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Soccer Goals: After looking dead in the water, Chicago Fire overcame a two-goal second-half deficit in front of a home crowd at Toyota Park. Cuauhtemoc Blanco lead the way by earning a suspect penalty call which he converted with ease. Believing that they still had the game in hand, the Colorado Rapids let down their guard, conceding two goals in the final five minutes.

 

The featured match up, Seattle Sounders vs Houston Dynamo did not disappoint with a 1-1 scoreline which featured the debut of Houston's DP signing, Luis Landin. Struggling with the initial pressure and intensity of the game, El Escorpion settled in on his game, offering a glimpse of his talents.

 

Suffering from a real rough stretch of play, the New York Red Bulls finally secured their first victory, snapping their 13 game win-less streak. Juan Pablo Angel netted the game winner when Mac Kandji shot from long distance and the deflection bounced to JPA, who cleanly sent the ball into the net.

 

Superb goals, intense play, and late game winners embodied the happenings in MLS Week 23. Lets take a look at how the MLS Power Rankings Week 23 fared.

 

Team and Rank	Team	Record	Comment
1.   1	Columbus Crew	10-3-9	Taking the weekend off, the Crew travel to NYRB. What happened to the all yellow against Cruz Azul, losing 0-5? Chad Marshall and Eddie Gaven had their hand in all five goals. Their CCL performances make me shamed to support all MLS teams.
2 2	Houston Dyanamo	11-6-7	The Dynamo could have secured the victory but was unable to penetrate the Sounders defense for the second goal. Luis Landin should start off slow but will be the main attraction while Ching and Holden are absent for international competition.
3.  3	Chicago Fire	10-5-8	Playing with a make shift squad devastated by injuries, the Fire's comeback conjure up miracle-esque performances. Losing Bakary Soumare to Bologne will deplete their defense which is already missing, Conde, Segares, and Ward.
4	LA Galaxy	8-4-11	The Galaxy earned a 0-0 draw on the road against DC United. Is this team for real? Will Eskandarian and Buddle return for the playoffs?
5  4	Seattle Sounders	8-6-9	Earning a 1-1 draw was crucial for the Sounders, a team that struggles away from home. If Ljungberg returns healthy and they can play well on the road, the Sounders will evoke fear in the playoffs.
69	Chivas USA	10-7-3	After hearing about how good Jesus Padilla is, Sacha Kljestan conjured up magic, scoring two goals. Losing badly midweek to RSL 0-4 does not help their cause, despite having several games on hand. Padilla has struggled with the tempo and pressure of MLS. Will he make his mark later in the season?
7 10	New England Revolution	8-6-6	With several games in hand, the 1-0 victory over Seatttle has helped their playoff chances. As injured players return, the Revolution could make the playoffs with strong play of Joseph and Ralston. Dube's hat trick was amazing as they defeated RSL 3-1.
86	Colorado Rapids	8-7-6	After conceding three second-half goals, we will see how the Rapids face adversity as they go on the road for five of their last seven games. Cummings will need to pick up the slack with Conor Casey away on national team duty.
9	DC United	6-5-11	They held their ground against the Galaxy, but their defense is proving unstable and unorganized. Conceding two late goals against Toluca in CCL play suggests that the back line is their Achilles heel.
10   8	Toronto FC	8-8-6	Just as TFC starts to build momentum, they go 2008 TFC on us. With such a strong midfield, why are they such a mediocre team? Gerba, White, and Vitti have raised their level of play, but where is the the rest of the team?
11	Real Salt Lake	7-9-6	RSL destroyed Chivas USA midweek. For all those fans that said that RSL was an automatic playoff contender, RSL will miss Robbie Findley during the weekend of Sept 6-10th due to international duty.
12  12	FC Dallas	6-11-5	Losing to the NYRB was unacceptable. Marvin Chavez could see playing time next week as the hoops have a bye week. The U-20 World Cup could deplete the squad.
13   14	San Jose Earthquakes	5-11-5	A last minute 1-0 victory over the Wizard is not convincing enough. The quakes need to build for the future. Cutting high priced commodities should be a priority for next season.
1413	Kansas City Wizards	5-9-6	With games in hand, the Wizards will not make the playoffs. In my 2009 MLS preview, I suggested that the Wizards would not make the playoffs for two reasons: Lack of team speed at forward and wings, recommending they should trade several of their young players who were not seeing action. Although Joelstradamuswasmocked in several scenarios, he has proven his prognostic worth.
15  15	NYRB	3-16-4	Letting them relish in their victory, I am not going to say anything bad. Mac Kandji is the real deal only if he can stay healthy for a whole season. A plus ten goal season awaits.

 

 

Were you impressed with Omar Cummings performance? Who will make the playoffs? Will Mac Kandji experience a break season in 2010? Share your thoughts.

 

Included are blogs that discuss Soccer Goals: MLS Power Rankings Week 23 - Chicago makes a triumphant comeback.

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