Z/Web

What’s wrong with Kaiserslauten? Schalke just overpowered them. Waldoch scored twice in the first ten minutes, followed by two goals from Sand in the second half. Mpenza got one of his own in the last few minutes as well. Kaiser did manage one goal, in the 72nd minute, but Schalke ruled. Final: 5-1.

Unbelievable game! San Jose has consistently been one of the worst teams in MLS. This year they’ve got a lot of new exciting players and are promising better results. Well, talk doesn’t cut it: actions do. And San Jose delivered in their season opener at rivals L.A. They started things off in a storming fashion, with Dayak heading in a goal nine minutes in. San Jose remained composed and focused, and their plan worked: Cerritos scored in the 24th minute, and that was followed by a great goal from Canadian International DeRosario just minutes later. Three goals in less than 30 minutes! Unbelievable! L.A. looked legitimately outclassed. In the second half, San Jose made the mistake of sitting back on their lead. They allowed L.A. some possession, which built their confidence. Finally they began breaking down San Jose’s defense. With just ten minutes left Victorine’s kick slipped the ball through and L.A. were on the board. they fought hard, pouring on the pressure, and suddenly Frye got open and scored (on a ground ball that Cannon dove for and should have kick-saved). Only one goal separated the teams and L.A. were hungry for one more. But San Jose played well, defending intelligently and composed, and managed to keep the Galaxy from scoring again. Incredible start for San Jose, which hasn’t won their home opening in three seasons. (In fact, last season they didn’t win an away game until round 21!) Final: 3-2 San Jose.

Exciting game. It started off as a normal Bayern win, with Santa Cruz scoring just six minutes in. But 30 minutes later Lizarazou was sent off for his second yellow. In the dying minutes of the half Dortmund had two goals called off for off-side, one of them unfairly. In the second half, Bobic finally got his goal, tying the score. It was a ground shot that keeper Kahn should have stopped: the ball went right past his foot, but instead of kicking it, he tried to dive and save it with his hands. (Stupid. If I was a goal-keeping coach I’d make my keepers practice with their hands tied behind their backs: they depend too much on their hands.) Moments after the goal Effenberg was red carded for a horrible tackle and Munich was down to nine men. Dortmund really poured on the pressure, but couldn’t get another goal, making this the equivalent of a loss for them. In injury time Evanilson was sent off for Dortmund. Final: 1-1.