Ball bouncing New York's way

E. RUTHERFORD, N.J. - They've won when missing key starters and they've won despite playing a man down for nearly the entire second half. And on Saturday night, the New York Red Bulls did something they've not done all year - captured three points despite a halftime deficit, rallying to beat Real Salt Lake, 2-1, to extend their home unbeaten streak to seven games.

Heading into Saturday's game, the Red Bulls were 0-6-1 after trailing at the half, but thanks to goals by Juan Pablo Angel and Dave van den Bergh, the Red Bulls beat RSL to move into sole possession of fourth place in the Eastern Conference. It was just the eighth time this year an MLS team had come from behind after a halftime deficit.

"I think it shows the team has character," van den Bergh said. "We can be a very offensive team, but I think we also proved we can defend the lead now and that's very comforting going into the final stretch of the season and the postseason."

For the second time this year, the Red Bulls came back from a 1-0 deficit to win a game and on Saturday they made the most out of a pair of Real Salt Lake mistakes in the second half.

"I think the team is believing in what we do," Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio said. "We said at halftime we would get our chances. We need to be patient, we need to pass the ball better and I think all the guy showed that we really are becoming a better team."

Angel ran after a long ball by Kevin Goldthwaite, grabbed Jamison Olave on the shoulder and the Colombian defender went down. Referee Kevin Stott didn't call a foul and Angel raced in on Nick Rimando, scoring his ninth goal of the year.

"I went to one side and he lost me and I went to the other one," Angel said. "I got a touch on the ball and he was pretty much out of the play and the goalkeeper was on his way out so it was an easy finish for me."

After the Red Bulls peppered Rimando, van den Bergh scored what proved to be the winner in the 64th minute on what appeared to be a broken play. It started with a complete whiff of an attempted shot by Gabriel Cichero and then a mishit by Dane Richards.

"It makes me very happy because I knew when the ball was coming in the air my intent was just to kick the ball, but my right is just for walking," Cichero said. "I just wanted to kick the ball out of the stadium, but I just told the guys it was on purpose. It was a play. The luck is on our side and it's important for our team."

The ball bounced to van den Bergh on the right and he beat Rimando inside the far post for his sixth goal of the year.

"I thought I was offside, to be honest with you," van den Bergh said. "I haven't seen the replay, but I don't know whether I was or not. I doubt it because they weren't protesting it at all. I controlled the ball with my right and I was surprised with how much time I had - that's why I thought I was offside."

That's the way things are going for the Red Bulls these days.

"I think the last six, seven games have been great for us," Angel said. "We've been looking more compact and more organized, more dangerous and it's right when we need it. This is the time that we needed to pick up points."

Davis: West takes stand on who's best

Reports of Western demise have been a bit exaggerated, it would seem.

Western Conference clubs haven't fared well this year in meetings with Eastern Conference opponents. The result has been an Atlantic-leaning tilting of the playoff field -- or so it seemed. That summer-long assumption that five playoff teams would emerge from the East, leaving a measly little three spots for the West, suddenly looks a lot less stable.

That's partially because East met West in three weekend encounters. The West won two of those and split two points in a draw in the other.

Los Angeles did its part to rescue Western honor by thumping suddenly troubled D.C. United 5-2. Dallas shocked Chicago 4-1 in a Midwest ambush at Toyota Park. No team had put more than two past league-leading goalkeeper Jon Busch this year, but the Hoops came crashing into Bridgeview and left Denis Hamlett's men looking for answers.

Chicago is 2-4 in MLS matches since early August, and their failure to collect points lately is but one of the reasons the Eastern stranglehold on all those playoff spots suddenly looks tenuous.

New England and Colorado drew 1-1 outside Denver. That was the only semi-bummer on the Western weekend romp. It might look like a relative win for the Rapids, a team that was facing the three-time MLS runner-ups, and a team that had been desperate to rejoin the playoff chase just two weeks ago.

But a closer inspection would reveal that New England's house of horror has been in and around Denver, where Revs success has been hard to find. New England owned a 3-11-1 mark all-time in Colorado before Saturday's visit. So a 1-1 draw at Dick's Sporting Goods Park was probably a result that brought a certain amount of relief for Steve Nicol's team.

