Nervous Nellies and nasty fouls ugly up Week 24 in Major League Soccer

With just 12 goals over the eight contests, this one matched the second weekend of July for the lowest scoring round yet (at 1.5 goals a match.) If Real Salt Lake hadn't busted out the four-goal hammer against Chivas USA to open Round 24, this one could have reached historic depths in terms of puttin' 'em between the pipes.

I'm starting to think the teams able to man up and manage the moment here will be the clubs that can climb to the top of a stacked and packed playoff race. In short, the teams that prevail will have to show some heart and balls. And I’m not talking about a bag of Nikes here.

Clubs just have to push past the nerves and show that they have the tummy for the fight moving into September.

Seattle, for instance, has something to show me after such an awful afternoon of soccer at Qwest Field. Really, I don’t think I’ve seen the SigiSounders look so pedestrian. They looked like a fearful side, one with precious little of the can-do spunk that has marked such a memorable expansion season.

At least that match was exciting in bursts. A couple of contests were dragged down by overly cautious players and tactics. And, man, were those games hard on the eyes.

This is what I wrote in my notes 20 minutes into Colorado's snoozer with Houston: "Caution is devouring this one so far. It's easily the dullest game of the weekend. If LA-Chivas last night was pulsating, this one just doesn't have a pulse."

(The Galaxy's 1-0 win over Chivas USA in the latest SuperClasico was, in fact, fun to watch. With plenty going on, it was perfect example that a 1-0 contest can rate high in wow factor.)

But the match at DSG Park outside Denver was so insipid, it could very well have retarded the progress of all mankind.

The second big point to the weekend: I continue to be surprised by the lack of discipline among teams. I’m going to call it right here: some side is going to lose points in a match and subsequently miss the playoffs because of a nincompoop who decided it was more important to clobber somebody in a selfish stab of retribution rather than stay on the field and help his side earn points.

Heck, last week, Dasan Robinson didn't even get to whack anyone. Rather, he tore off his shirt in a goal celebration last week, gathering his second caution. He sat this week as Chicago Fire manager Denis Hamlett had to piecemeal together a defense. So Robinson wasn't around as his team lost to United, 1-0.

This weekend, more of the same. Freddie Ljungberg, at the limit of yellow card accumulation, had no reason to join the fracas as referee Jorge Gonzalez got a melee sorted out. But he did, he got booked and now Seattle won't have its best player for the next MLS match. Two words: not smart.

They just don't seem too concerned with discipline around the Xbox Pitch – about the only blemish on a Sounders tale that’s all rainbows and lollipops otherwise. At least the Sounders didn't lose a man to expulsion in this one, which qualifies as high achievement at Qwest. Seattle leads the league in reds, with eight. (Red Bull New York, RSL and the Galaxy are right behind with seven each.)

Speaking of RSL and discipline, Ned Grabavoy left his team a man short for more than a half in the heartland. RSL was able to hang on and eek out a 1-0 huge win over the sadsack Wizards, who still haven't scored a goal in three matches under interim manager Peter Vermes.

In the big match in SoCal, Maykel Gallindo's Cuban temper got the best of him as he singularly ruined any chance of a rally in the big LA derby. The Goats needed steely focus and a goal to level matters following David Beckham's first strike this year. Instead, Gallindo decided he needed to elbow Gregg Berhalter off the ball, a stupid choice and an easy call for referee Baldomero Toledo.

While Toledo did have a good night in this one, he really should have dismissed Paulo Nagamura for his awful challenge on the Galaxy's Chris Birchall. I understand it's an emotional match, and Nagamura is a passionate player. But what he was thinking as he launched a two-footed aerial assault on Birchall in stoppage time, only he could say. Toledo went easy on him with a yellow.

Still, combine that with Gallindo's needless red and you've really got to question Chivas USA's collective discipline.

Finally, speaking of "what was he thinking?" … Veteran midfielder Pablo Mastroeni should have been ejected after a nasty elbow on Andrew Hainault in the 62nd minute. What could he have possibly been thinking to do such a selfish thing as his side protected a tenuous lead against the league leaders? MLS should certainly take a look at it, and I won't be shocked to see a suspension, which would affect Colorado's chances at seeing the post-season.

Oh, and Brad Davis did get thrown out of that match for a stupid and dangerous challenge. That’s Davis’ second red of the month, as he sullies what is otherwise a strong season for him with the Orange.