So there were more goals than last week, including a dramatic late winner from Vancouver’s Robert Earnshaw. But it wasn’t all good. Dallas and Seattle, two Western Conference heavyweights expected to do big things this season, did almost nothing on Saturday night.
They combined for zero shots on target. Seriously. The biggest takeaway was Kelyn Acosta’s brutal assault to Andy Rose’s midsection, which resulted in a red card.
So there’s that, but there was reason for excitement elsewhere in MLS this weekend. Here’s what stood out for us.
No Villa, No Party
David Villa did not play versus Sporting Kansas City on Saturday. The Spanish forward was ruled out because of an adductor strain, an injury familiar to TFC fans that witnessed the same ailment basically kill Jermain Defoe’s 2014 season.
NYCFC’s other big Designated Player, one Frank Lampard, was in attendance to see his future teammates unable to deal with the combination of Graham Zusi and Dom Dwyer until the former departed due to injury before halftime.
The dimensions of Yankee Stadium helped create the only goal of the match. Matt Besler was allowed to step into a long, looping throw that found the head of Ike Opara. Opara’s goal in the 13th minute stood up for the visitors, sending a sellout crowd home without any points to show for.
Villa’s health going forward is obviously key for the expansion side. A trip to the playoffs depends on it.
Undermanned Orlando Salvage A Point
Major League Soccer’s other expansion franchise faced major adversity of their own.
Orlando City was missing seven players due to international call ups and others because of injury. Adrian Heath only had four players available on the bench.
The Lions fell behind early at Olympic Stadium against the Montreal Impact. Goals from Ignacio Piatti and Jack McInerney gave the Impact an early 2-0 lead. It was only going to get worse from there, right?
No. Pedro Ribeiro got one back two minutes after McInerney’s goal. Less than a minute later Kaka did what Kaka does, thanks to some fine work from Riberio, who repaid the Brazilian for his opener. .
“I can’t praise the players enough,” said Heath following the game. “It’s been a difficult week for us with so many of the guys missing and this is a difficult place to come and play.”
Power Index
Every week we’ll list our top five teams in the league. In the interest of keeping our heavy bias at arm’s length, TFC will be excluded from the rankings.
FC Dallas (Last Week: 1st) - Good god it wasn’t pretty, but the Western Conference leaders did well to stem the tide after Acosta’s red card in the 18th minute.
New York Reds Bulls (Last Week: NR) - After a difficult offseason mired in controversy it’s been a dream start for Jesse Marsch. Beating Columbus on the road is a big result.
Vancouver Whitecaps (Last Week: NR) - The cardiac kids did it again, this time against Portland in a Cascadia Cup clash.
DC United (Last Week: NR) - Winning games they had no business winning was a hallmark of the DC squad last year. They did it again this weekend against the Galaxy, with Chris Pontius stealing three points late at RFK Stadium.
LA Galaxy (Last Week: 2nd) - No Robbie Keane and Gyasi Zardes meant no goals for Bruce Arena and the Galaxy in the nation’s capital.
Goal Of The Week
Good try, good effort Robbie Rogers, but Nick DeLeon took the LA defender to school to set up Pontius’ game winning goal at the death at RFK.
