Yeah, slightly different equation this time. Sleep got the better of me on both Saturday and Sunday, and I stupidly missed some big games. Alas, I am not perfect. But let's go for a little recap...
As these posts will always say:
Disclaimer: I am not a professional soccer analyst by any stretch of the definition. I don't really give a shit, either.
Let's start with Friday in MLS, and my best soccer moment of the weekend:
L.A. Galaxy 1 - 0 Chicago Fire
Woot woot fucking WOOT! This win put the Galaxy in a great position to secure a playoff spot, depending upon another game's result on Saturday (more on that later). L.A. hasn't made the postseason since 2005, which is bad in and of itself but even worse for a team like this, which had made the playoffs every year since the inception of MLS until the three-year drought began in 2006. Add to that the fact that last year they tied the San Jose Earthquakes for the worst record (8-13-9) and allowed an embarrassing 62 goals (the worst GA in the league, not really tempered by the fact that they also led in goals scored with 55), and well...let's just say making the postseason this year would be really fucking sweet. And they sure played like a team ready to take the Cup - there was a lot of great effort put out by most of the guys, led by Landon Donovan, who put a beautiful chip shot over Jon Busch near the end of the first half. The ball came off a great pass from Chris Klein as Donovan was doing what he does and tearing ass downfield, leaving Fire midfielder Logan Pause stumbling in his wake. Busch came off his line and Donovan one-touched the ball off a second bounce in a high arc, touching down in the box and then hitting the net.
Donovan had a couple of other close chances throughout the night, as did David Beckham, and both of them were really working it all night. In goal for the Galaxy, Donovan Ricketts did another stellar job, especially during second-half stoppage when there was a little scramble in the box and at least two very close shots from Chicago. (By very close, I mean the shots were from about two feet out, and the ball came within inches of crossing the line. Heart attack moment!) One player who gave me cause for concern was Edson Buddle, whose passing was just not up to par for most of the night. Buddle has only recently returned to the lineup after being out injured for a number of weeks, so maybe he's just still a little rusty - I hope the trainers saw what I did and plan to work a little harder with him in the coming weeks. But despite any trouble, the game ended with a victorious Galaxy, who now only needed to see Chivas USA either draw or win with DC United in order to clinch the playoff spot...
Chivas USA 2 - 0 D.C. United
And Chivas did just what we wanted! Their win on the road cemented the playoff spot for the Galaxy, which I'm sure the Chivas players aren't exactly thrilled about, but their Home Depot Center roommates are plenty happy. From my recollection, the win is due only partially to great playing on the part of Chivas, and perhaps more so to the poor showing from D.C., who apparently were booed off the field at the final whistle. (Side note - fuck that noise. I don't care how poorly your team plays, I HATE when people boo their own team. Talk about fairweather fans - it's bullshit. It doesn't help the team and it doesn't help the sport, especially not here while we're all still desperately trying to instill interest in soccer in our friends and family.) Chivas may have had the only numbers on the board, but it was technically D.C. who opened the scoring in the 33rd minute, as the first goal came off the back off United keeper Milos Kocic and was scored as an own goal. It happens to every team at some point, but it's always hard to get past it. D.C. ended the game with - I believe - only two shots on goal, and their defending throughout the game was somewhat listless. You could see it getting to the team, most notably Ben Olsen, who was sent off with a straight red card in the 66th. After Chivas' Yamith Cuesta threw an elbow into Olsen's back and knocked him down, Olsen kicked the ball into the back of Cuesta's head. Did he intend for it to strike Cuesta? No one knows but him, and in a situation like that I do believe the ref had it right - when there is an obvious deliberate element to an act of anger like that, you have to make it clear that behavior like that won't be tolerated. Chivas kept it together and retained a good deal of possession, and earned their win.
Over to the Premier League, where I missed out on a lot while sleeping away the hours...
Manchester United 2 - 2 Sunderland
The scoreline might look good for Sunderland if you didn't see the game - a draw with Man United, at Old Trafford? Kudos, right? But you wouldn't have known how close - SO CLOSE - poor Sunderland came to winning this one. They were up for it, getting on the board first with a sharp strike from Darren Bent in the 7th minute that United keeper Ben Foster had little chance against. They would hold that 1-0 lead into the half - a half which saw a lot of crosses which were mostly fruitless and no shots on goal for United. They picked it up a bit after the restart, tying the score in the 51st off Dimitar Berbatov's good handling of John O'Shea's cross. But Sunderland wasn't done, and Kenwyne Jones knocked in a second for the Black Cats only seven minutes later, putting them back on top. Thanks to continued poor performance from United - they retained much of the possession and outshot Sunderland, in the end, 22-4, but they weren't able to do much with all time on the ball - that 2-1 scoreline would hold...and hold...and hold, even after going a man down in the 85th when Kieran Richardson received a second yellow. But then, in the 90th minute, Sunderland defender Anton Ferdinand attempted to redirect Patrice Evra's shot...and sadly, redirected it right into his own net. Sunderland would have to settle for the draw, which for them was probably just fine. For Manchester United, it's a different story, one they need to figure out the plot to pretty quickly.
Hull City 2 - 1 Wigan
Oh, how fortunes change in the beautiful game. Last week, Wigan beat Chelsea convincingly 3-1 and looked like the better team up against the Big Four side. Last week, Hull was trounced at Liverpool 6-1 and looked like a team already destined for relegation. This week, what I believe was the same starting 11 for Wigan likely hit the pitch at KC Stadium expecting another win, and a far easier one. I didn't see this one but the match reviews all agree that the scoreless opening half was nonetheless sprited most of the way, with a couple of shots on goal for each side, as well as a handful of fouls apiece. The second half reads busy as well - Hull went up 1-0 in the 60th when Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (yes, that's his name, the whole thing) notched his first goal for the club, then eight minutes later an unmarked Geovanni made it 2-0. Wigan got one back near the end, and were gifted five minutes of stoppage time but couldn't find a second goal. It sounds like surprising performances from both, though I daresay there's a lot more meaning to it for Hull. Sadly, American Jozy Altidore did not get any playing time. Hopefully, he's still in top form as he trains with the USMNT ahead of their World Cup qualifying match in Honduras this Saturday (eek!!).
There were so many other games, but I missed so much this weekend. Some brief touches: Portsmouth finally tallied their first points of the season with a 1 - 0 win over Wolverhampton; West Ham and Fulham played to a 2 - 2 draw, which was very nearly a 2 - 1 win for Fulham if not for a second half stoppage time beauty of an equalizer from Junior Stanislas; Arsenal unsurprisingly stomped the crap out of Blackburn to end 6 - 2; AC Milan continued their not-so-winning ways with a 1 - 1 draw with Atalanta, thanks to a fairly late equalizer from good old Ronaldinho; Wesley Sneijder rescued full points for Inter Milan by giving them a 2 - 1 win over Udinese, and giving Jose Mourinho something to smile at...or stick his tongue out at, as the case was; Sevilla pulled off a 2 - 1 win over a Cristiano Ronaldo-less Real Madrid; and the impressive Seattle Sounders managed to do the seemingly-impossible and lodged a 1 - 0 win over Columbus Crew on the Crew's home turf, pushing the rookie team closer to the playoffs.
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