What's ahead in MLS week 22

(August 19, 2008) - Courtesy MLS, here is a look ahead at Major League Soccer's week 22.

MLS Week 22: August 21-24, 2008
(All times Eastern)

Wednesday, August 20

D.C. United at New England Revolution, 7:30 p.m. (DK, MLSLIVE.tv)

Eight days after meeting in a U.S. Open Cup semifinal match, these perennial powers clash again. Last Tuesday, United defeated the Revolution, 3-1, to advance to the Open Cup final against the Charleston Battery on Sept. 3.

Having practiced with his team just five times, United goalkeeper Louis Crayton registered a shutout – and his team’s second road win of the season – in his MLS debut at Chicago on Saturday. Crayton is from Liberia, but played professionally in Switzerland for 10 years. He has recorded 36 appearances for the Liberian national team.

After missing much of the first half of the season with injuries, Revs forward Taylor Twellman is getting back into form. Now in his seventh MLS season, Twellman has 13 career goals against United, and two more in playoff matches.

New England goalkeeper Matt Reis is listed as questionable after leaving Saturday’s match with a right adductor strain. His MLS-record for consecutive minutes played ended at 7,975. If Reis does not play, Revs goalkeeper Doug Warren will start against his former team.

Chivas USA at Houston Dynamo, 9:00 p.m. (DK, MLSLIVE.tv)

Houston had not scored four goals in a League game this season until last Saturday when they defeated Real Salt Lake 4-3.

Both teams will be missing key contributors as Houston forward Brian Ching, who ranks fifth in MLS with nine goals, and Chivas USA midfielder Sacha Kljestan have been called into U.S. Men’s National Team duty for a World Cup Qualifier versus Guatemala on Wednesday.

Chivas USA’s roster has been depleted with injuries, and will be missing midfield stalwart Jesse Marsch for the next six to eight weeks with a fractured jaw suffered in last week’s contest versus the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Thursday, August 21

Chicago Fire at Los Angeles Galaxy, 10:00 p.m. (ESPN2, Deportes)

The Galaxy, the team with the League’s most potent offense (40 goals scored), meet the Chicago Fire, the team with the stingiest defense (16 goals allowed) for the first time in 2008.

Chicago ended the Galaxy’s 2007 playoff hopes with a 1-0 victory on the final day of the season as John Thorrington buried a stoppage time goal.

Two-time MLS Cup winning coach with D.C. United and former New York Red Bulls head coach Bruce Arena will make his coaching debut for the Galaxy after being named the club’s new head coach and general manager on Monday. Arena ranks ninth all-time with 77 career MLS victories.

Saturday, August 23

Colorado Rapids at D.C. United, 7:30 p.m. (DK, MLSLIVE.tv)

D.C. United are 3-1-0 during the month of August including a semifinal victory in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. United secured one of their biggest wins of the season last Saturday in a 1-0 road victory over the Chicago Fire. The shutout was United’s second of the MLS season.

The Rapids snapped a two-game losing streak with a 2-1 win over Kansas City on Saturday behind two goals from Conor Casey. The Rapids shuffled the lineup leaving regular starters Christian Gomez (midfielder) and Bouna Coundoul (goalkeeper) on the bench.

United lost 2-0 on the road to Colorado in their previous meeting this season, with former United playmaker Gomez recording two assists. After last week’s roster shuffle, it should be intriguing to see whether Gomez will be able to compete against his former club where he won an MLS Cup and captured the League’s MVP award in 2006.

New England Revolution at Toronto FC, 7:30 p.m. (FSC, FSE)

Toronto FC midfielder Amado Guevara returns from a two-game suspension and will be looked upon to feed speedy forwards Chad Barrett, Abdus Ibrahim and Johann Smith, who made his debut for Toronto last weekend.

Including a U.S. Open Cup defeat to D.C. United, the Revolution suffered their third consecutive loss on Saturday, and are winless in League play dating back to July 4. The result against San Jose matched their worst outing of the season – a 4-0 loss to Chicago in Week 2.

After Sunday’s loss to New York, Toronto FC has won only once in its last 13 games in all competitions, including eight MLS regular season games.

