We are at double digits! Week 10 brought some great drama, comebacks, and saw the last winless team get their first W! Let’s look at the week that was. Here’s This week around MLS, week 10 edition.
Toronto FC 2 Orlando City 1
Toronto started their difficult week with a huge match agaisnt east leading Orlando City. Giovinco stole the show; his two first half goals gave Toronto a demanding lead. Kaka pulled one back for Orlando city in first half stoppage time. AS the game progressed in the second half Orlando had chances. Cyle Larin had two beautiful chances to tie the game, but he could not put it in the net. Orlando will be mad to have come all that way to lose the top spot in the east, while Toronto will gladly take the three points and top spot.
Sporting Kansas City 2 New York Red Bulls 0
The Red Bulls traveled to Kansas City for a mid-week match. They would come away with nothing from this one. When New York’s first, and only, decent attempt was parried over the bar they lost their spark. Dom Dwyer found a goal at the end of the first half that buried the Red Bulls even more. In the second half, SKC pushed more, and Dwyer found his second goal. At this point the match was all but over. New York couldn’t come back, and did little to try at the end. New York will be disappointed at the lack of effort, while SKC will love the three points at home.
Colorado Rapids 0 Vancouver Whitecaps 1
This was a sloppy match from both sides, but it was especially bad for Colorado. The Rapids did welcome back Tim Howard, who came back from suspension, but his return was not a happy one. Colorado had some chances but never really looked threatening. The same can be said of Vancouver. If it wasn’t for a Brek Shea break away on the counter this game would’ve ended 0-0. Shea did score on a counter, beating Howard by slotting the ball though his legs. Colorado responded by going into challenges frustratedly. This saw them end the game with 10 men. Colorado will hate the points lost at home, while Vancouver will love the road points.
Seattle Sounders 0 Toronto FC 1
A rematch of the 2016 MLS Cup final was played on the weekend. This rematch would be won by the team that lost last years final. Toronto was without star player Giovinco for this one, yet they were still able to get all three points in Seattle. Jozy Altidore put Toronto ahead by winning a penalty, and converting it. He was close to doubling the lead if it was not for the finger tips of Stefan Frei. Seattle pushed for the equalizer, but Toronto did just enough to hold onto their lead. Seattle will be mad that they lost at home, while Toronto FC will gladly take six out of six possible points from their week.
DC United 0 Montreal Impact 1
DC barely showed up for their week 10 matchup agaisnt Montreal. United let Montreal dictate the play early on. 18-year-old, Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla, opened the scoring for Montreal in the 13th minute, and the Impact never looked back. They continued their dominance into the second half. DC woke up a bit, receiving some chances from Acosta and Mullins, but neither found the back of the net. DC will be upset after a poor home performance, while Montreal will feel right back in the mix in the east.
Philadelphia Union 3 New York Red Bulls 0
The Philadelphia Union finally won their first game of 2017! They beat their rivals, New York Red Bulls, 3-0 thanks to a hat-trick from CJ Sapong. The game opened with both teams pressing and having chances, but nothing came of them. Then in the second half, the Union’s CJ Sapong score three times in 11 minutes. The Red Bulls pushed for answers in between Union goals, but were denied by keeper Andre Blake. The Red Bulls will feel demolished after losing both of their matches this week, while the Union will look to build off their win to get back into the thick of things in the east.
Columbus Crew 2 New England Revolution 0
Columbus continues their hot start to 2017 in week 10 against New England. Ola Kamara scored the opener in the 13th minute to give the Crew the lead. New England tried to come back in the first half but were denied by Zack Steffen. Federico Higuain put Columbus up 2-0 in the second half, which killed all of New England’s momentum. A flurry of chances came for New England late, but no goal could be found. Columbus will adding to their point total at home, while New England will have to reconsider how they go about their business.
Houston Dynamo 4 Orlando City SC 0
Orlando finished off their double game week with a tough loss in Houston. Orlando may have thought fate was on their side when Houston missed a penalty in the 12th minute of the match, but this was just the beginning of Houston’s hot day. 10 minutes later Houston had their first. Early in the second half Houston had their second. 15 minutes later they had their third, and with 15 minutes left in the match their fourth came. Orlando had trouble dealing with the heat and the Dynamo on a short week, and got nothing going in the match. Houston will love the three points at home, while Orlando will hope to regroup from this tough week.