But it also gave the Rapids another point in the playoff chase. Now, interim manager Gary Smith and his Rapids have propelled themselves squarely back into the hunt, and that's not good news for the East.

As of today, D.C. United is in fifth place in the East. And as of now, that would be the final playoff berth. The way it works this year, the top three teams in each conference qualify for Major League Soccer's 13th playoff "season." The final two berths fall to the highest point earner, regardless of conference.

Six teams get left behind -- which is two more than ever in MLS, so the pressure to collect points is greater than ever.

That's why United can't feel too comfortable in its current spot. And that is only partially because of key injuries and the busy schedule ahead for Tom Soehn's men, one laden with five matches in the coming weeks in CONCACAF Champions League play.

It has more to do with the fact that five teams in the West -- Colorado, Real Salt Lake, Dallas, Los Angeles and San Jose -- are within four points of United. Houston and Chivas USA currently sit at the top of the West.

All that means that if a couple of Western Conference teams chasing Houston and Chivas USA collect a few quick points, the fifth-place team from the East could be passed and pushed aside in the playoff chase. Even the fourth-place Eastern team (New York Red Bulls at the moment) can't afford much slippage.

East meets West in five of seven matches coming up this week, Round 27 of MLS play. Eastern teams host three of those -- so maybe they can reclaim a bit of ground lost over the past weekend.

TACTICAL CORNER

• Jorge Rojas started on the left for the Red Bulls as manager Juan Carlos Osorio attempted to plug the big hole left vacant by Dave van den Bergh's injury-related absence. Van den Bergh is one of those players you might notice a bit (like teammates Seth Stammler and Mike Magee this year), but whose value becomes more obvious when they aren't in the lineup.

Rojas, a more natural central, attacking midfielder, was a non-factor for 60 minutes last week against Sigi Schmid's confident Crew. Osorio made a couple of changes and got the Venezuelan international back into middle, which significantly improved the Red Bulls attack, although they still didn't have enough to make up the ground on Columbus. The Crew prevailed 3-1.

Eddie Gaven had a big night for Columbus. Good for him for stepping up in Guillermo Barros Schelotto's absence. But you have to wonder if Gaven would have been more contained had van den Bergh been at his usual spot in the Red Bulls lineup.

• FC Dallas manager Schellas Hyndman has been trying to figure out all year what to do with his bookcase full of central midfielders. He imported one flank player, Dutchman Victor Sikora, who played well in two matches but moved quickly to the injury shelf.

So, Hyndman has been plugging in midfielders more comfortable in the middle along the outside. He might finally have hit upon the winning combo in Sunday's surprising win in Chicago, where the team from Texas sat in a fairly defensive posture and relied on Jeff Cunningham's speed and Kenny Cooper's dribbling to steer the counter attack.

So, Andre Rocha was on the right and Marcelo Saragosa on the left in the 4-4-2. Neither have games oriented to a wide midfield role. In fact, you could make the case that Rocha is Dallas' best passer. Pablo Ricchetti was situated in the holding role, with rookie Bruno Guarda in the attacking role.

• Nick Rimando has had a good year in Salt Lake, regardless of the bad moment between he and Nat Borchers that led to Saturday's vital Chivas USA goal (in the 1-0 win for the Red-and-White in the Rice-Eccles closer, a victory with significant impact in the playoff chase.)

It's hard to say what caused the communications breakdown here, but this much is clear: Rimando has had similar problems before, failing to communicate in critical moments. Making big saves is just one part of a goalkeeper's job, like distribution. Rimando does a great job on those aspects. But communication with defenders is vital, too, and the rap sheet is growing on RSL's No. 1 in goal.

• Interesting thing about RSL: Javier Morales had a good first half, and RSL created countless chances. But for more of the sloppy finishing that has plagued RSL all year, Jason Kreis' team could have been up by a goal or two. Then Morales shrank after the break, and the men from Utah rarely threatened, often bypassing the midfield in a rush forward. More than perhaps any other club, as the RSL playmaker goes, so goes the team.

• Speaking of playmakers, D.C. United clearly missed theirs, as Marcelo Gallardo continues to miss time due to injury and Jaime Moreno fights knee inflammation. So neither played against Los Angeles.

