MLS Week 12 Recap: Wondo Sets a New Record, Bad Round for LA Teams

Week 12 of the MLS was exciting. Many huge games, several interesting results and a lot of thrill seen in this round are only indicating that the upcoming part of the season will be fun to watch.

WagerBop.com is here to present everything important and interesting from this patch of games in the next few paragraphs.

We will start with one individual – Chris Wondolowski. San Jose Earthquakes’ striker has become MLS’ all-time leading scorer with 148 goals. Wondo scored 4 goals in San Jose’s 4-1 win against Chicago Fire and jumped over Landon Donovan. His Earthquakes are now just two points away from the 7th place and the playoffs in the West. Fire found themselves in a similar position, 9th in the East one point short of the playoff zone.

In the derby of the round, New York Red Bulls have stopped rampaging Atlanta in the Big Apple. The Bulls pulled off a narrow 1-0 win which snapped champs five-game winning streak. And to make it even more sensational, the hosts did it with 10 players on the pitch because of Tim Parker’s red card in the 35th minute. A substitution Tom Barlow scored a winner half an hour later.

Two big inter-conference derbies were totally different. While the game at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston between Dynamo and DC United brought a lot of excitement, the one in Philadelphia where Union and Seattle Sounders faces was a bit dull.

That clash ended without goals, although Union attacked and outplayed the guests who were lucky to leave Pennsylvania with one point. Swiss goalkeeper Stefan Frei was outstanding and is probably the best goalie of the round. Sounders are now second in the West, while Philly still holds the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

Meanwhile, in Texas, Houston came back after Wayne Rooney’s opener. Dynamo turned the result upside down in just two minutes and is now threatening LAFC on the top of the Western standings. Houston has three games fewer and 23 points, while FC has 31. DC, on the other side, has 24 points, the same as Union but with one game more.

This was a bad round for the teams from Los Angeles. They managed to take one point combined, and to make things complicated for them.

That especially applies to Galaxy who lost its fourth straight game. And that happened against the worst team in the league, Colorado Rapids, who had the worst start in the history of MLS. Plus, it took place in LA. So basically, it couldn’t be worse for these guys.

Rapids won 0-1, with the replacement Andre Shinyashiki scoring eight minutes before the end. Galaxy played without Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who will also skip the next match in Orlando because of a two-game ban. It means that it might get even worse for Schelotto’s team.

It took two penalties and a red card for the opponents, in order for LAFC to snatch one point from Dallas. They were down 0-1 after the first half, in which Vela missed the penalty in the last minute. Four minutes into the second half, Matt Hedges, Dallas’ defender was sent off. But even with a player more on the field, the guests couldn’t score until the 80th minute. That is when Vela used his second penalty kick to level the score. Not the result FC planned before this one.

In other matches, Orlando was more than convincing against Cinncinati, trashing the guests 5-1 down in Florida. Interestingly, it was the visitors who struck first. Afterward, the Portuguese superstar Nani scored two goals and sent this game the other way. After four games without a win, it is the first one for the Lions. Cinncinati recorded its sixth loss in seven games.

Sporting Kansas City continued to play pale, and took just one point against Vancouver Whitecaps at their Children’s Mercy Park. They allowed a goal in the fifth minute of the injury time, and lost two valuable points. Something is definitely not right with SKC this season.

Montreal Impact and New England Revolution played a boring game without goals, while Minnesota United defeated Columbus crew with 1-0. It is an important win for the United who is now 5th in the West, and has solid chances of staying there until the playoffs.

The next game is this Wednesday in New York where Red Bulls await Vancouver Whitecaps. After that comes the regular Week 13 on Saturday.