who did what, what it means, and what to look for next:
Real Salt Lake 0, Columbus 0
Man of the Match: Columbus hasn't found the goal yet in 2006, but it's not Frankie Hejduk's fault. The veteran right back did about everything a fullback can on offense, ranging forward consistently and supplying tantalizing crosses. Plus, he did a fine job containing Freddy Adu in the Crew's defensive third.
Bigger picture: Sigi Schmid's team looks solid everywhere except right in front of the opposition goal. Indeed, the Crew seem one good finisher away from being a dandy team. First-choice striker Jason Garey has yet to exploit ample flank service; Kei Kamara got the last half hour Saturday and could be in line to start this week.
Pressure point: Real Salt Lake now have two points from two home matches. After a trip to Chivas USA, John Ellinger's men get two more outings on the turn in Utah, and RSL needs to start stashing points.
New England 4, Toronto FC 0
Man of the Match: Taylor Twellman makes two goals out of three good first-half chances and the game is pretty much finished from there. Speedy Revs midfielder Khano Smith, with a particularly strong first half, could have been the choice, too.
Bigger picture: Does Shalrie Joseph make all the difference on this team, or what? He coolly bounces around in there like a gazelle, destroying and distributing with equal graft and skill. He missed New England's opener and was sorely missed. If the Revs' rangy central midfielder is truly unhappy about this ongoing contract kerfuffle, he isn't showing it on the field.
Pressure point: The schedule isn't kind to Canada's first MLS entry. First, Mo Johnston has a weekend off to chew on the 0-2 launch. Then he brings his team into Kansas City on April 25 to play in the Wizards 2006 home debut. (And Kansas City is 5-0-2 since 1999 in home openers.)
Kansas City 4, D.C. United 2
Man of the Match: Eddie Johnson not only scored once and assisted twice, he set up Scott Sealy's rebound goal. Plus, he won more than his share of high balls served into the Wizards' offensive third, knocking balls into dangerous spots along the wings.
Bigger picture: What a fantastic MLS coaching debut for Curt Onalfo, who promised his team would focus on attacking. Right away, Kansas City gets a big head start as it looks for a way back into the playoffs for the first time since 2004. And that was without suspended defender Nick Garcia and new Argentinean signing Carlos Marinelli.
Pressure point: D.C. United has given up six goals in two matches. Last year, it took six contests for United to concede as many. Tom Soehn's team has a classy attack, but he'll have to find answers at the other end.
Houston 1, Chivas USA 0
Man of the Match: Dynamo midfielder Brad Davis was a handful all afternoon. Then he supplied the wicked free kick to just the right spot for Brian Ching to turn into a tight contest's only goal.
Bigger picture: Amado Guevara is working hard for the Goats, but the effort may not always show up on the score sheet. With fellow midfielders Sacha Kljestan and Francisco Mendoza, as well as left back Jonathan Bornstein, so busy on offense, Guevara is sacrificing some movement forward to be more of a two-way player.
Pressure point: Kljestan couldn't be quite the same attacking force he was a week earlier for Chivas USA. Davis probably had a lot to do with that. He kept Kljestan occupied by being active and unpredictable, hitting crosses from the wing and cutting inside to cause trouble.
New York Red Bulls 3, FC Dallas 0
Man of the Match: Clint Mathis, who has made a career of destroying Dallas, made a sure impact in his first start for Bruce Arena. With a goal and an assist, he now has 19 goals and seven assists in 30 league and playoff meetings against Dallas. With soaring confidence Sunday, he even attempted a couple of ambitious shots from distance in the second half.
Bigger picture: The good news is all the confidence the Red Bulls gained from winning, convincingly, without captain and linchpin midfielder Claudio Reyna. On the other hand, Reyna's tendency to pick up nicks and knocks (and sometimes worse) is what had everyone concerned about his acquisition.
Pressure point: Trouble in defending set pieces haunted Dallas all last year. One of RSL's goals last week came off a corner kick. And Sunday, Jozy Altidore's first goal of the season came off a well-delivered Mathis corner kick. Manager Steve Morrow will work to put that right before this week's home opener.
Chicago 1, Colorado 1
Man of the Match: Herculez Gomez turned the match on its head with an audacious run and fabulous, pinpoint shot past goalkeeper Matt Pickens. His crossing needs to improve - but the Rapids will surely give him a pass if he hits more game-changers like that one.
