As a die hard FCD fan, there’s nothing better to me than a good road trip, especially for the Open Cup where one team is going home ecstatic and the other has crashed out of the tournament. Despite what some people say about the Open Cup, I still believe there’s a lot of magic in this tournament. I mean it’s the oldest sporting tournament in this country….what more can you want?!
The Kansas City Wizards take over the top spot in the rankings this week after riding yet another Eddie Johnson hat trick to a come from behind win over the previously top ranked New York Red Bulls. This was maybe the biggest win for the Wizards in a couple of years, and it’s got them in the driver’s seat in the East with a game in hand on New York and the mental advantage. This is gonna be a fun race to watch all season.
Week eight was arguably the most exciting of the season so far, bringing us loads of different goals, from a hat trick by Eddie Johnson (against the Revs no less!) to an empty netter for Chivas. The big winners, however, had to be New York. Juan Pablo Angel has been nothing less than dominant in his short stay here so far, and could turn out to be the best signing of the year. One of the first big early season games will be this weekend when New York travels to Kansas City for a showdown with the Wizards.
It’s pretty much as you were this week in the power rankings as we don’t see much movement top to bottom, and none in the top five. New England stays with the top spot after yet another impressive result, this time winning on the road in Houston.
We’re in the middle of week seven right now and this last week we’ve seen the West take some revenge on the Eastern conference, as the West’s top teams, Colorado and Dallas, won away games at the elite of the East in New York and Kansas City. The one stronghold in the East is New England who are at the top of the heap this week. Another big win at LA keeps the Revs rolling along, with Taylor Twellman lighting the league on fire.
This past weekend in the league we saw a number of firsts in the league. The first goal scored against New York, Chicago’s first loss, as well as Columbus’ first loss. Maybe the most surprising of the three is the fact that New York gave up three goals to Salt Lake after not giving up any to much better teams throughout April.
For the first time this season, the top two spots are unchanged as New York and Chicago roll right along. The Red Bulls made a statement to the rest of the league that they’re for real by shutting out FCD at home on national television. Their defense, which has yet to allow a goal, shouldn’t have any trouble against RSL this weekend as the Red Bulls look to further distance themselves from DC United.
Well we’re on about week 3 ½ here as KC played Toronto last night, and the big winners from the weekend had to be New York, Chicago and FC Dallas. This next week should be a real cracker. It’s a judgment week of sorts, as the top four teams in the rankings will be going head to head.
It’s week 3 in MLS and it couldn’t be more muddled at the top. At this point almost two-thirds of the teams are within one point of first place and we have a 5-way tie at the top. Houston gets the top spot after beating a good Chivas team. The Dynamo have yet to allow a goal, and you know DeRo and company will get the offense scoring goals soon. They’ve got a tough match at Giants Stadium this weekend.
Well we’ve got a week under our belts and Colorado comes in at number one this week. While they’re not the most talented team on paper, after beating DC and playing in their new house there’s no one with more confidence right now than the Rapids, and finally playing in front of decent crowds will really help the team. If they can get consistent goals from Roberto Brown, these guys are one of the toughest to beat in the league.