MLS Roundup Week 11: Red Cards Galore

The Chicago Fire marches on with their old habits after a 2-1 loss against a surprisingly decent FC Cincinnati team. While the Men in Red (or blue) were busy disappointing all of you fans in Soldier Field Saturday night, you may have missed what happened in the rest of the league. Here is your week 11 MLS roundup.

Spoiler, it involves a lot of red cards.

Toronto FC 0 - 1 Orlando City

Toronto and Orlando kept each other at a draw for the first 90 minutes of the game. Each side had its chance at a goal, but neither seemed to want it. In the 38th minute, Orlando had a chance to score via a freekick by Mauricio Pereyra, but Alex Bono saved it. In the 66th minute, DeAndre Kerr had a beautiful attempt at goal but was just off the mark. Orlando’s Kyle Smith headed in the winning goal from a corner kick in stoppage time.

Colorado Rapids 2 - 0 LAFC

The Colorado Rapids continue their unbeaten streak at home with a 2-0 win against a high-flying LAFC. In the 14th minute, Sebastien Ibeagha kicked Colorado’s Diego Rubio in the head on an attempted clearance, and the hosts won a penalty. Gyasi Zardes opened his account with his new club with a perfect penalty kick in the 17th minute. Things went bad to worse for LAFC in the 23rd minute when Francisco Ginella knocked Jonathan Lewis inside the box. Colorado was awarded another penalty kick, with Diego Rubio on the spot. LAFC’s John McCarthy saved his initial shot. However, after a VAR check, it was found that McCarthy was slightly off his line. Rubio buried his second shot, and Colorado went on to dominate the tempo for the rest of the match. With the win against LAFC, the Colorado Rapids are on a 22 unbeaten streak at home.

Vancouver Whitecaps 3 - 3 San Jose Earthquakes

Two of the bottom feeders of the Western Conference drew each other Saturday night. The first half of the match was rather dull for both the Vancouver Whitecaps and San Jose Earthquakes. Neither team could finish - they probably took notes from the Fire’s handbook. However, in the 45th minute, San Jose had two chances but was both blocked. Likewise for Vancouver shortly after. The second half of the match was rather lively. Vancouver opened the scoreboard in the 52nd minute thanks to Lucas Cavallini. Ten minutes later, San Jose equalized from a Jamiro Monteiro header. San Jose gained the lead in the 73rd minute with a goal from Jamiro Monteiro, but Vancouver quickly responded with a cheeky goal to the corner courtesy of Ryan Raposo. Not to be outdone, Ebobisse scored his second six minutes later. At the death, Vancouver caught San Jose’s defense sleeping, and Erik Godoy slotted one in for the equalizer and sixth goal of the match.

Charlotte FC 0 - 2 CF Montreal

Fire fans look away now.

CF Montreal beat Charlotte FC on their home turf Saturday night. The opening goal of the game was from former Fire homegrown Djordje Mihailovic. In the 45th minute, Mihailovic scored his sixth goal of the season, some may call it a tap-in, but it was a nice tap-in. He is just two goals away from catching up to the total amount of goals the Chicago Fire has scored this season. Alistair Johnston doubled Montreal’s lead in the 67th minute. Charlotte had a few chances throughout the game but couldn’t finish.

NYCFC 2 -0 Columbus Crew

NYCFC returns to their beloved baseball field and closes out the 9th inning with a win against the Columbus Crew. Within 9 minutes, NYCFC took the lead with a goal from Talles Magno. The Crew looked lost throughout the match, but to be fair, a majority of MLS teams look lost whenever they play in Yankee Stadium. Taty Castellanos doubled the lead in the 59th minute after a 1v1 goal. The Crew had a chance to score in the 65th minute, but Lucas Zelarayán's attempt was just a bit too wide. Zelarayán had a chance to redeem himself with a free kick in the 84th minute but again was just a little bit too wide.

Philadelphia Union 1 - 1 New York Red Bulls

In a match that could end up benefiting the Chicago Fire, the Philadelphia Union drew against a stubborn 10-man New York Red Bulls. Philly’s Daniel Gazdag scored first shortly into the start of the second half. About 13 minutes later, Dylan Nealis who was already on a yellow, committed an unnecessary challenge on Sérgio Santos. In the 66th minute, Luquinhas equalized for the Red Bulls. In the 80th minute, Philly got a goal after a rebound but was ruled out by VAR due to Julián Carranza being offside in the initial build-up.