Bigger picture: Fernando Clavijo raised eyebrows by entrusting the Rapids' goalkeeping duties to largely untested Bouna Coundoul. But so far, so good for the young man from Senegal. Coundoul is handling everything with cool aplomb - and he certainly wasn't at fault on Chicago's late strike Sunday, as Chad Barrett slipped behind the Rapids defense for the equalizer.
Pressure point: Yes, the Fire were playing on the road, on the expansive 80-yard-wide field, at altitude. Still, any team with a man advantage for 84 minutes should point more than nine shots toward goal. The Fire simply didn't do enough to pressure and test Colorado's Coundoul.
THIS AND THAT FROM WEEK 2
Technician's notebook:
• Real Salt Lake's Mehdi Ballouchy had his second consecutive strong outing, especially in the second half. John Ellinger had flank midfielders Freddy Adu and Chris Klein pinch inside more to help grab hold of the midfield after intermission. Columbus' Eddie Gaven and Ned Grabavoy were running wild in there in the first half, then all but disappeared as RSL had them outnumbered in the second 45.
• For a clinic on the effectiveness of making early decisions and playing quickly, watch Kansas City's 4-2 win against D.C. United. Scott Sealy makes a decisive, early cross on the Wizards' second goal (in a breakout situation with plenty of options, which causes many players to hesitate, unable to quickly sort out the best way forward.) Later, Sasha Victorine releases Eddie Johnson with a silky pass that's not only accurate, but played immediately after he collects a loose ball in midfield.
• At RFK, new United midfield acquisition Fred looks much more comfortable on the inside. He came into Saturday's match at halftime, deployed on the right side. By the 75th minute he had moved inside, where he started from the spots he was drifting into anyway.
• Steve Morrow wants to play with three forwards at FC Dallas, which is great. Except that somebody has to play out wide. The team is getting little service from the wings, which isn't good with one of the league's all-time best finishers, Carlos Ruiz, waiting to get on the end of any crosses.
• At the other end, FC Dallas is missing Greg Vanney's passing out of the back. Vanney might have lost a step, which is why FC Dallas sent him to Colorado. But neither Drew Moor, Clarence Goodson nor Alex Yi showed against New York that they can distribute the way Vanney could from the center back spot.
• Vanney is now playing left back at Colorado, which seems to have the makings of a nice little back four, along with Brandon Prideaux on the right and Mike Petke and Ugo Ihemelu in the middle. Credit goes to Fernando Clavijo for assembling every member of that collection through trades over the last 12 months.
Best goal-line rescue: Two candidates from the same match: RSL's busy Mehdi Ballouchy was agile in heading away Marcos Gonzalez's header off a corner kick. Not long after, Columbus' Jason Garey got around RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando on a nice through ball from Ned Grabavoy, but Eddie Pope - showing he hasn't lost that good recovery speed - got behind his goalkeeper to clear Garey's shot at the near post.
Best use of rookies: Due to the salary cap squeeze, rookies will get their chances in MLS. Coaches who can identify the right ones to spot in here and there will be rewarded. Curt Onalfo certainly seemed to make an astute choice as rookie Michael Harrington had a big day on the Wizards left flank. He was effective throughout and his well-taken third minute strike was the fastest in MLS history for a debuting player. Previously, Jaime Moreno held the record, scoring in the fourth minute of his first appearance. Wizards rookie defender Aaron Hohlbein also made his first start.
Rookie Adam Cristman had a strong match for New England, as well.
Best comeback: After some well-documented Week 1 struggles, RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando was solid against Columbus, save for one poor first-half clearance. He was particularly effective after intermission, intervening in several sharply-hit Crew crosses.
Award for creative celebration: Herculez Gomez might not make the security people happy when he goes into the stands, as he did at Dick's Sporting Goods Park after that game-turning strike Sunday against Chicago. But nothing endears a player to the fans quite like celebrating with them. Gomez took a seat in the first row of the supporters' section to happily bask with the Rapids faithful.
Steve Davis is a freelance writer who has covered Major League Soccer since its inception. Steve can be reached at BigTexSoccer@yahoo.com. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com.