Real Salt Lake at Columbus Crew, 7:30 p.m. (DK, MLSLIVE.tv)

By setting up both Crew goals on Saturday, playmaker Guillermo Barros Schelotto distanced himself from the rest of the MLS assist leaders. Schelotto has 12 assists; David Beckham (LA), Javier Morales (RSL), and Jaime Moreno (DC) are tied for second with eight apiece.

Despite conceding four goals in a wild first half against Houston on Saturday, Real Salt Lake still has the third-best team defense in MLS behind Chicago and Houston. Colombian Jamison Olave, who has emerged as one of the League’s top central defenders, did not play for RSL Saturday as he served a one-game suspension for an accumulation of yellow cards.

Midfielder Robbie Rogers, who played in all three games for the U.S. Men’s Olympic team, returned for Columbus and played 32 minutes in the team’s 2-1 win over FC Dallas last Saturday.

FC Dallas at Kansas City Wizards 8:00 p.m. (DK, MLSLIVE.tv)

With identical 6-7-7 records, both teams look to reach the .500 mark and earn valuable points.

Kansas City leads the all-time series with a 17-15-7 record. The teams tied their previous meeting this season 1-1 on July 4.

Jeff Cunningham, who last week suggested that he may be soccer’s version of Terrell Owens, scored his 100th career goal in his debut for FC Dallas on Saturday. Cunningham has scored nine goals in 21 career games versus the Wizards.

San Jose Earthquakes at Chivas USA, 10:30 p.m. (HDNet)

With victories against the Galaxy and Revolution, San Jose has its first consecutive wins during the 2008 regular season.

Newly acquired Brazilian midfielder Francisco Lima has been added to a potent San Jose Earthquakes attack that is likely to turn some heads in the final third of the season. Darren Huckerby, Ronnie O’Brien, Arturo Alvarez and Scott Sealy provide speed down the flanks and potent finishing in the box, while Lima will keep defenses off balance with clever distribution in the middle.

San Jose holds the slight edge in the series with a 2-1-2 all-time record versus Chivas USA. The teams met earlier this season with Chivas USA prevailing 1-0 at home.

Sunday, August 24

Houston Dynamo at New York Red Bulls, 3:00 p.m. (TeleFutura)

The Dynamo are undefeated in their last five games and have won three consecutive League contests. They have managed to claw themselves back to the top of the Western Conference standings where they sit alone with a 7-4-8 record and 29 points.

New York is undefeated in its last four matches, and with a 2-0 home win over Toronto FC on Sunday recorded back-to-back wins for the first time all season.

Houston is 2-1-2 all-time versus New York, but they have never won at Giants Stadium (0-1-1).

San Jose Earthquakes Midfielder Ronnie O’Brien Wins MLS Player of the Week Award
Ronnie O’Brien was voted Major League Soccer’s Player of the Week for Week 21 of the 2008 season. O’Brien scored two goals and registered an assist in San Jose’s 4-0 victory over the New England Revolution at Buck Shaw Stadium on Saturday. He is tied for the team lead in assists with four and ranks second on the team with three goals scored. This is the third career MLS Player of the Week award for O’Brien and his first award this season. The San Jose Earthquakes (5-9-6) return to action Saturday, Aug. 23 when they travel to face state rivals Chivas USA. For more on O’Brien’s Player of the Week honor click here.

Jeff Cunningham Joins 100-Goal Club
FC Dallas forward Jeff Cunningham became only the fourth player in MLS history to score 100 goals when he scored in the 35th minute of his club’s 2-1 road loss to Columbus. The game marked Cunningham’s debut for FC Dallas. He arrived earlier in the week in a trade that sent Cunningham to the Western Conference team from Toronto FC. The goal versus Columbus also marked the first time he’d scored against the Crew, for whom he played seven seasons and scored 62 goals. He now has at least one goal against every MLS club. Now in his 11th MLS season, the 31-year old Cunningham, sits in fourth place all-time in goals scored behind only Jaime Moreno (120), Ante Razov (113) and Jason Kreis (108).

Cunningham on his 100th career goal last Saturday:
"Sometimes people say the stars are aligned and things are meant to be, and I just felt like this was destiny for me to get it here. This is where it all started. I have special place in my heart for Columbus and the fans appreciate me, so this is where it was supposed to happen. Maybe all the things I went through in Toronto was because it wasn't meant to happen there."