Red Bull New York 1, Houston 0
I started watching the RBNY game about half way through. It took me about 15 minutes to realize that NY was a man down after Clint Mathis' ejection. That is how well these guys were controlling the play. Reyna and Van den Bergh, as the midfield veterans, worked real well together and provided the balls that allowed Dane Richards to have his third consecutive formidable appearance. This collection that Bruce Arena has developed is rapidly giving me the sense that there is now a team worth going to see at the cavernous Giants Stadium. Chants of 'Jozy' after his 60th minute goal could be heard through the telecast and his dominance in the box sometimes makes me feel we have a 'Little League World Series age controversy' on our hands. He dealt with Eddie Robinson, known as one of the hardest tacklers in the league. Not bad for a 17 y.o. With Juan Pablo Angel coming, I can only think Altidore will then develop at the right pace. It helps that they're a similar mold of player. Houston will rebound, but they certianly didn't look like themselves.
Because I Think...'s MVP: Josmer Altidore...after missing two rather point blank chances, he puts the one that matters away after a nice pass from Hunter Freeman.
Chivas USA 4, Real Salt Lake 0
At what point do people start calling for the good riddance of John Ellinger? Nothing has really worked out for him as of late: Nikolas Besagno should be in the starting line-up by now, there should be a young counterpart forward for Jeff Cunningham...in fact, there's no real young presence on the team whatsoever. Unless you count Freddy Adu, Medhi Ballouchy, and Jamie Watson. Regardless, Chivas beat up on RSL and continued their dominance in Carson with the production through speed of Maykel Galindo (2 goals and an assist) and Sacha Kljestan. Jonathan Bornstein shut Freddy Adu down which, in turn, kept Jeff Cunningham quiet. The play of the young Chivas USA players (Bornstein, Mendoza, Kljestan, Guzan) almost overshadowed the passing of the century goal mark by former US international Ante Razov. Congrats to you.
Because I Think...'s MVP: Ante Razov shared with his soon-to-be successor Maykel Galindo, for pure goalscoring ability. Razov has battled injuries his whole career yet always seems to find the back of the net when healthy. Razov used to have Galindo's speed but their partnership now matches speed and determination with guile and astute decision-making. I like it.
Chicago 2, Kansas City 1
Eddie Johnson sort of disappeared again, but it wasn't like anyone really thought he wasn't going to. In a game that featured two penalty conversions, one was scored by KC new acquisition Carlos Marinelli who played a solid half of football. The strikeforce of Chad Barrett and Chris Rolfe was more potent, however, and Chicago powered through with double amount of shots than the Wizards. It was rather apparent that the Wizards were a bit sluggish from the midweek 120-minute USOC loss to RSL. For Chicago, though, I agree their midfield has been pretty effective these first three games but why hasn't Pascal Bedrossian played much? He was one of the highlights of Chicago's offseason and looked poised to allow the aging midfield of Armas and Gutierrez a rest (which Gutierrez needed for the last 20-25 minutes of that game). Sarachan got a problem with Frenchmen? As oft-injured the two veterans, I'm sure he'll get his time. Sarachan says..."We're undefeated. You haven't seen our best soccer yet. The next three games will be hard games. Two out of three are on an artificial surface. They'll be tough. But we don't fear the road." Yup, he doesn't like Frenchmen. Anyone know the projected first appearance of Blanco?
Because I Think...'s MVP: Matt Pickens, solid showing.
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