TFC falls, Vancouver wins & plenty of MLS goals

After a cracking start to their 2015 campaign last, Toronto FC came crashing back to earth Saturday with a 2-0 loss to the Columbus Crew. However, this game has been scrutinized into one point: the sending off of Justin Morrow. Right before half time, TFC lost their right back when he was adjudged by referee David Gantar to have brought down Ethan Finlay who was in on goal. (It was Gantar who took away a 90th minute Gilberto goal last season that would have seen TFC win 2-1 in Chicago) Replays suggest that Morrow clearly won the ball, and while contact was made with Finlay, it seems that the TFC defender can feel hard done by. Playing with 10 men in the second half, TFC couldn’t hold off the Crew attack as Justin Meram and Kei Kamara each scored within four minutes of each other early into the second 45. What will concern Greg Vanney most is that both goals came from crosses, and after some suspect defending in their opener against Vancouver, TFC must get tighter at the back if they want to win games with regularity. Speaking of Vancouver, they rebounded nicely with a 1-0 away win against Chicago thanks to a late Octavio Rivero goal. After his shocking miss against TFC, Rivero has bounced back nicely now, as he has two goals in two games for the Whitecaps. Vancouver unleashed 18 shots on the Fire goal, with Rivero attempting eight of them. In a odd schedule quirk, Montreal didn’t play this past weekend but they won’t mind as they prepare for a CONCACAF Champions League match against Alajuelense. In the weekend’s eight games, there was a total of 25 goals scored, including a 3-3 thriller between RSL and Philadelphia while San Jose picked up an impressive 3-2 away win in Seattle, Chris Wondolowski bagging a brace. Also of note, last year’s MLS Cup runner-ups, New England, have lost both games this season. STUDS

After drawing 1-1 in their opening MLS encounter, Orlando City and New York City picked up their historic first MLS wins over the weekend. Orlando got a 1-0 win away to Houston after Dynamo goalie Tyler Deric took a poor first touch on a back pass, had his kick blocked by Pedro Riberiro, and then punched the ball into his own net as the pair battled for possession. NYC got goals from David Villa (his first in MLS) and Patrick Mullins as they knocked off New England 2-0 at Yankee Stadium (yes, it looked very odd watching soccer on a baseball field).

DUDS

New England, who went to last season’s MLS Cup where they lost to the LA Galaxy, are off to a horrible start in 2015.

After losing 3-0 in Seattle in their season opener, they followed that up with a dud performance against NYC. Audio: Open Player in a New Window | Subscribe | iTunes | MP3

