Chris Rolfe was named MLS Player of the Week for Round 21, and the Chicago Fire man certainly did lead the way at Toyota Park as his club became the latest to heap further woe onto bedraggled D.C. United.
Still, it’s hard to say Chicago would not have won (the final was 4-1) without Rolfe’s two goals. Plus, the tendency to always favor the attacker in these weekly awards is maddening. Not maddening like Toddlers and Tiaras (or anything on TLC for that matter), but maddening in our soccer fondness.
So, here are five defensive performances from the weekend that deserve mention (in alphabetical order):
- Jose Goncalves
Physically dominant against Crew forwards Aaron Schoenfeld and Dominic Oduro, the Revs’ star center back then sneaked forward to nail the stoppage-time game-winner in Columbus. That’s a huge three points for the Revolution, who keep inching closer to a playoff spot.
- Andrew Jean-Baptiste
Dealing with Philly striker Conor Casey has always been tough. But he’s been in wonderful form lately, so the Timbers’ center back needed to be tightly focused, confident, tenacious and well-positioned. Jean-Baptiste (pictured, from a previous match) was, and Casey looked clearly frustrated even before the half.
- Zach Loyd
Sanna Nyassi had an absolute miserable evening at Stade Saputo, never able to round the corner against Dallas’ right back. Time and again Loyd prevailed in the one-on-one battles as FCD held the Impact level in a scoreless draw.
- Drew Moor
The Rapids’ center back was a ball-winning, ball-clearing beast in the final minutes as his club clung to a 1-1 draw in Seattle. He was on the case all afternoon – just particularly dominant in the end. Plus, Moor broke free to nod in the team’s goal at the other end.
- Jamison Olave
We cannot be surprised that the Red Bulls’ big Colombian center back would be so dominant (in the teams’ 0-0 draw in Canada), especially with TFC front-line strikers Danny Koevermans and Robert Earnshaw out injured. Still, whenever a Toronto man did break through, Olave almost always there to squash the threat.