The result is less possession for Tom Soehn's team. Gallardo and, especially, Moreno are the best of the RFK bunch at keeping the ball and patiently moving it about until the defensive cracks appear.

• A couple of home wins, spurred by an improved attack, has Kansas City back in the playoff hunt. One reason is Davy Arnaud, who had a three-game scoring streaked snapped over the weekend, but still had a hand in pressing Toronto in what could have been a three- or four-goal win. (K.C. prevailed 2-0 against a TFC team that managed not a shot on goal all night.)

Here's what some people may not realize about Arnaud's contributions of late: he's gotten the job done while making quick adjustments to several roles. Arnaud has been deployed as right-sided midfielder, as a withdrawn forward and as a central midfielder. Arnaud's value, especially considering a relatively small hit on the salary cap, his ultra-competitive nature and his clear versatility, cannot be undervalued on Curt Onalfo's team.

Onalfo likes new-look Wizards lineup

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- After Saturday afternoon's 2-0 victory against the Los Angeles Galaxy, Kansas City Wizards head coach Curt Onalfo revealed some stubbornness.

"Regardless of the result today, my intention was to try and play the same exact way next week. I saw a lot of good things in training that I liked," he said. "We're going to build on it."

The "it" is the newfangled lineup that showed sparks of promising possibilities and produced two memorable goals in the victory. Four new faces who were not in the lineup for the 3-1 loss to Houston the previous week dotted the starting 11. Furthermore, two players had a different role on the field.

Davy Arnaud teamed with Jack Jewsbury in the center of the park for the first time and the newly acquired Herculez Gomez was at right midfield where he has played sparingly.

"With all the changes we made, it took us a little time to adjust to each other," Onalfo said. "Once we did that, I thought we were pretty darn good."

One reason Arnaud and Jewsbury were in the middle, said Onalfo, was to take advantage of their ability to test goalkeepers from long range. So far so good, as Jewsbury forced a dangerous rebound in first-half added time with a rising 28-yard drive. Forward Abe Thompson nearly cashed in on the follow but was denied by an alert Troy Roberts defending for L.A.

Arnaud grabbed the limelight though with his 69th minute golazo, a 33-yard strike into the upper right corner of the goal that inspired an "are you kidding me?" out of television analyst Zoran Savic. The goal came after Arnaud earned the second assist on Josh Wolff's opener just two minutes earlier.

But Jewsbury and Arnaud were not the only ones spraying head-ducking drives around the Arrowhead field. Gomez took free kicks and corners for the Wizards in his first start since joining the team Sept. 3.

In the 64th minute, Gomez previewed the Wizards' two-goal explosion with a pacy 41-yard free kick that dipped and bounced as Wicks scrambled left to knock it down.

Three minutes later it was a low, steaming cross from Gomez that Wolff deftly spun for at the near post in the six-yard box and tucked inside the far post. Clearly the speed of the ball was critical.

"He whips in an unbelievable ball. The problem is our guys aren't used to how fast it's coming in," Onalfo said before joking that the Wizards could need some Jamaican sprinters to get on the end of Gomez's feeds. "[The crosses] are certainly dangerous."

Gomez gave a bit of credit to the Galaxy's David Beckham for inspiring his free kicks and crosses saying he had "a bit of competition in that area today." The former Colorado and Los Angeles man is ready to better learn his new position.

"I didn't get as forward as I'd like to, but we got the 'W'. I was just a small part of the big picture today," he said. "I'll play anywhere on the field. ... I know my strengths and weaknesses, and I'm just trying to just get in there and help the team any way I can."

And he is going to get that chance.

"[Herculez] is very, very good in front of the goal, so we have to work on getting him close to the goal," said Onalfo. "He has good pace and needs to get a feel for playing that position. He's more of an underneath forward, but he has a good work ethic."

Onalfo was happy with the team's wide play, his center midfielders and his forwards in the win, but he wants more.

"We can do a better job of when we win the ball having [the wide midfielders] continually causing havoc, but that's part of the progression," he said. "We can continually have better wide play, which is going to open us stuff for our forwards. The combination of Thompson and Josh was very, very good. Abe is extremely physical, very good in the air -- better than I thought he was, and Josh makes smart runs."

