The New York Red Bulls must feel justified in acquiring midfielder Mehdi Ballouchy from the Colorado Rapids at mid-week for Macoumba Kandji; Ballouchy scored on his debut against FC Dallas last Thursday to help New York to a 2-2 tie in Dallas in MLS play.
Ballouchy, a very good ball-handler scored New York’s second goal to pull the team level at 1-1 in Dallas after Milton Rodriguez’s header had given the home team a 1-0 lead in the 23rd minute. Dallas went in front when Heath Pearce sent a cross from the right side to the far post that was headed back into play for Rodriguez. Ballouchy answered when he tapped in Joel Lindpere’s cross in the 48th minute.
Dallas forged ahead again in the 68th minute on an excellent individual effort by Eric Alexander, who dribbled past three Red Bulls to score in the right corner, past Red Bulls goal keeper Bouna Coundoul. As the 82nd minute of the game approached, Lindpere stormed down the left wing and sent a cross toward the Dallas goal, which Dallas defender Jair Benitez accidentally knocked into his goal in an attempt to clear the ball.
In other MLS games last weekend, David Beckham seems to continue to inspire wins for the Los Angeles Galaxy. This time Landon Donovan scored twice after Beckham entered the game late in the second half to rally the team to a 2-1 win over D.C. United. Beckham entered the game in the 53rd minute with the Galaxy trailing D.C United, 1-0. Los Angeles maintained its three-point lead over second-place Real Salt Lake in the Western Conference.
Andy Najar, 17-year-old for D.C. United, scored in the 60th minute; Donovan equalized with on 14-yard shot in the 81st minute and got the winner in the 86th minute off a header.
Alvaro Saborio scored from a penalty in first-half to lead defending champion Real Salt Lake to a 1-0 victory over the Chicago Fire; Real Salt Lake extended its regular-season home unbeaten streak to a league-record 23 games and surpassed the record of 22 set by the Columbus Crew in 2008-09. The Fire played the second half a man down after defender Wilman Conde was sent off with his second yellow card for an infraction.
Blaise Nkufo scored a hat trick to lead Seattle to a 4-0 spanking of the Columbus Crew. The recently acquired Swiss international was playing his sixth MLS game and scored in the fourth minute, the 39th and the 75th. Nathan Sturgis also scored
At Houston, Dwayne De Rosario returned to his old team and scored twice carry Toronto to a 2-1 win over the Houston Dynamo. Toronto kept its playoff hopes alive with its first win in seven games; Houston lost its third straight. Houston’s Brian Ching scored in the 18th minute, and De Rosario equalized it in the 60th.
Conor Casey led Colorado to a 3-0 win over New England and in the process set a team record of 39 goals; the Rapids extended their home unbeaten streak to nine wins. Casey and Omar Cummings, who also scored, each has 10 goals on the season; Wells Thompson added his first goal…San Jose beat Philadelphia, 1-0, on Thursday.
U-17 Semifinals Set
Defending champion North Korea, South Korea, Japan and Spain are in the semifinals of the FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup in Trinidad and Tobago. The double header matchup at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva is scheduled to be played Tuesday, Sept. 21, and will see North Korea take on Japan and South Korea goes up against Spain.
The finals are scheduled for Saturday at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port-of-Spain. Host Trinidad and Tobago was defeated by North Korea in its last preliminary round game and did not advance to the second round. The Trinidad and Tobago senior men’s national team topped hosts Antigua and Barbuda, 1-0, in a friendly on Sunday.
