Sports

MLS Weekly Roundup

April 07, 2016 | Sports,

By: Matt Vereen
 
If you’re reading this on a laptop or mobile device, do me a favor: open up a new tab and search “antonym for exciting.”
Dull. Uninspiring. Boring.
Odds are if you turned on a game this past weekend that’s exactly the type of match you watched.
Luckily for me, I don’t pay for the MLS game package so the only match I saw was the Sunday game between Orlando and Portland, which turned out to be one of two games with a club that scored more than one goal.
This is all my opinion of course. Here are the results so you can judge for yourself. First the updated tables:
 
EASTERN CONFERENCE

1. Orlando SC (2-2-0) 8 points
2. Montreal (2-0-2) 6 points
3. Philadelphia (2-0-2) 6 points
4. New England (1-3-1) 6 points
5. NYCFC (1-2-1) 5 points
6. Chicago (1-2-1) 5 points
7. Toronto (1-1-2) 4 points
8. NY Red Bulls (1-0-3) 3 points
9. DC United (0-3-2) 3 points
10. Columbus (0-2-2) 2 points

 
WESTERN CONFERENCE

1. FC Dallas (3-1-1) 10 points
2. Sporting KC (3-0-1) 9 points
3. Real Salt Lake (2-2-0) 8 points
4. LA Galaxy (2-1-1) 7 points
5. Colorado (2-1-1) 7 points
6. Vancouver (2-1-2) 7 points
7. San Jose (2-1-1) 7 points
8. Houston (1-1-2) 4 points
9. Portland (1-1-2) 4 points
10. Seattle (1-0-3) 3 points

 
New England 1-0 New York Red Bulls
The Revolution earned its first win of the season thanks to a goal from Diego Fagundez. A red card to New York’s Felipe helped the Revs hold the lead for 90’.
Chicago 1-0 Philadelphia
 The Fire also notched its first victory in the midst of a sudden blizzard against a 10-man Union squad. Kennedy Igboananike with the lone goal in the 51st minute not long after Philly’s Warren Creavalle received the straight red.
Colorado 1-0 Toronto FC
The visiting Reds found themselves down a man after just 13 minutes. Then they found themselves down a goal five minutes later behind a goal from Luis Solignac, which held for the remainder.
Real Salt Lake 2-1 Sporting KC
FINALLY. A GOOD GAME. RSL shock the 3-0-0 KC at Sporting Park, and during Benny Feilhaber’s return to the pitch no less.  A late KC goal in stoppage time makes it look closer on the score than it actually was.
FC DALLAS 1-1 COLUMBUS
Things looked bright for the Crew nine minutes in thanks to an early Justin Meram goal. However, dreams of Columbus’ first win of the year were shattered in the 77’ thanks to Tesho Akindele. Maybe next week, Columbus.
Seattle 1-0 Montreal
Not only the first win, but the first points for the Sounders thanks to the lone goal from Clint Dempsey. Who’d have thought it would take Montreal to get Seattle going?
Vancouver 0-0 LA
Moving on…
San Jose 1-1 DC
 The Quakes rob United of its first win of the season with a late goal behind Adam Jahn. United gets its third draw of the year as scoring struggles continue. DC currently has the worst goal differential of the league at -6.
Orlando 4-1 Portland
Kaka returns to the pitch and wastes no time getting back in the spotlight. His goal and two assists help the Lions dominate the defending champs in front of a huge Orlando crowd. The Lions are one of just two remaining undefeated teams along with Real Salt Lake with both sitting at two wins and two draws.
 
Let’s put week four behind us and look ahead at week five instead. Here’s the complete list of matchups along with my predictions so you can put my words to the test.
 
Orlando @ Philadelphia
My prediction: 2-1 PHI
 
Sporting KC @ New York Red Bulls
My prediction: 1-1 draw
 
Toronto FC @ New England
My prediction: 3-1 NE
 
Columbus @ Montreal
My prediction: 2-0 MTL
 
Vancouver @ DC
My prediction: 1-0 VAN
 
San Jose @ FC Dallas
My prediction: 2-1 FCD
 
Colorado @ Real Salt Lake
My prediction: 1-1 draw
 
Seattle @ Houston
My prediction: 1-1 draw
 
Chicago @ NYCFC
My prediction: 1-1 draw
 
Portland @ LA
My prediction: 2-1 LA
 
We’ve got four different writers on MLS weekly roundup this season so be sure to come back each week for a different perspective, but definitely check back every four weeks to hear my insight.