MLS First Kick 2011: Two New DPs Shine, Defending Champs Dominate

Overall, the conditions made for a sloppy match. Rain was coming down heavily throughout and the wind made long passes almost impossible. Players were slipping and sliding all over the pitch, and actually contributed to several scoring opportunities, but helped short-circuit several others.

It’s probably too little too late for Chivas, though. They only have five minutes, including stoppage time, to get the goal that would level the match, and unless they get another set piece around the Kansas City box that doesn’t seem too likely. Still, there’s just one goal in it and the visitors will be very very nervous now...

Real Salt Lake has controlled must of the play in the second half despite going against a driving wind and rain at Buck Shaw Stadium. they have been able to create several opportunities despite conditions that have made the footing less than ideal and caused the ball to skid across the slick surface.

Simon Dawkins, who was just signed by the Earthquakes after coming over from Tottenham Hotspur, has just entered the game as the Earthquakes will try for the equalizer.

It’s now Sporting 2-1 Chivas, and with a highly open match it looks like that particular scoreline won’t last the night. With Chivas pressing hard for goals, Kansas City are able to hit them hard on the counterattack, but they’re having to soak up a lot of pressure to manage it. There are definitely more goals to be had here, and right now Chivas are the ones with all of the momentum.

That is, of course, the first ‘Sporting Kansas City’ goal in MLS. More importantly for the match, it’s 1-0 to the visitors - with more than eighty minutes left to play. Chivas had better get a response together, and quickly.

The biggest surprise of the match is that Philadelphia managed to keep a clean sheet. As an expansion team last season, the Union kept just two clean sheets the entire season and made waste of what was a surprisingly threatening attack. Unfortunately for the Union, no matter how much of an attack they had thanks in large part to Le Toux, their defense couldn’t get the job done. Well, through one match in 2011 they have gotten the job done and they’ll take that clean sheet for three points in Houston.

In front of a sold out and lively Pizza Hut Park crowd, the two teams played with great intensity. Cards flew for challenges much worse than Shea’s, but in the end, both teams had to settle for a point.

Shea was the last defender back and running with a Gaston Puerari when the Puerari hit the turf referee Terry Vaughn came over and showed Shea red. Further replays confirmed what the original look showed and that is minimal contact at the most by Shea. Even a simple foul on Shea would have been harsh for his non-existant foul, but being the last man back, if Vaughn felt it was a foul he had to show red even if the replays disagreed.

While the red card was undeniably soft, Shea put him in the bad spot with a poor pass back. It was his poor pass that started the play and forced him into defending at all. Now, Dallas will have to hold on down a man against a Fire team that has had their fair share of chances already.

The setup for Smith’s goal was odd, but the strike itself was stunning. Through some deflections and unintentional touches, a ball ended up rolling off Casey, through the middle of the pitch for Smith to run onto. The Rapids midfielder wasn’t closed down at all and unleashed a thunderous drive towards the top right corner, leaving the keeper with no chance and putting his team up 3-0. It was a fantastic goal, and the Timbers have a long way back from this to even look respectable.

Goals for the Union aren’t much of a surprise. They did well to tally at a respectable rate last season, but keeping other teams from scoring was a whole other story and their keeping Houston off of the scoreboard is the real story. Philadelphia hasn’t been the most organized, but a good sliding block from Califf and quality tackles have helped save a Philadelphia defense that has clearly improved.

New York deserved the win, having dominated possession for much of the match, but Seattle did enough that they’ll be disappointed to have come away with nothing. Agudelo was particularly impressive for the hosts, and if he keeps playing like he did today New York may have a real talent on their hands. For the Sounders, Fredy Montero had an excellent match, demonstrating his ability as one of the league’s top players, but that will come as scant consolation after yet another tight loss.

Diego Chaves got the Fire goal from about three yards out, the same distance that Rodriguez finished from, but the quality of goals are in no way comparable. Whereas Chaves tapped in a rebound, Lloyd went storming down the left side to get past his defender and find Rodriguez coming across towards the near post. The ball from Lloyd was on the ground and maybe a quarter step behind Rodriguez, but Rodriguez just used a backheel to turn the ball on goal and past a stunned Fire defense.

In his first full season with Dallas, Rodriguez is clearly eager to make his mark after joining the club in the middle of last season. The Colombian has been lively in the early going, as has the man with the assists. Lloyd has beens strong at the back and flying forward with confidence, possibly a result of a strong sting with the United States national team in January.

The new Uruguayan signing Chaves has already made his presence felt with the opening goal and now Chicago will turn their attention to keeping the MLS Cup finalists from a year ago from finding an equalizer. If nothing else, Dallas will have the support of a large home crowd, something they rarely have at Pizza Hut Park, but the supporters seem to have been caught up in the team’s run to MLS Cup a year ago.

Last season as an expansion franchise, Philadelphia did not have a ton of trouble scoring goals. They had their fair share of goals, but struggled to keep opponents from getting goals of their own and it resulted in a rough season near the bottom of the Eastern Conference table. Now the Union has struck first in their second season, but whether they have improved their defense and can keep the Dynamo off of the scoreboard will determine their fate.

Despite all the chances for the visitors, the Red Bulls have dominated possession, winning what now seems like several hundred corners over the course of the match and really wearing down Seattle’s defence. Agudelo and Henry have looked particularly dangerous - there are goals in this one, and probably from both sides as each teams’ forward lines put their opponents under huge pressure. This match is not going to end 0-0*, but if it does it’ll have been a thoroughly enjoyable 0-0. It’s a shame, however, that there aren’t more people watching at Red Bull arena, where the atmosphere is great but there are a lot of empty seats.

*Probably.

This game is certainly open enough to produce a goal, and both teams have some very good athletes and decent creative players. However, unless some new strikers are introduced into the game, it’s tough to see who is going to finish the chances that the two midfields have the capacity to create.