7:30: Welcome to Casa del McCarthy for this rare midweek aggregation of quality American footy action. DC - Pachuca gets us started, with KC - New England featured in the middle before Houston - Saprissa. I can dust off the blog for this momentous event.
7:36: I took one of the FSC commentators to task for his lack of preparation last week. It's only fair to laud them for having three guys on site for this game at RFK Stadium. Ample show of resources there.
7:45: I love Luciano Emilio when he's in the box. He's a fairly ruthless finisher. But his buildup play is far, far too slow at this level. As I said after the first game, he just doesn't move the ball quickly enough and reacts too slowly once he's on it.
7:58: Surprising to see the Revolution go with Amaechi Igwe. I wonder if it's a fit thing or a fitness thing for Chase Hilgenbrinck.
8:00: Wizards coach Curt Onalfo springs a surprise by starting Scott Sealy. It's a good move; this isn't a particularly pacy Revs backline with Chris Albright (ankle) on the bench.
8:07: Nice pinney, Matt Reis
8:12: How many ways can my esteemed editor say that he thinks Kurt Morsink is total pants? I counted twice in the first five minutes. (For the record, I agree. He's not good enough to pull the strings.)
8:14: Make it three in six as Morsink gets pressured off the ball.
8:16: Morsink almost gets his revenge as he forces two sharp saves from Matt Reis.
8:19: Goal. Keystone Kops routine in the Kansas City box presents New England with a goal. Castro's ball is dangerous, but Wahl should have dealt with it. Instead, he snapped it off of Jewsbury and past Hartman.
8:25: Reis saves from Sealy off the header, then Lopez heads over the bar. Igwe, Igwe...meet Lopez, the former Argentina international. Marking him from five yards away isn't advisable for your playing future.
8:27: The best part of any Revs broadcast? The interview with Steve Nicol after 20 minutes. Unfortunately, there wasn't a debatable penalty call to discuss. Nicol thinks his team is a bit fortunate to be ahead. He's probably right.
8:28: Igwe does his best Theo Walcott impression before blasting just wide.
8:34: Penal! Sealy and Morsink play a one-two and Nyassi comes through with a reckless slide through Morsink. Jewsbury gets the call to take the penalty and slots home. Probably just to be back on level terms.
8:41: Goal. Khano Smith seemingly holds the ball far too long after a surging run and then slides to the far post. Wizards defense AWOL and Nyassi slides home.
8:45: Khano Smith shoots, but it goes sideways and almost deflects off Kenny Mansally and into the net.
8:48: Goal. Terrible, terrible defending by Kansas City. Castro's service was reasonably dangerous, but should have been cleared. Joseph affects the defense and Mansally takes a poor clearance and slots it between Hartman.
8:54: Halftime in Kansas City. Wizards will rue the multiple missed chances as they go into the break down 3-1. Flipping back to FSC see United still down two goals on aggregate.
8:55: Just saw the replay of the possible penalty on Fred. I'm fine with the no call. There's a tug, but there's not much there.
9:01: Great cross from Burch. Emilio gets the header down, but can't direct it to either side of Calero, who does well to get that off to the side.
9:06: Juan Carlos Cacho has missed a hatful of chances in this tie, a point rightly made by the PbP announcer.
9:09: Second half starts in Kansas City...we're going to flip back and forth for the next 20 minutes or so.
9:13: Alvarez gets the killer third after United knocks on the door and can't break it down. Too many numbers for the United defense to cope with as the side poured forward...swapping back to KC-NE
9:22: Marinelli clatters into the back of Joseph. I suspect that's his last chance.
9:37: My focus on this game is waning. New England's doing an effective job of killing off this game.
9:38: D.C. apparently scored a couple of late goals to make it close. But United still goes out. Houston's the only team left flying the MLS flag.
9:41: Lopez forces Reis to dive low to his right to push it around the post.
9:47: Kansas City can't get anything going.
9:55: Flood comes off in stoppage time. Positing that it's a hamstring injury. Joe Franchino comes back after a long injury hell to make his first appearance in quite some time.
9:57: Impressive 3-1 win from the Revs. Back to FSC for Houston-Saprissa.
10:03: Watching the highlights from United-Pachuca. Two good goals from Dyachenko and Niell, but a bit too late.
10:09: Match kicks off. Three notes about Saprissa's home stadium: (1) No MLS team has ever won here; (2) It has turf; (3) The fans are one massive pain in the ass.
10:11: How does one define "intermovable?"
10:13: Waibel pulls up lame and Brian Mullan has to come on in his place. Mullan was very poor at right back in the opener against New England. Waibel was in the center for the injured Robinson (Boswell is suspended; Ianni replaced him). It looks like Clark has pushed into central defense, Cameron pulled inside, and Mullan went out to the right wing. But I can't really tell with this hideous camera angle.
10:20: How did Gomez miss the header from 5 yards? How is he that wide open? Great point by Dunseth about the poor turnover by Barrett to start the counter attack.
10:24: Here are my thoughts on Corey Ashe as a player: He's really, really fast.
10:28: Miles on Caig: "His distribution hasn't been of the highest caliber." Agreed.
10:32: Keep your elbows down, Ianni. People have gotten sent off for less in these away games in Central America.
10:35: I'm really annoyed that I can't figure out who is playing where because of this camera angle.
10:36: The Dynamo is passing like the game's being played on grass.
10:38: Finally, a camera angle where I can discern who is playing alongside Ianni: Geoff Cameron, scorer of the equalizer at the weekend, plays alongside Ianni in the middle. At 6'3", he's a logical choice when there aren't any other available defenders.
10:40: Do you think Grimace is unhappy that Saprissa's crowd is called the Purple Monster?
10:41: Houston's passing is abysmal right now. Simple balls ending up at the feet of the Costa Ricans. Not 30 yard through balls, five and ten yard short passes.
10:42: Goal. Oh my. Tony Caig. What have you done? Meek shot deflects off Ianni and Caig lets the ball slip right underneath him. I can categorically say there's no way Onstad lets that ball past him. Thirty-five minutes of good work down the toilet.
10:46: Halftime. Also known as snack time. Mmm...ice cream.
11:08: Flipped back in time to see Borges score the killer second. Probably time to start working on some other things...
11:22: Ching forces Navas into a diving save.
11:39. Saprissa scored a third while I was watching Calgary - San Jose and writing a Nyassi profile for MLSnet. CBC hockey coverage is neck and neck with Sky Premier League coverage for best sports presentation. With the game firmly out of reach, it's time to wind up this blog for the night.
To recap: MLS teams flame out in the CONCACAF Champions Cup and New England reasserts itself by handily dispatching Kansas City. All on a Wednesday night nonetheless. Now about those Sharks...