Z/Web

Tampa without Mamadou Diallo is like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich without peanut butter and jelly. The poor team just can’t accomplish anything. (Mamadou is on a four-game suspension for attacking a fan that insulted him. This is his second serious suspension this season: let’s hope he learns to control his temper.) Anyway, this game was all Miami. After a few post shots and other great chances squandered, captain Jim Rooney buried a deceptive free kick where Preki didn’t take the shot but rolled the ball to him. Minutes later, Chris Henderson finished, and in the second half, Diego Serna got on the board twice to silence his critics. His first goal was hilarious: he hit the post in the first half and this shot did also, but the rebound came right to his head and he headed it over the keeper and into the empty goal. Final: 4-0 Miami.

Good game with plenty of end-to-end action. San Jose looked good at times, but Chicago generally dominated. It was pouring rain and the ball was difficult to control. The first half was a lot of wild play. In the second half, both teams started to apply some serious pressure. Finally, San Jose broke. On a corner kick, as keeper Joe Cannon rose to intercept, a teammate headed the ball over his head and Cannon fell to the ground. The ball went right to Andrew Lewis who faced an empty net: he buried it. There was still plenty of time, but San Jose couldn’t capitalize on any of their chances (and there were some good ones). Finally, the game went down to the final minutes. “Don’t give up,” I said to the TV, though I knew it was hopeless. Fortunately, the team didn’t. They kept pressing forward, trying for that unlikely last minute goal. With less than a minute left, the ball went to Donovan at the top of the box. The pass was behind him, and hard, and he had Fire on his back: so he slid into the ball, driving it out toward a teammate. That happened to be Zak Ibsen running onto the pass. He blasted it — and I excepted it to zoom 40 miles over the net the way most such charges do — and instead it went like a bullet, 25 yards into the net! In the final minute San Jose had tied the game! Neither team scored in the overtime, though San Jose had a number of key chances (Chicago didn’t really threaten) to win. Great game, essentially a win for San Jose who maintain their lead in the Western Division. Final: 1-1.