Galaxy draw on the road, win at home for FC Dallas
Week 11 of the 2016 MLS season started on Wednesday with five games on the schedule. It was also the deadline for early season trades, with rumors running rampant that Columbus was trying to move Kei Kamara. In the end, Kamara stays with the Crew at least until the opening of the summer transfer window. UPDATE: MLS announced later on Thursday that a trade had in fact happened prior to the deadline with Kamara joining the Revolution in exchange for allocation money, draft picks, a roster spot, and a percentage of any sell on fee).
On the field, the Philadelphia Union drew 2-2 with the LA Galaxy at Talon Energy Stadium. Vincent Nogueira put the Union up in the 4th minute with Robbie Rogers equalizing in the 15th. Mike Magee put LA up in the 47th with Keegan Rosenberry equalizing in the 63rd.
“We’ll take the point, but you know when we get the second goal early in the second half, I thought we had to close the game down,” LA Galaxy coach Bruce Arnea said. “Obviously, there was a lot of time left, and we didn’t do a good job of that and probably could have done a better job on that second goal. But I thought Philadelphia played well and you can see that they were a little bit more rested than us and that makes a difference. We changed six players from our game on Sunday so I give our guys credit to deal with the travel and getting the point and playing against a rested team. Overall, I think we have to be pleased to leave with a point.”
At Toyota Stadium, FC Dallas came back to beat Portland 2-1. Diego Valeri put the Timbers up in the 3rd minute. It took until the 55th for Ryan Hollingshead to equalize. Walker Zimmerman scored the inner two minutes later.
I thought this game was a must win after what happened in the last few games, so pursuing the three points today was obviously really important, and we did it,” Portland coach Oscar Pareja said. “In the first 30 minutes, it was very difficult for us to get the rhythm and bring energy to the game. After they scored, our team probably went to a very deep spot, and that made it ever more incredible the way they worked after that to tie the game and win it. The second half was different. We had more energy. I thought we had more ideas in the middle. The first half we had some options. The second half we had more options, and the game just went back and forth. I thought it was a game we needed to win. We got the three points today, and the soccer is just now coming back to our team. We’ll get there.”
Colorado shutout Sporting KC 1-0 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. Dillon Serna scored in the 78th minute, two minutes after a red card to Sporting’s Ike Opara. Zac MacMath made one save for the clean sheet.
Vancouver beat Chicago 2-1 at BC Place. Blas Perez opened the scoring for Vancouver in the 36th with Kennedy Igboananike equalizing in the 62nd. Perez scored a goal of the year candidate with an overhead kick in the 89th minute for the win.
San Jose beat Houston 3-1 at home to close out the Wednesday schedule. Alberto Quintero put the Quakes up in the 3rd minute with Ricardo Clark equalizing in the 43rd. Anibal Godoy doubled the quakes lead in the 50th with Wuintero scoring again in the 70th. Houston finished a man down with a red card to goalkeeper Tyler Deric in the 79th for denying a goal scoring opportunity. With all three subs used, Houston put Jalil Anibaba in goal for the remainder of the game.
“I think the team played well. We knew we had to coming off a loss,” Quintero said. “At home, we have to believe that we will get points every game. I’m extremely fortunate to have had the performance I had today, but I’m also especially proud of Anibal. To have us both score in the same match made tonight special. We have that connection from playing on the Panamanian National Team, but this was a team effort.”
