and not pushed as much. Instead, they gave Portland the one chance they needed and the Timbers took it. The match finished at 1-1.
RSL will be the third seed in the West following FC Dallas' loss at San Jose later Saturday night. They will begin a 2 legged series against the Seattle Sounders next Saturday night at Rio Tinto. Portland was eliminated from the playoffs prior to the match.
As for the match itself, for the most part it was the Real Salt Lake that most of us have been hoping to see again for weeks, particularly in the first half. We controlled the ball and created quite a few chances. You can't underestimate how important having Javi Morales back in the midfield is. He directly orchestrated more than a few of the chances.
RSL took the lead right before half time in cheeky style. Fabian Espindola, who played like a beast all night, sent in a gorgeous long ball that found Alvaro Saborio slipping in behind a ball watching Portland defense. He lobbed the ball over Troy Perkins and into the net to give RSL the lead at the half, 1-0.
Portland came out and got in RSL's face a little in the second haalf, and I think it threw us off a bit. Nick Rimando had to knock a way a distance shot from Eric Alexander as soon as the 47th minute.
Then it looked like Portland was sure to equalize in the 55th minute as Wingert conceded a PK for a handball in the box. Many people in our section were upset about it. It was a handball, not intentional, but a handball. I've seen PKs given for less, and I think it was justified, then again, I try not to be too much of a homer. Portland captain Jack Jewsbury stepped up, but knocked the spot kick off the crossbar and into the crowd. Oops.
Potland did find their equalizer in the 90th minute though. RSL really had their only lapse at the back all evening, and Portland took advantage on the break. Brian Umony sent a ball into a pretty much unoccupied RSL 18 and Futty Danso headed it in. Too many people forward for RSL. They should have just controlled the ball at the end and not pushed as much. Instead, they gave Portland the one chance they needed and the Timbers took it. The match finished at 1-1.
RSL will be the third seed in the West following FC Dallas' loss at San Jose later Saturday night. They will begin a 2 legged series against the Seattle Sounders next Saturday night at Rio Tinto. Portland was eliminated from the playoffs prior to the match.
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