American Soccer News

A three goal first half by the Chicago Fire sparked the visiting team to a 3-2 victory over the struggling LA Galaxy on Sunday night. It was the highest number of goals the Fire have scored all season. Recent designated player signing Freddie Ljungberg replaced Marco Pappa in the 57th minute, but didn’t make much of an impact as the Fire decided to absorb the Galaxy’s pressure and relied on the counter-attack.

Since returning from the World Cup break, the Galaxy have hit a wall of sorts. Los Angeles is 2-2-2 in its last six MLS matches and has been bounced out of the US Open Cup and is in danger of sealing a similar fate in the CONCACAF Champions League Tournament. Los Angeles, which had only allowed four goals in its first 15 games, has conceded nine goals in its last three matches. “It’s a concern,” Galaxy defender Gregg Berhalter told ASN’s Ivan Yeo. “We have to take a look at it and get back to the basics.”

Jeff Tobin has the happier recap from Chicago.

Ljungberg’s old team, the Seattle Sounders, also had a successful weekend, defeating the San Jose Earthquakes Saturday 1-0 in a game greatly disappointing Quakes fans. It was the kind of poor showing that had Yallop publicly criticizing his team and Quakes fans talking about wishing they had not come. Eric Pederson reports from San Jose, Calif.

The New England Revolution and the Philadelphia Union fought to a 1-1 draw Saturday afternoo. Sebastien Le Toux continued his MVP form with a wonderfully-taken goal in the first half but the Revs hit back through the red-hot Marko Perovic, his fourth league goal this season.

The Revs picked up a much-needed road point to continue their league resurgence. Steven Stoehr provides the New England reaction. But the Union feel hard-done by the result, as Breton Bonnette reports from Philadelphia.

Despite holding the lead twice, being up a man for the final 47 minutes of the game, not to mention having Thierry Henry at their disposal, the New York Red Bulls only managed a meager point away to the Houston Dynamo. Daniel Karell has the RBNY reaction.

FC Dallas went up a Mile High and came down with a point. The boys from north Texas remained unbeaten for the eighth straight game, leaving Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, CO with a 1-1 draw versus the Colorado Rapids Saturday afternoon. Philip Woodruff recaps the match from an FC Dallas viewpoint.

Speaking of excursions to altitude, in Utah Real Salt Lake dismantled DC United 3-1. Patrick McShane has the blow-by-blow of that match, while from the nation’s capital, Steve Long writes that DC United are still poised to exceed the mediocre record they have established for themselves. Though the playoffs still won’t happen.

Fittingly on the Fourth of July, a sellout crowd made its way to the Home Depot Center on Sunday night to welcome back the Los Angeles Galaxy’s two World Cup players, Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle, after the two had proudly represented the United States in South Africa.

The two players immediately made their presence felt, as the two hooked up for a first half strike and two second half goals allowed the Galaxy to celebrate Independence Day with a bang with a 3-1 win over the Seattle Sounders.

“There was a lot of energy and emotion at the beginning of the game,” Donovan said. “We put a lot of energy in the first half. I’m really happy to be back and it’s nice to be a part of this team.” Ivan Yeo reports from Carson, Calif.

Elsewhere, the New York Red Bulls appeared to take a page out of the U.S. National Team’s book, recovering after a very weak start to salvage a point at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Sunday night. Juan Pablo Angel found the scoresheet again, equalizing off a corner kick to allow the team to earn a 1-1 draw with the Colorado Rapids. It was the captain’s fifth goal in the last five MLS games. Read the match report or skip right to the player ratings.

The LA Galaxy enter the two-week World Cup break undefeated after beating the visiting Houston Dynamo 4-1. Forward Jovan Kirovski led the scoring charge with a first-half brace while forward Tristan Bowen and midfielder Alex Cazumba supplied the second half strikes. It took just 47 seconds for the Galaxy to get on the board. Ivan Yeo reports from the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

From the nation’s capital, Steve Long reports on the changing fortunes of DC United and identifies the factors that have ushered in what could be a new era after all. Or is that an old one?

The New York Red Bulls defeated Chivas USA 1-0 in the last MLS match before the World Cup break for both teams. It was a lethargic affair from two very tired teams, punctuated only by Seth Stammler’s highlight goal, occasional roughhousing and questionable refereeing decisions (or non-decisions). Here ASN’s player rankings for the victorious home side.

Two organized defensive units grappled scoreless for 85 minutes at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Saturday night, but three key changes late in the game gave the Colorado Rapids a dramatic 1-0 victory over the Columbus Crew. Pat Shea has that report , including Rapids player ratings.

The Chicago Fire were outplayed throughout the majority of their match against the visiting Philadelphia Union, but capitalized on their chances and reaped the benefits of all three points. Jeff Tobin has the partisan view from Bridgeview, Ill., and Breton Bonnette supplies player ratings for the Union.

The Seattle Sounders soundly defeated the New England Revolution by a score of 3-0. Here is a photo gallery supplied by David Lindsay.

That will do it for MLS coverage for a little while, at least from the ASN home page. Local team-specific sites (links in the right column) will have updates over the next two weeks, but this site will be mainly devoted to that little tournament in South Africa, where ASN will be on the ground.