Fire vent following disappointing loss

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- The Chicago Fire have prided themselves on their defense all season long. They hadn't allowed more than two goals in a game for 24 games with Jon Busch in goal. The team had outscored opponents 30-20. Busch's 10 shutouts were top in the league.

And then reality sunk in.

Sunday afternoon, the Fire dropped a 4-1 decision to FC Dallas on their home turf. It was a rude awakening for a team that was sitting pretty in the standings. Chicago still has 38 points, which puts it in third place in the East and fourth place overall. But the Fire isn't expecting their last five games to be a walk in the park.

"The last two opponents we've played have shown they're playing with their backs against the wall, fighting to get into the playoffs," Fire head coach Denis Hamlett said. "We've sort of taken our foot off of the gas. We're not in the playoffs yet. If we continue to play like this, we won't be in the playoffs."

One of the strongest qualities of the Fire all season has been every individual contributing team defense. Against FC Dallas, the Fire couldn't seem to stop any plays. Busch has had nothing but positive things to say about his defense, but Sunday afternoon he was taken aback.

"Today, plain and simple, we got our butt kicked," Busch said. "We didn't play well. We had no desire or heart. They wanted it more."

In just the second minute, Jeff Cunningham found the net. And before the half was over, Aaron Pitchkolan and Bruno Guarda gave FC Dallas a 3-0 lead. Cunningham tallied his second of the day early in the second half to make it 4-0.

Fire forward Brian McBride said there is one thing especially the side needs to work on.

"The first half needs to be better," McBride said. "When you put yourself down early, it's hard to get back into the game. Today we might have become a bit impatient. If a team scores early, that shouldn't change things. If anything, that should wake us up."

McBride provided the majority of the Fire's attack Sunday afternoon. McBride had three shots, including the Fire's only goal, heading home a Justin Mapp cross in second-half stoppage time. Perhaps more telling, right back Brandon Prideaux had two shots, while seven others had one shot apiece.

With only five games left and literally the entire league with a mathematical chance of making the playoffs, the Fire could have a long road ahead of them. Thursday night, they play host to the Los Angeles Galaxy, another opponent in a must-win situation.

"It's time for the men to step up and the boys to sit on the porch," Busch said. "We're supposed to get results. That's our job. Now we're in a dogfight."

Veteran defender Diego Gutierrez said the loss to Dallas seemed somewhat surreal at times.

"This result is very unlike us," Diego Gutierrez said. "This outing is one we have to learn from. This one is hard to swallow. But now we need to get ready for Thursday."

Galaxy snap winless streak in emphatic fashion

CARSON, Calif. -- The Los Angeles Galaxy snapped their 12-game winless streak in emphatic fashion Saturday, beating D.C. United 5-2 in front of a sellout crowd at The Home Depot Center. Landon Donovan netted a hat trick, including a pair of goals in the first half, to carry the Galaxy to the win.

The game didn't start that great for Los Angeles though. Just more than a minute into the contest, D.C. United scored off a corner kick, and things looked bleak. Then, just after the quarter hour, Josh Wicks was forced to make a great save on Luciano Emilio to keep things close. It definitely wasn't the start the home side was looking for.

"I was ready to walk out of the stadium when they scored off the corner kick, to be honest with you," said Pete Vagenas, who added a late goal of his own. "I think Wicks made the save of the day on Emilio, on his breakaway. Had they gone up 2-0, it would have been extremely difficult to get back into the game."

That save allowed Donovan to take over the game, scoring the equalizer, then the go-ahead goal. The Galaxy would never relinquish the lead from that point on, and created a number of other scoring chances.

"I was disappointed in the way we started the game, but I was very pleased with the way we reacted," said Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena. "We took a pretty impressive lead into halftime. We had a chance to take a three-goal lead. I think the effort tonight wasn't perfect, but we played as a team."

While the entire team played with more energy than seen out of the Galaxy in quite some time, it was Donovan who was the engine. In addition to his three goals, Donovan also picked up an assist, and generally terrorized the D.C. defense all night long.

