That was fun...

Colorado 2, D.C. United 1

I hate to say I told you so. Not on the prediction, but on the strength of the Colorado (1-0-0) line-up. First off, it is genius to play to your strengths by having the biggest field possible at altitude. Yes, United (0-1-0) looked tired. Yes, the Latin three were probably freezing their nubs off and Colorado has always been good at home. The deal is, though, that Ihemelu was superb in the back, Herculez Gomez and Roberto Brown fought like crazy, and Beckerman really held the midfield with Mastroeni. Don’t forget Terry Cooke’s 2 assists to start him off right for the new season. Colorado was physical and fit, D.C. seemed lazy and tired. When that happens, even pure skill and talent disparity can’t save you.
Because I Think’s… Man of the Match: Roberto Brown, a great debut.

COL: H. Gomez (1), R. Brown (1)
DCU: Luciano Emilio (1)

Real Salt Lake 2, F.C. Dallas 2

Jeff Cunningham now needs to change his number to 92. Drew Moor was the only decent spot (even with his miscue) for Dallas’ back-line. Cooper and Ruiz got goals but didn’t seem to mesh well yet. Juan Carlos Toja was somewhat quiet with flashes of good stuff. He will perform. Both teams need to tighten their respective ships or else they will both miss the playoffs, because the quality of play of other teams today was considerably more promising. RSL saw an active and dangerous Freddy Adu which is a great sign for the future of the Lake.
Because I Think’s… Man of the Match: Cunningham, two goals and the guy seems to always be in the right spot

RSL: Cunningham 2 (2)
FCD: K. Cooper (1), C. Ruiz (1)

Red Bull New York 0, Columbus 0

My favorite part of this was rookie Dane Richards on the right side with Marvell Wynne. Once they jell, it will be a young formidable and dangerous wing. Both Richards and Wynne have insane speed and decent vision. Richards’ only problem was his Glen Little syndrome, the inability to consistently send in good crosses. Dave Van den Bergh, sans injury, will be the one to compete with Cooke from the Rapids for assist crown. The Crew needed a half to get competitive and were lucky that the Bulls didn’t pounce on some early chances.
Because I Think’s… Man of the Match: Dane Richards

RBNY: NONE
CMB: NONE

Chicago 1, New England 0

Chicago’s Justin Mapp has continued his impressive run of form and probably attracted a couple more European suitors in the process. This kid can play……when he is focused. Which as of late, has been most of time. New England had three rookies in the line-up due to the personal issues going on within the team. Who knows though, they might have been there regardless. Flood was decent in the back – making no real mistakes, but no real contribution as Chicago got their chances. Wells Thompson fought hard on the left side and actually looked rather developed and somewhat worthy of his 1st round draft pick status. Adam Cristman played okay – from the preseason results and rumor mill I was expecting a little bit more. No Blanco. He probably didn’t want to play cause it was cold.
Because I Think’s… Man of the Match: C.J. Brown, for still intimidating me all these years and Matt Pickens, for his job in goal

CHI: L. Pause (1)
NER: NONE

Chivas USA 2, Toronto FC 0

I’ll tell you what, for the first 20 minutes I thought Toronto might pull this thing out. Then the game got stretched out and Bornstein (nice surprise to see him in the line-up), Mendoza, and Kljestan started running the show. Maykel Galindo is fast, not insanely skilled, but visibly annoying to most defenders. He’s going to create and score a lot of goals this year (i.e. the Razov goal). For TFC, Canizalez was feisty and probably the best man on the field for Toronto (not to mention the FSC commentator has a man crush on him). I forgot how frickin’ huge Conor Casey was, but he was pretty non-existent upon coming on. Kiwi international and MLS rookie Andrew Boyens did get the start and did pretty well. Chivas USA had some real defensive issues but none that could be blamed on any one person. It didn’t matter though, because Brad Guzan single-handedly destroyed the determination and will of the expansion side.
Because I Think’s… Man of the Match: Guzan, easy choice, if he was facing his own side he probably could of saved the Sacha Kljestan bomb (his first MLS goal).

CHV: A. Razov (1), S. Kljestan (1)
TFC: NONE

Easter Prediction

Houston 2, Los Angeles 1
7:00pm, TeleFutura

Dalglish uses his scrappy ways to put in 1 and trusty defender and former Chicago Fire man Kelly Gray heads home the other for his first goal in a while. Rookie Robbie Findley becomes the first MLS draftee to score this season on a great feed by Landon Donovan.

UPCOMING:

On Monday, after the Los Angeles v. Houston clash:

Top 10 Bright Spots of Week One