MLS Week 1: A Look Back

Posted Mar 28, 2010 by Nick Murray

Updated Mar 28, 2010 at 10:37 AM

Taking a look back at the opening weekend of the Major League Soccer season.

SEATTLE 2, PHILADELPHIA 0: The Sounders gave the impression that their second season could be as strong as their first in MLS with a convincing victory against the expansion Union.

As Steve Kelley wrote for the Seattle Times Freddie Ljungbeg was the difference in the game, although Philadelphia coach Peter Nowak had some harsh words for the Swede and his Sounders teammates after the game.

COLORADO 1, CHIVAS USA 0: The Rapids won their first road opener in club history thanks to a well-taken goal by Omar Cummings. After the game, though, the performance people were talking about was that of Marvell Wynne.

Acquired in a trade from Toronto FC on Wednesday Wynne started in the center of defense as opposed to his regular right back role. His speed, and a surprisingly ineffective Chivas USA attack, allowed the Rapids to keep a clean sheet and pick up the three points.

COLUMBUS 2, TORONTO 0: The Crew began their pursuit of a third straight Supporters’ Shield with a solid victory against Toronto, Guillermo Barros Schelotto providing a goal and an assists for Columbus. As Shawn Mitchell writes for the Columbus Dispatch the Crew were slightly disappointed not to have scored more.

For Toronto, the opening game of new coach Preki’s tenure was a disappointing one. The club has still never defeated Columbus, going 0-5-5 since its inaugural season and despite having Dwayne de Rosario up front lacked real scoring punch on Saturday.

HOUSTON 1, DALLAS 1: The only game to end with honors even came at a sparsely populated Pizza Hut Park, where only 8,016 fans attended the Texas Derby.

Both goals came in the span of three minutes, Houston’s Mike Chabala opening the scoring in the 36th minute, his first goal in MLS, before Ativa Harris tied the game with a beautiful strike two minutes later.

Picking up a point on the road was tempered for the Dynamo by what appeared to be another injury for center back Eddie Robinson, who missed most of last season after left knee surgery. With the losses the Dynamo suffered with Ricardo Clark and Stuart Holden moving on to European clubs this offseason, a prolonged absence for Robinson could hurt a lot.

NEW YORK 1, CHICAGO 0: The Red Bulls got the result they needed to properly open Red Bull Arena as Joel Lindpere drove home the only goal of the game from just outside the penalty area.

The win snapped a six-game winless streak for the Red Bulls against the Fire, and got Hans Backe off to a good start as manager. New York Post columnist Jay Greenberg said that the new arena offered the Red Bulls, which as a franchise has only made the MLS playoffs three times, the chance of a new lease on life.

KANSAS CITY 4, D.C. UNITED 0: Not the return to Kansas City new D.C. United manager Curt Onalfo was looking for as his new side put in a terrible performance to open his regime. As the Washington Post’s Steven Goff points out, the former Wizards coach saw his side pick up twice as many yellow cards as shots and get sent back to the drawing board for answers.

Wizards rookie midfielder Ryan Smith was at the center of the rout, scoring a goal and adding an assist in his debut for the club.

REAL SALT LAKE 3, SAN JOSE 0: The defending MLS champions opened their defense in style as Javier Morales scored a pair of beautiful goals to give RSL victory over an Earthquakes squad that showed the same flaws as it had in 2009.

Morales added an assist on Fabien Espindola’s goal, but his first goal was an early contender for goal of the season, a phenomenal strike that left San Jose’s Joe Cannon no chance.

LOS ANGELES 1, NEW ENGLAND 0: Edson Buddle’s early goal was all the Galaxy would need to earn an opening victory against the Revolution. The opportunity for the goal was provided by landon Donovan, who received a hero’s welcome back to the Home Depot Center after his successful loan spell with the EPL’s Everton.

On the local front, former South Florida standout Zak Boggs made his debut for the Revolution coming on as a second-half substitute, and had some good touches. For the most part, though, New England had a frustrating day trying to break down the Galaxy’s defense.