"I thought (his performance) was exceptional. But I've seen that a few times from Landon," said David Beckham following the game. "When he plays like that, no one can stop him. He's a goal scorer. He's a great finisher of the ball and we needed that."

Donovan's success came in large part because he was dropped into the midfield, rather than playing as a true striker. The move allowed Donovan more space between the backline and the midfield, and he exploited that space, torching the United defense on numerous runs that began deep in the midfield.

"In watching them play, Bruce realized that they play with two center backs in (Marc) Burch who's not a true centerback and (Bryan) Namoff who's not a true center back either. The way they play in the midfield, they don't play with two side by side guys," said Donovan. "No disrespect to Clyde (Simms), but given the chance I knew I was going to win that matchup."

Donovan's first goal was a perfect example of that. He began his run in the center circle and ran right past the midfield, receiving a pass between the two center backs, before tucking home a shot past Louis Crayton. From that point on, he was running in behind the defense all night long.

His running off the ball opened up the field, and allowed more space for teammates, and the scoreline reflected that.

The scoreline also put the Galaxy within two points of playoff position and also released a ton of pressure that had been building up on a club that had been desperate for a win.

"It was an important win just to get us going again more than anything. To go so many games without a win, I've never done that before, and I'm sure a lot of those players have never done that before," said Beckham. "For confidence more than anything, it was important we started well, which we didn't tonight. But we got ourselves back into it and stayed together to win the game. We needed the three points."

Life gets more difficult for LA as they try to climb their way back into the playoffs. Up next is a road trip to Chicago; last season, the Fire ended the Galaxy's playoff run on the last day of the season. Next Thursday's match won't mathematically eliminate the Galaxy from the playoff picture, but there is no room to sit back and enjoy the win against D.C.

"You get to the point where you don't even look at other scores or standings because it's just depressing. It's nice to finally move a little, but we're still a long ways away and we realize that," said Donovan.

Tireless effort gives Wizards key victory

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- It's not often a team holds their opponent to no shots on goal. But the Kansas City Wizards did it for only the second time in their history Saturday night in a 2-0 win against Toronto FC.

April 13, 1996 -- the Wizards' inaugural game as an original member of Major League Soccer -- is how far one has to go back for the last time their opponent was unable to get off a shot on goal. That fact alone reveals the work put in by the Wizards on the victory.

"Wow. That shows that we had a very good defensive effort," said Wizards head coach Curt Onalfo, a bit taken aback by the news.

Surely the team's defense was strong on the night, especially considering the varied weapons that Toronto brings. Onalfo singled out Jack Jewsbury for his "rock solid" play in the center of midfield as key, but the defensive effort tells only part of the story of a win that puts the Wizards in the thick of the wild card race.

The tireless work of Herculez Gomez on the right wing, the everywhere presence of forward Josh Wolff, and a productive cameo by Kevin Souter rounded out the plot.

After a slow start, the attack began to pour forward during the final 10 minutes of the first half, but many were wondering if Kansas City would pay for their missed opportunities. Most of those chances were created by Wolff who popped up in many advantageous spots throughout the match.

Wolff continued his work as the Wizards onslaught rolled into the second half. Wolff entered the Toronto box in the 61st minute and ran onto a Roger Espinoza pass on the right edge of the six-yard box where he went to the ground in colliding with defender Tyrone Marshall and goalkeeper Greg Sutton. Referee Baldomero Toledo blew the whistle for a penalty kick, and the Wizards had won their biggest chance of the night.

With an opportunity to erase any grief over missed chances, Jewsbury made no mistake as he rifled the ball past Sutton and into the right side of the net.

"He guessed the right way, but I knew once I picked my corner, I was going to bang it as hard as I could," said Jewsbury, who had seen Sutton go to his left in previous highlights.

"The guy came in from behind and got a piece of me. We got a penalty out of it," said Wolff. "Jack did well to finish it, and we were a little fortunate on the other one."P But it was more smart hard work that made the fortunate happen for a two-goal advantage.

Souter entered only his second match of the season after earning a contract with Kansas City from a February open tryout, and gave the Wizards a welcome cushion.

