Week 7 of MLS action happened this weekend with 16 teams playing this round of fixtures. There were a bonus mid-week fixture as New York City drew at home to Philadelphia with Mehdi Ballouchy scoring his first MLS goal in 3 years for the hosts before an equaliser from CJ Sarpong minutes later gave the Union another away point.
Back to the weekend’s action now where the game of the weekend saw FC Dallas host Toronto. FCD took a 3 goal lead as Fabian Castillo scoring the first 2 (opening the scoring in a club fastest 29 seconds) and Blas Perez slid the ball underneath Toronto keeper Joe Bendik inside half an hour. The game was stopped for 3 and a half hours due to several lightning strikes just before half time but it was Toronto who won the second half of the game with Sebastian Giovinco scoring twice in the final 10 minutes but it wasn’t enough to deny FCD the win.
The next game saw Colorado Rapids host Seattle Sounders with only a point separating the two going into the match. Lamar Neagle gave the away side the lead after 5 minutes before Gabriel Torres equalised for the Rapids. Neagle would get his second of the game a few minutes after the equaliser before Obafemi Martins rapped the game up 20 minutes from time.
The 3rd game of our round-up sees Columbus Crew host Orlando City. Federico Higuain opened the scoring after scoring a rabona past Donovan Ricketts in the Orlando goal before Rafael Ramos was sent off for a studs-up challenge on Waylon Francis. Justin Meram extended their lead 10 minutes into the second half with Kei Kamara adding his 4th of the season late on.
Round-Up:
The round-up starts with LA Galaxy hosting Sporting Kansas City. Galaxy took the lead in the game in the 9th minute as Stefan Ishizaki’s shot was fumbled by keeper Luis Marin and turned in by Husidic and that was equalised by Kristzian Nemeth after he was played through by Dom Dwyer. Galaxy sub Omar Gonzalez scored the winner in stoppage time as he turned in Juninho’s corner.
The next game sees Philadelphia Union host New England Revolution. Cristian Maidana gave the home side the lead before Charlie Davies converted a right-wing cross from sub Teal Bunbury before Bunbury himself scored the winner getting on the end of a similar move from Diego Fagundez.
New York Red Bulls hosted San Jose Earthquakes on Friday night with the home side winning 2-0 through first half goals from Sacha Kljestan and Mike Grella. DC United hosted Houston Dynamo who shared the points after a 1-all draw with Chris Rolfe and Ricardo Clark scoring respectively.
There where also 2 1-0 games with Vancouver winning at Real Salt Lake (Darren Mattocks scoring with a header with 10 minutes left) and Portland Timbers won at New York City through a late goal from Dairon Asprilla at Yankee Stadium.
Weekend Results:
Fixtures (Times in US ET with US PT +3, UK BST -5):
Fri 24th 20:00 – Chicago vs New York City
Fri 24th 22:00 – Colorado vs FC Dallas
Sat 25th 19:30 – New England vs Real Salt Lake
Sat 25th 19:30 – Columbus vs Philadelphia
Sat 25th 20:30 – Houston vs Kansas City
Sat 25th 22:30 – Vancouver vs DC United
Sun 26th 17:00 – New York RB vs LA Galaxy
Sun 26th 19:00 – Orlando vs Toronto
Sun 26th 21:30 – Seattle vs Portland
Table (Goals For/Goals Against/GD):
Eastern Conference:
New York RB 11 pts (9/4/+5) 5 played
DC United 11 pts (6/5/+1) 6 played
New England 11 pts (6/7/-1) 7 played
Columbus 8 pts (8/5/0) 6 played
Orlando City 8 pts (6/8/-2) 7 played
Chicago 6 pts (5/7/-2) 5 played
New York City 6 pts (5/6/-1) 7 played
Philadelphia 6 pts (9/13/-4) 8 played
Toronto 3 pts (8/11/-3) 5 played
Montreal 2 pts (2/6/-4) 4 played
Western Conference:
Vancouver 16 pts (10/7/+3) 8 played
FC Dallas 13 pts (10/10/0) 7 played
LA Galaxy 11 pts (8/7/+1) 7 played
Seattle 10 pts (9/5/+4) 6 played
San Jose 9 pts (7/9/-2) 7 played
Houston 9 pts (6/4/+2) 7 played
Real Salt Lake 9 pts (6/5/+1) 6 played
Portland 9 pts (7/7/0) 7 played
Sporting KC 9 pts (7/8/-1) 7 played
Colorado 6 pts (5/5/0) 6 played
Top Scorers:
1 Octavio Rivero (Vancouver) 5
=5 Kei Kamara (Columbus) 4
=2 Obafemi Martins (Seattle) 4
=2 Blas Perez (FC Dallas) 4
=5 Fanendo Adi (Portland) 3
=5 Fernando Ariesteguieta (Philadelphia) 3
=5 Fabian Castillo (FC Dallas) 3
=5 Clint Dempsey (Seattle) 3
=5 Sebastian Giovinco (Toronto) 3
=5 Kaka (Orlando) 3
=5 Lloyd Sam (Red Bulls) 3
=5 Chris Wondolowski (San Jose) 3
The Footy Diary 