Two weeks in and the Major League Soccer season is looking every bit as interesting as we had hoped, prayed and promised it would. Lots of close games, some reasonably impressive performances and the replacement referees continue to do just well enough to keep from becoming the story.
MLS Week 2: Jermain Defoe is the breakout star
Another compelling week is highlighted by the ex-Tottenham man’s brace.
Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
It should be noted, though, that for all the good feelings around Chivas USA being sold their second home game somehow managed to draw fewer people than their first, which drew about half as many fans as the next lowest game. Fewer than 6,700 people managed to make it out to StubHub Center for the tilt against the Vancouver Whitecaps.
On the field at least, it was mostly pretty good.
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Welcome to MLS Mr. Defoe
As so many highly touted internationals have learned the hard way, MLS is no walkover. Don't tell Jermain Defoe. The former Tottenham Hotspur striker introduced himself to MLS audiences with a pair of goals and a couple of slick finishes to send Toronto FC to a somewhat surprising victory in their season-opener over the Seattle Sounders.
Both strikes were vintage Defoe. On the first, he sped behind the defense and created just enough space to slot it inside the far post. Just abut seven minutes later, Defoe managed to step in front of a poor back pass and pounded in a shot from about 20 yards out.
It didn't really matter that Defoe was effectively marked out of the match for the remainder of the day, he had done his damage. The Sounders managed to make it interesting when Clint Dempsey finally scored the type of goal you expect him, but it was too little too late.
Defoe had quite possibly ushered in a new era at Toronto FC.
Something is rotten in New England
A chic pick to win MLS Cup — GUILTY!!!! — the New England Revolution are now 0-2-0 and have looked pretty bad in both games. Against the Philadelphia Union, only the goalkeeping of Bobby Shuttleworth kept it from getting out of hand as the absence of Jose Goncalves was particularly apparent.
What’s even more concerning is that Goncalves’ future is in significant doubt. The reigning MLS Defender of the Year and the team’s captain was left back in Foxborough, reportedly because he’s upset over his contract status. Details are a bit dodgy right now, but it would appear that he’s unhappy that the Revolution picked up the option on his loan and didn’t give him a new contract as part of the transaction. It has even been suggested that Goncalves is actually making less this year than he did in his debut MLS season.
The absence of their best defender is not the Revolution's only problem, though. The attack, which looked so dynamic a year ago, has yet to score, either. The Revs managed to get a few good looks, most notably Diego Fagundez from point-blank range, but have apparently lost their finishing boots.
The Revs return home this week in desperate need of a turnaround.
Houston, we have lift off
Quick, name the one team in MLS with two wins in the first two weeks ... OK, the title of this section probably gave it away, but the Houston Dynamo are the biggest surprise so far. A week after dominating the Revs, the Dynamo took care of business against the Montreal Impact. It wasn't a particularly attractive performance, but Will Bruin added another goal to his tally and now has three goals this season.
A year ago, Bruin didn’t score his third goal until his 10th game of the season. It’s not hard to see how his confidence has changed since then.
Bruin’s latest goal came after controlling the ball in traffic near the top of the penalty area, wheeling around a firing his shot. As often happens, his bold decision was rewarded when his shot deflected off a Impact defender and into the back of the net.
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Goonies gonna Goonie
Every time the San Jose Earthquakes head into the final stages of a match needing a goal, there's this sense that something crazy might just happen. So it wasn't exactly shocking when they pulled out a point with a last-second goal from Victor Bernardez to salvage a 3-3 tie.
Bernardez actually scored two goals in the game, the other coming in the 75th minute that cut the Earthquakes' deficit to 3-2. Until that goal, Real Salt Lake seemed well on their way to an impressive victory that would have ended the Quakes' 20-game all-competition home unbeaten run (which, by the way, they extended earlier in the week with another stoppage time goal against Toluca in CONCACAF Champions League).
What is it about the Earthquakes that make them the “Cardiac Kings.” Sure, they have a bunch of big bodies that are really good about using their size. Sure, there’s probably something to be said for the workmanlike approach to the game. But there have been other teams with big bodies and — barf — big hearts that weren’t scoring in stoppage time nearly as often as the Quakes. This defies explanation. It’s not usually pretty, but it’s certainly entertaining.
Remember that bit about the Whitecaps...
There's a reason you should never take one week to mean too much, especially in MLS. The Vancouver Whitecaps looked like frontrunners against the New York Red Bulls a week ago, but were lucky to get a point out of Sunday's match against Chivas USA.
The Caps were gifted a man advantage just about 10 minutes in when Agustín Pelletieri was given a rather shocking red card for an offense that was barely even yellow worthy. Despite that, Chivas USA was probably the better team and it wouldn't have been shocking if they had come away with full points after Erick Torres scored another goal (and treated us again with that silly robot dance) to give his team a lead it maintained until the 81st minute.
That's when Darren Mattocks and Kekuta Manneh combined to salvage the day. Mattocks, who was probably Vancouver's best player all game, created a turnover at midfield and then pushed his way up field before cutting it back to Manneh, who coolly finished inside the near post. As frustrating as a result that it was, Whitecaps fans at least have those two to feel good about.
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