Major League Soccer, Week 13: Philly And Toronto Still Bad

Major League Soccer 2012, Week 13: What We Learned

It was a week of debuts as Stade Saputo opened for MLS play; Philadelphia and Toronto started off new eras with John Hackworth and Paul Mariner taking their respective places on the bench.

LA Galaxy Vs. Portland Timbers, 2012 MLS: Todd Dunivant Wins It For LA

The last time that Todd Dunivant scored a goal was way back on May 8, 2010, but he picked a good time to break his dry spell. The left back scored on a David Beckham corner kick in the 61st minute on Sunday to lead the LA Galaxy to a 1-0 victory over the Portland Timbers at the Home Depot Center. It is the Galaxy's first win since April 21 and just their fourth of the season, two of which have come against the Timbers.

Both teams had their share of chances in the early going, with Landon Donovan rattling the bar with a rocket from 20 yards in the first half and Matt Perkins making a great save on Marcelo Sarvas to keep LA off of the scoreboard. On the other side, Kris Boyd forced a good save from Josh Saunders to keep the match scoreless.

The tie was finally broken after Chad Barrett earned LA a corner kick, which was taken by Beckham. The corner kick sailed towards the back post where Dunivant was able to judge past his marker and head the ball home. The Timbers thought it was more than a nudge, complaining that Dunivant committed a foul to get free, but the referee disagreed and awarded what would prove to be the winning goal.

Chicago Fire Vs. New York Red Bulls, 2012 MLS: Patrick Nyarko Leads Fire To Win

Father's Day at Toyota Park came with a sunny day, a big crowd and three points for the Chicago Fire. Patrick Nyarko keyed a 3-1 Fire win to snap the New York Red Bulls' six-match unbeaten streak and the Fire's three-match losing streak.

Nyarko made his mark just four minutes in when he powered home a head off of a cross by Sebastian Grazzini. It was a good ball in and an even better finish that gave the Fire an early lead.

It was a lead that the Fire would carry into halftime, but 10 minutes into the second half Dax McCarty leveled for the visitors. He got on the end of a Mehdi Ballouchy corner kick and it was all even in Chicago.

Level again, it looked like the Red Bulls might get something going, but from the moment they tied the match on it was all Fire. They went back in from through Gonzalo Segares, who knocked a rebound into an empty net and put a bow on the win when Chris Rolfe tapped in a perfect cross from Nyarko from two yards to snap their losing streak.

Chivas USA Vs. Real Salt Lake, 2012 MLS: Espindola Brace Paces RSL To 3-0 Win

Chivas USA entered Saturday unbeaten in their last four. The problem? They were playing Real Salt Lake, who hadn't lost in six straight, and after beating the Goats 3-0 they are now unbeaten in seven straight.

Fabian Espindola did the damage for RSL, scoring on each side of halftime for the visitors in front of a sparse crowd at the Home Depot Center. The RSL striker beat the offside trap with a perfectly timed run in the 41st minute and Kyle Beckerman's ball in was inch perfect. All it required was a simple header and Salt Lake were up 1-0 and he doubled that lead in the 54th minute when he undressed Rauwshan McKenzie before slotting the ball into the side netting.

The Goats did their best to mount a comeback, but even when they got through the RSL defense, Nick Rimando was there to deny them. That was never more evident than when Juan Agudelo's fine header was snatched by Rimando, denying Chivas on their last good chance of the match.

Just for funsies, Salt Lake added one more goal late. Javier Morales showed off his great vision with a gorgeous ball to Will Johnson, who finished easily for a stoppage time goal that handed them an emphatic victory in the battle of the unbeatens.

Sporting Kansas City Vs. Toronto FC, 2012 MLS: Shocker, Really Good Team Beats A Really Bad One

Sporting Kansas City is really good and Toronto FC is really bad. The result is the really good team taking the really bad one out behind the woodshed in a 2-0 beating that wasn't nearly as close as the scoreline indicated.

From the very beginning, Toronto were under siege. They had none of the ball and Kansas City were pressing forward. They had all of the chances and shots so when they finally went ahead in the 18th minute nobody was surprised. A cross from Jacob Peterson somehow managed to make it through the entire Toronto defense and fell to C.J. Sapong, who was more than happy to smash it into the net for the opening tally.

Sporting doubled their lead in the 35th minute thanks to a great strike by Julio Cesar. Graham Zusi's corner kick found the Brazilian all the way on the other side of the goal and Cesar hit a screamer on the volley. Milos Kocic had no chance and Sporting were up 2-0.

The second half was more of the same, minus the goals. Still, it was very clear that one team was very good and the other was very bad. The good one got the three points. Surprise!

Houston Dynamo Vs. FC Dallas, 2012 MLS: Dynamo Kings Of Texas Again

The Houston Dynamo are the kings of Texas for the second straight season after beating FC Dallas, 2-1, on Saturday at BBVA Compass Stadium. That Dallas had to finish the match down a man because Jair Benitez was sent off against Houston for the third time in as many years didn't help, nor did Adam Moffat's rocket that proved to be the winning goal.

It took just three minutes for the Dynamo to go in front of the first Texas derby at their new stadium. Will Bruin had his chance seemingly snuffed out by Hernan Pertuz, who got to the ball in front of goal first, but Pertuz's attempted clearance went off of Bruins' shin and in for the opening goal.

