Well there were four matches on Wednesday, and there were more away teams that won in 4 matches than in the 8 matches held last Saturday.
First up was the huge win by DC United who not only scored their first home goal of the 2010 campaign but lead by two goals by their Aussie Allsopp they were able to get revenge on KC for their opening day 4-0 loss. KC was able to score a goal in the closing minutes on the effort by Kamara. I have this match recorded but only got to watch limited minutes live but DC looked like they were playing with more confidence than in the past.
Second up was the Rev's vs. Chivas and for the second home match in a row New England found themselves playing shorthanded, this time for 60 plus mintues as Perovic was shown the door. That doesn't provide an excuse for the boys from Beantown as they were already down a goal, but the final 4-0 score showed two things that New England has some real issues to deal with, and that Chivas is making constant gains in possessing and attacking. Of course it is always easier to do with a man advantage.
The Texas Derby was a tough match as both sides played a very physical matchup and despite a 73rd minute red card to Jair Benitez the short handed Hoops were able to use a set play and a great effort from Shea and Ihemelu to get the winning goal in the 79th minute. Then a bunkered effort was able to withstand the Houston attack and secure both the win, the first for FC Dallas this year, their first ever at Houston, and Dallas also won El Capitán, the replica cannon awarded to the winner of the team's regular season series for the second time since the inception of the rivalry.
The final matchup of the day was LA travelling to Colorado to face off against the Rapids, in front of a crowd of under 10,000 people. It was actually a very entertaining match as LA do not play the defensive minded style of many MLS teams on the road and we saw end to end action for most of the match. For LA they would get their first goal of 2010 that didn't involve Edson Buddle, instead a goal by Alan Gordon with an assist by Landon Donovan in the 21st minute would be all that LA needed to secure the 1-0 win. The score doesn't reflect the true nature of this match which saw the teams take a combined 33 shots (18-15 edge to Colorado) and 11 shots on goal (6-5 edge for the Rapids). It was a fun match to watch and now LA sits at 6-0-1 heading into Seattle, where you have to believe Sigi will have the rave green boys fired up.
So I was a miserable 1 of 4 on my midweek picks, I hope I can do better this weekend.
OFF MY SOAPBOX