Houston Dynamo 2 - 0 Nashville FC

Paulo Nagamura’s (who I suggested should be the Fire’s head coach a few years back) Houston Dynamo continues to impress after a win against Nashville FC. Adalberto Carrasquilla scored in the 16th minute after the initial shot on goal by Memo Rodriguez was saved. In the 34th minute, Adam Lundqvist was shown a straight red after a strong slide toward Alex Muyl. Nashville couldn’t take advantage of this and in the 52nd minute, the hosts were awarded a penalty after Joe Willis took down Fafà Picault. Darwin Quintero converted the penalty and Houston held on to their 2-0 lead for the rest of the match while being down a man.

Inter Miami 2 - 2 D.C. United

Inter Miami got their first point in two matches after a draw against D.C. United on Saturday night. Inter Miami’s Leonardo Campana scored the first goal of the match n the 31st minute. Miami doubled their lead shortly before the end of the first half from a Damion Lowe header. However, three minutes into stoppage time, D.C. United’s Taxi Fountas scored when Lowe failed to block the shot. Shortly after the start of the second half, Miami’s Ariel Lassiter scored but was ruled offsides. Ola Kamara equalized for D.C. in the 74th minute. In the last moments of the match, D.C.’s Chris Durkin was shown the red after a questionable challenge.

Real Salt Lake City 2 - 1 Austin FC

Austin FC is now on a two-game losing streak after falling to Real Salt Lake City despite starting strong. Alex Ring gave the visitors the lead in the 24th minute. Austin couldn’t keep their cool, and in the 46th minute, Bobby Wood was shoved by Dani Pereira denying Wood a possible goal - or DOGSO. Pereira was shown red. Many RSL fans questioned why they were not awarded a penalty, but contact first started outside the box. Mikael Chang started RSL’s comeback with a goal in the 55th minute. Andrew Brod gave RSL the win in the 88th minute with a beautiful shot outside the box.

Portland Timbers 7 - 2 Sporting Kansas City

Yes, you read that scoreline right. 7-2.

The Portland Timbers broke their winless streak by scoring seven against a poor Sporting Kansas City side. Bill Tuiloma’s header gave Portland the lead in the 12th minute. Sebastian Blanco doubled the hosts’ lead in the 46th minute, then scored another six minutes later. Four minutes later, Nathan Fogaça scored the fourth goal for Portland. Not to be outdone, Johnny Russell pulled one back for the visitors a minute later.

Fogaça scored his second and Portland’s fifth in the 69th (nice) minute. A lapse in judgment from Jose Van Rankin (who was already on a yellow) caused him to be sent off in the 75h minute. Portland was now down a man, and SKC was awarded a free-kick. Marianos Tzionis cut the deficit for SKC and scored a header from that free-kick. SKC couldn’t keep it cool, and Robert Voloder was sent off after committing a foul. Now both teams were down to ten men. Marvin Loria and Santiago Moreno added to SKC’s misery with two goals in four minutes towards the end of the game.

In short, it was a pretty nice game.

LA Galaxy 1 - 3 FC Dallas

FC Dallas continued their league-winning ways against another strong Western Conference opponent, the LA Galaxy. Jesus Ferreira gave the visitors the lead in the 11th minute. Shortly after, Chicharito thought he had equalized for the Galaxy, but ruled as a no-goal. Paul Arriola doubled Dallas’ lead in the 20th minute, and once again, Ferreira scored a few minutes later - his 8th for the season. He has as many league goals as the entire Chicago Fire squad. Douglas Costa got the Galaxy’s consolation goal in the 67th minute.

Atlanta United 2 - 2 New England Revolution

Another MLS team with a good home record - Atlanta United now has a 13 unbeaten streak at home after a draw against the New England Revolution. Thiago Almada put the hosts upfront with a goal from outside the box in the 15th minute. Adam Buksa equalized for the Revs in the 30th minute with a nutmeg against former Fire and Revs goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth. Buksa scored again in the 55th minute. Eight minutes later, Atlanta salvaged their game with a goal from Luiz Araujo.

Seattle Sounders 3 - 1 Minnesota United

The Seattle Sounders went back to their winning ways after a 3-1 win against Minnesota United FC. Robin Lod gave Minnesota the lead in the 34th minute. Lod immediately does the bow-and-arrow celebration and I thought that was tinpot at first, but he has four goals to his name, which is more than a lot of Fire players can say, so who am I to judge. In the 50th minute, Cristian Roldan was brought down inside the box, and Seattle was awarded a penalty which Raúl Ruidíaz cooly converted. Roldan himself got on the score sheet in the 74th minute, and Nicolas Lodeiro finished the comeback with a stoppage-time goal.