MLS Morning Espresso 9/23

Fall is officially in the air this morning. And you know what that means: the playoff hunt is in full effect.

One team that came closer to realizing its postseason dream was Kansas City, who overcame a two goal-deficit at the half to beat Houston 4-3 at CommunityAmerica Ballpark. Cam Weaver (13′) and Dominic Oduro (34′) gave the bottomfeeding Dynamo a surprising advantage. Oduro’s goal was  immediately responded to when Kei Kamara (35′) halved the lead. Adrian Serioux (37′) reclaimed the two-goal lead before the half with Houston looking at a potential upset. That was until Kansas came out of the interval with a fury, and a second half that saw Teal Bunbury (60′) , an own goal by Serioux (72′), and a stoppage time strike from Josh Wolff (97′) handed Houston a heartbreaker.

Meanwhile, in extra-MLS meanderings, Real Salt Lake outpowered Arabe Unido 3-2 in Panama City in  Group A of the CONCACAF Champions League. Williams Aguilar (2′) provided an immediate lead for ArabeU – a lead that would not last more than eight minutes, as fellow namesake Will Johnson’s brace (10′, 43′) sandwiched teammate Alvaro Saborio’s goal (36′). Mario Angulo (53′) converted a penalty to keep it close, but Real Salt Lake prevailed.

Finally, Seattle came within 16 minutes of becoming the first MLS club to taste victory on Mexican soil after collecting an own goal (28′) along with a Michael Fucito score (44′) in the first half of their CCL match against Monterrey. But los Rayados retaliated with a four-minute fury late in the second frame when Aldo Di Nigris (74′), Humberto Suazo (75′), and Luis Perez (78′) to give them a thrilling, 3-2 victory at Estadio Tecnologico.