On the other side of halftime, Jackson got Dallas even. Scott Sealy's shot was blocked, but fell right to Jackson, who had a clear look at goal. He fired past Tally Hall and the visitors were all even.

Only two minutes later things weren't even anymore, and all because Benitez is a fool. The scoreboard still read 1-1, but Dallas was reduced to 10 men when Benitez needlessly elbowed Colin Clark and got a deserved red card. Of course, he had to push and shove some Dynamo players before heading off, but he finally did and Houston had an edge.

That edge paid off when Kevin Hartman's poor punch of a corner kick fell to Moffat a mere 15 yards from goal. Moffat, who has a huge shot, proceeded to hit a laser into the side netting and Houston had themselves a 2-1 win.

While Houston celebrates, Dallas has to wonder what is going on. They are now winless in their last 10 with seven losses in that span.

New England Revolution Vs. Columbus Crew, 2012 MLS: Andy Gruenebaum Continues To Impress

At some point we are going to have to stop saying that Andy Gruenebaum had a good match and instead say that he is good. He turned in another fine match on Saturday against the New Endland Revolution, earning the Columbus Crew a scoreless draw and pushing their unbeaten streak to six matches.

The first half was much more entertaining than the second and required work of Gruenebaum. He made three fine saves and had to watch a Benny Feilhaber shot skip just wide of the post another time. The Crew, for all of their possession in the opening stanza, couldn't turn it into many chances and the two teams went into the break looking set for a fun second half.

That fun second half never came. Both teams slowed and struggled and never created much. After 45 minutes of that the few people who decided to show up were probably happy to head home. At least they could say that they got to see Gruenebaum's continued maturation into a top flight MLS goalkeeper!

Philadelphia Union Vs. DC United, 2012 MLS: New Coach, Same Result For Philly

The Philadelphia Union may have a new manager in John Hackworth after canning Peter Nowak, but they are still a bad team. On Saturday they did what bad teams do best, play better and play better than the other team, but still lose. D.C. United went to PPL Park on Saturday and didn't play well, but they still came away with three points thanks to Chris Pontius' goal, which netted them a 1-0 win.

It looked like Philadelphia would go in front early, but Bill Hamid made a series of fine saves to keep the zero on the scoreboard. They finally did beat Hamid in the second half, but Antoine Hoppenot's shot hit the post.

That made all of the difference for DC, who struck in the 78th minute. Branko Boskovic's great free kick found Pontius at the back post to put the visitors in front. Hamid was called upon once more at the end, making one final save to ensure that the three points would go to DC.

The win pushes United to 30 points, becoming the first team in the league to the mark. Obviously, they also remain tops in MLS, while the Union are only not at the bottom because Toronto is super duper exceptionally bad as opposed to Philly's super duper bad.

Montreal Impact Vs. Seattle Sounders, 2012 MLS: Impact Open Stadium In Style

Patrice Bernier assisted on the Montreal Impact's first three goals and they re-opened Stade Saputo in style with a 4-1 win over the Seattle Sounders on Saturday. The Impact got off to a 2-0 lead early in the second half and then were gifted a man advantage when Jhon-Kennedy Hurtado was shown a straight red card for what seemed to be a clear yellow card infraction. Two minutes later, Andrew Wenger scored to essentially put the game away at 3-0 in the 58th minute.

Although the Sounders did show some semblance of life when Eddie Johnson finished off a Fredy Montero pass to make it 3-1 in the 61st minute, it got no closer than that. Lamar Neagle put the final nail in his former team's coffin when he scored his first goal of the season with an unassisted effort in the 87th minute.

The Sounders have now gone five games without a win (0-3-2) for the first time since 2009.

This was by far their worst performance of the bunch. The Impact dominated most of the first half and jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Felipe scored in the 18th minute. They built on that lead when Justin Mapp shook was able to get past a couple defenders to score in the 51st minute.

Vancouver Whitecaps Vs. Colorado Rapids, 2012 MLS: Sebastien Le Toux Delivers Win

Down to 10 men? Doesn't matter to the Vancouver Whitecaps. Despite having Darren Mattocks sent off for two yellow cards in one minute, the Whitecaps got a late goal from Sebastien Le Toux to beat the Colorado Rapids, 1-0, on Saturday at BC Place.

Mattocks earned his first yellow card for diving in the box, a deserved yellow since no contact was made and he was whining to the referee the second he hit the ground. Not even a minute late he took a reckless run at Drew Moor and caught him well late, earning his second yellow and a spot in the dressing room.

But a wonderful goal in the 80th minute made the sending off look insignificant. Davide Chiumiento hit a great cross that Le Toux got on the end of to finish and the the Whitecaps were in front despite being down a man.

The Whitecaps had to hold on for deer life after that though. Edu looked set to equalize for the Rapids, but Martin Bonjour made a sliding block and Martin Rivero follow up hit the post. Not long after, Hunter Freeman also hit the post. It just wasn't the Rapids day and the Whitecaps were more than happy with it, taking their 10-men-earned three points.

Side note: The Whitecaps wore their new brown third jerseys for the match. They are, um, interesting?

Major League Soccer, Week 13 Preview And Fixtures: Welcome Back!

MLS returns after a very quiet two weeks with a full slate of games.