MLS 2012, Week 22: New York Red Bulls Rally Past Timbers

In that same match, Camara got upset with Lenhart, who has a knack for getting under his opponents’ skin. Camara then pulled Lenhart to the ground and chased after him with a finger in Lenhart’s face. Both he and Lenhart earned matching red cards for the altercation and now Camara has another match tacked onto the one-match suspension he already had coming for the red card.

From two down to level at halftime, New York was given life. Just because they were back in it didn’t mean that they started playing well, though. They were poor at the back and only the heroic of Bill Gaudette kept the Timbers from going back in front.

New York also got a second gift from the referee when he failed to spot a reckless elbow by Cahill, who caught Kimura. The Red Bulls’ forward vicious elbow knocked Kimura to the ground and forced him to be stretchered off, but while the referee missed it, Cahill should expect the disciplinary committee to weigh in and suspend him.

The first 45 minutes was goal less and extremely physical, a half more about referee Juan Guzman wanting to hand out yellow cards (RSL received three) than anything else. Fortunately the teams seemed to calm down at halftime and got down to the business of playing soccer.

Just when the draw seemed a foregone conclusion, Dallas stole the result, once again complete against the run of play. Another defensive breakdown left David Ferreirat with space just inside 18-yard box and he uncorked a wicked shot that Rimando had no hope of stopping.

As the summer winds to a close and the stretch run comes into view, the MLS table is starting to look more sensible. It’s not an all-out war anymore where seemingly any team can go from first to last or last to first in a month. There is still plenty up for grabs, but at least it is manageable now and we can make sense of it.

Saturday, 4:00 p.m. ET, MLS Live