Real Salt Lake o FC Dallas 3
Dallas took it to RSL early in this match. Not three minutes in and Dallas won a penalty. Urruti converted it to give Dallas the lead. They took their lead to the second half, and kept pushing and pressing RSL. They found their second goal from a header off a corner, this really killed RSL. In second half stoppage Urruti found his second; he chipped the keeper and tap the ball home to secure the 3-0 win. RSL will need to adjust after this beating at home, while FC Dallas will be riding high after getting three huge road points.
LA Galaxy 2 Chicago Fire 2
LA produced the comeback of the week in their draw versus Chicago. The fire started off hot, by getting two goals in the first 20 minutes. Accam scored from the spot, and Nikolic scored on the counter. LA subbed off their captain Jelle Van Damme at the end of the first half, and it turns out it was the enough to spark the LA comeback. LA scored in early in the second half to cut the deficit. Then Giovani Dos Santos scored to tie the game. Both teams pushed for a winner but none came. LA will be satisfied in their comeback efforts, while Chicago will rue not taking the three points on the road.
San Jose Earthquakes 3 Portland Timbers 0
San Jose proved they were not scared of high-flying Portland in week 10. They opened the scoring in the 8th minute, with some great hustle work to get the goal. Chris Wondolowski added to the Quakes lead later in the first half, and then again early in the second half. After being down 3-0 Portland finally got into the game, but they couldn’t find any goals. San Jose will take the three points against a conference foe at home, while Portland will have to regroup after a bad road performance.
Minnesota United 2 Sporting Kansas City 0
The Loons number one over all draft pick Abu Danladi got his first MLS start against Sporting Kansas City. He waisted little time before netting his first MLS goal. The rookie scored in the 22nd minute to give Minnesota the lead. United would not look back in this one. A second goal before halftime seemed to sink SKC. The road team did push in the second half, but found no goals. SKC will be upset they couldn’t get their second win of the week at Minnesota, while the Loons will be happy to get more points.
NYCFC 3 Atlanta United 1
Atlanta continues to slide, as they lose for the second consecutive week. David Villa saw to Atlanta’s demise in the finale of week 1o. His goal in the 18th minute opened the scoring for NYCFC, but Atlanta would counter. At the end of the first half Atlanta found their equalizer. NYCFC came out strong in the second half, and broke Atlanta. Two goals in three minutes saw NYCFC take all three points in this match. NYCFC will be happy they stayed resilient and ruthless to get the three points, While Atlanta will have to rethink things going into next week.
Heres where everyone stands after week 10:
After ? weeks: pic.twitter.com/BFbukhLtXT
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) May 7, 2017
Heres a look at the goals, saves and team of the week:
Goals of the week:
It's that time again!
Check out this week's #ATTGotW nominees and vote: https://t.co/GGuhxgKHLd https://t.co/o5gpK8Uhhd
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) May 8, 2017
Saves of the week:
Top stop?
Up to you: https://t.co/TN2TvyESHZ https://t.co/2PcRaHIyXX
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) May 9, 2017
Team of the week:
Bench: Bobby Shuttleworth, MIN; Laurent Ciman, MTL; Nicolai Naess, CLB; David Accam, CHI; Mauro Manotas, HOU; Sebastian Giovinco, TOR; David Villa, NYC.
Heres a look at what week 11 will look like:
Wednesday, May 10:
Columbus 1 Toronto 2 Final
Friday, May 12:
Houston vs Vancouver
Saturday, May 13:
Toronto vs Minnesota
Colorado vs San Jose
Montreal vs Columbus
DC vs Philadelphia
Orlando vs Sporting KC
New England vs Real Salt Lake
Chicago vs Seattle
Sunday, May 14:
Portland vs Atlanta
New York Red Bulls vs LA
Dallas vs NYCFC
All of the teams in MLS are competing and pushing to get a strong footing in their respected conference’s. Now that there are going to be more mid-week games for teams in the coming weeks, we will begin to see who the cream of the crop really is.
Be sure to check out Philly Sports Network for more on the 2017 MLS season, and for more on the Philadelphia Union. Until next time, peace out!
Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
