Three Good, Three Bad: MLS Week 12

A third of the way through MLS’s regular season the league is tighter than ever – FC Dallas were the latest to make a break for the lead until they met Montreal, 20^th overall.

New England’s nine-match unbeaten run ended in Kansas but who are the real winners and losers from MLS Week 12?

Giovinco is the key man for Toronto

Flying High...

1) Giovinco’s Genius

It isn’t surprising that Sebastian Giovinco is tearing up MLS, but Toronto fans will be thanking their lucky stars he is playing for them. The Italian international produced another splendid game-winning goal to beat Portland Timbers this weekend and Greg Vanney is rightly looking to get the ball to Giovinco at every opportunity. The forward now has five goals this season and must be in line to become the MLS newcomer of the year!

2) Montreal making an Impact

After coming within 45 minutes of being the first Canadian to lift the CONCACAF Champions League, Montreal suffered in MLS. However, the Canadians have now won back-to-back games to lift themselves of the foot of the overall standings despite having played five games fewer than New York City. Frank Klopas’ team have at least three games in hand on every other side and could cause waves with the counter-attacking style that was too hot for FC Dallas.

3) Wonderful Wondo

We praised him last week, but you can’t leave out a man who has now hit 100 MLS goals! Six years ago it looked like Chris Wondolowski’s career was destined for obscurity but he is now one of the nine most prolific marksman in league history. It’s some story and the San Jose hitman is not done yet – if he reaches double figures this campaign, an inevitability, he will become the first man in history to score 10 goals in six consecutive MLS seasons.

He has hit the century mark. Congrats to Chris Wondolowski on recording his 100th MLS career goal! 1-1! #SJvORL pic.twitter.com/o3BozjLkb6

— San Jose Earthquakes (@SJEarthquakes) May 25, 2015

In the pits...

Nguyen saw red in NE's 1-1 draw with DC

1) Nguyen’s Nine-man New England

Lee Nguyen looked to be returning to his best form in recent weeks but he let his teammates down in a big way when he received a reckless red against DC United. Coming just six minutes after Chris Tierney had already been dismissed, the playmaker left his side with nine men for 32 minutes. The fact that they still managed to claim a point only means Nguyen owes the squad more when he returns. Tierney’s challenge was reckless but Nguyen was foolish.

2) Red Bulls Rage no more

How big a loss would Thierry Henry be for New York Red Bulls? A big one. Okay, so no surprises there but after a strong start, we are beginning to see, the Red Bulls just don’t have the key to open up resolute defences without him. Not only did Henry produce the moments of magic to open the door for New York, he also attracted the attentions of at least two opponents. Without his fear factor, New York have failed to score in their past two games, Bradley Wright-Phillips’ goals are down and sides now believe they can keep the Red Bulls at bay.

3) Problems in Portland

When Portland terrorised LA Galaxy in their 2-2 draw early in the season, many predicted the side had turned a corner and would threaten the league’s top sides in 2015. They produced a similarly impressive performance to sweep aside Dallas in early April but since then the Timbers have struggled to produce consistent performances. Fanendo Adi and Darlington Nagbe have had their moments but 2015 is quickly becoming a case of what might have been for Portland.

Images courtesy of Jamie Sabau and Alex Menendez, with thanks.