Once again Wolff played a part as his cross found Souter cutting his marker in the middle of the box. Just trying to make a difference, Souter's effort paid off as he struck the ball off the defender.

"I got a good toe on it. It hit his head and looped up and over [goalkeeper Sutton]. Regardless, I put the guy under pressure, and it was enough to get him to make a decision," he said.

"Fortunate bounce or not, Souter put himself in a good situation," said Jewsbury.

The well-earned win keeps the Wizards within one victory of snatching one of the two wildcard playoff berths.

"We seem to be moving in the right direction, we got a little roll going," said Souter. "So, hopefully, going on the road next week, we can carry on."

Chivas USA spoil Rice-Eccles finale

SALT LAKE CITY -- Real Salt Lake hoped to close out the only home field they have known since their inaugural season with a bang. But Chivas USA blasted those well-laid plans for a feel-good ending to pieces.

With the third-largest home crowd in RSL history on hand to witness the final match at Rice-Eccles Stadium, Chivas handed RSL a 1-0 loss on Saturday night, the club's first loss at home this season.

The result also had a huge impact on the MLS Cup Playoffs picture. Combined with Colorado's 1-1 draw with New England, Chivas USA is now in second place in the Western Conference, with the Rapids and Real Salt Lake tied for third place and the final automatic playoff spot.

Chivas scored the game's lone goal in the 72nd minute when Alecko Eskandarian had the simplest of goals gift-wrapped to him courtesy of a RSL defensive mistake.

Defender Nat Borchers chased after a long ball driven toward the RSL goal when he crashed into Nick Rimando as the Real 'keeper came out to snag the ball at the top of the penalty area.

The ball popped free and bounced to Eskandarian's feet. With nothing between him and an empty net, it was a simple matter of guiding it in.

A steady rain did not diminish the RSL attack in the early stages of the match. The club piled up scoring chances like they were raindrops striking the Rice-Eccles turf. Turning them into actual goals proved much harder to do.

Real nearly got on the board in the second minute when Yura Movsisyan put the ball to flight on a nice bicycle kick. He angled his shot at the far post, but the ball sailed wide over the upper corner.

Javier Morales created another nice chance on a free kick in the 10th minute. The Argentinean midfielder uncorked a powerful shot that easily cleared the defensive wall. It caught a little too much air, though, and cleared the crossbar as well.

Morales came up short on an even better opportunity a minute later. Forward Robbie Findley drove into the six-yard box and ripped a nice shot. Dan Kennedy came up with a nice save, but the ball bounced right into the path of Morales. It took only a split second for him to rocket it back on frame.

The ball nearly entered the goal, but it was stopped in midair on the line by Jonathan Bornstein and cleared away.

Chivas was nearly as active on the other end. The Red-and-White had a near-miss in the fourth minute when Eskandarian clamped onto a ball fed to him deep in the penalty area. Eskandarian one-touched it right at Rimando, who blanketed the ball for a save.

Another Chivas scoring chance materialized in the 24th minute. Atiba Harris tracked down the ball in the corner and sent it back to Francisco Mendoza just outside the top of the penalty area. Mendoza fired a bullet that was perfectly on target, but Rimando stood his ground and managed to knock it away with his fingertips.

RSL looked to finally have its first goal in the 31st minute when Movsisyan cut around a defender and curved the ball inside the near post. But his would-be score was waved off after Movsisyan was ruled offside.

Movsisyan's hard luck continued right up to halftime. He had a nice volley off a header in the 44th minute that was good enough to turn into a goal. But it went straight at Kennedy, who could not have moved out of the path of the ball even if he wanted to and deflected it to safety.

RSL continued to misfire in the second half. Will Johnson fed the ball to Andy Williams on a breakaway in the 54th minute. Williams had enough space to create something, but overran Johnson's pass. He recovered and corralled the ball before it bounced over the endline. But it left Williams with an awkward angle.

He tried to curve the ball up and bend it around the near post. Instead, the ball simply banged into the post and careened away.

After getting the opening goal, Chivas hung on through the final minutes. Real's last gasp came on a near-breakaway by Movsisyan in the 85th minute. He threaded the needle between a pair of defenders, but Kennedy covered up at the top of the goal area to make a timely save.