Posted by Heath Harshman

By Heath Harshman- WFD Fan Correspondent

The MLS had another full slate of CONCACAF Champions' League action this week. It was the second of three consecutive weeks of group play for the four MLS squads taking part in the event. League rivalry was also in effect as three of the four MLS teams took on Mexican counterparts.

The only MLS team not facing a Mexican opponent this week was Real Salt Lake, who battled to an entertaining 3-2 road scalp over Arabe Unido of Panama. A brace from 23-year old Canadian Will Johnson sandwiched a goal from Alvaro Saborio in the first half as the defending MLS Champs held on for a tough three points. The win puts Salt Lake at the top of Group A on nine points through four matches. They hold a two point lead over Mexico's Cruz Azul and a five point lead over fellow MLS foe Toronto FC.

Those two teams, Cruz Azul and Toronto, matched up Tuesday night in Mexico. Toronto defeated the prestigious Mexican side earlier in the group stage, 2-1 at BMO Field. This match went a bit different as interim head coach Nick Dasovic started somewhat of a second side. Considering Toronto is currently tenth in the MLS playoff standings, five points back of eighth place Seattle, with just over a month left in league play the moves make sense. Toronto defended in numbers for the majority of the match and was outshot 17-2 and was not able to manage a shot on goal. Despite that large disparity and 12 corner kicks Cruz Azul were unable to get on the board and take the full three points. The draw was just the third time in 23 matches that an MLS team has earned a point in Mexico.

The other match pitting MLS and Mexican teams against each other down south was between the bottom of the group Seattle Sounders and top of the group Monterrey. Seattle, like Toronto, are battling in league play for one of the final playoff spots and, like Toronto, started what would be considered a weakened side. Despite that fact the Sounders amazingly got off to a 2-0 halftime lead. A deflected own goal off of Monterrey midfielder Sergio Perez plus a cool finish from Sounders forward Mike Fucito seemingly put the second-year MLS squad on to victory and into the history books.

In Istanbul fashion, Monterrey mounted a three-goal comeback in just four minutes in the second half to keep the Primera Division de Mexico's undefeated home reign over their MLS counterparts alive. Chilean international Humberto Suazo led the comeback charge after he came on as a 61st minute substitute. A rebound off of a Suazo shot in the 74th that fell to Jesus de Nigris got the home team on the board and just a minute later Suazo himself got on the score-sheet with a right footed blast from the top of the box. Just minutes later Sounders goalkeeper Terry Boss then Suazo down in the box for a penalty that Luis Perez would put away for a devastating 3-2 Monterrey win. The loss puts the Sounders virtually out of the competition. They are bottom of the group with no points in four matches. In order to advance the Sounders would need to defeat the other two group opponents, Saprissa and Marathon, both of whom they play at Qwest Field in Seattle. They would also need Monterrey to defeat those same teams and hope that their goal differential over that span was better than both Saprissa and Marathon, who are both on six points through four matches. The loss pushed the MLS road record in Mexico to a woeful 0-21-3.

Coming off of a 4-0 home drubbing at the hands of those same Seattle Sounders, the Columbus Crew rebounded with an impressive 1-0 home victory over Mexican side Santos Laguna. An 87th minute strike from Andres Mendoza of the Crew gave them their third win in four matches. Columbus now leads group B on nine points, two points ahead of Santos. Both Columbus and Santos have dominated the group and should coast into the next round.

Round five of six is next week as team's battle for precious points late in the group campaign. The second intra-league matchup between Real Salt Lake and Toronto FC will get things started next Tuesday at 5pm PT in Toronto. Salt Lake dominated the first matchup at home with a convincing 4-1 win. On Wednesday night Columbus will travel to Guatemala to face Municipal (7pm PT) as they try to secure their knockout stage spot. The Crew won the first match at Crew Stadium 1-0. Lastly, Seattle will attempt to earn their first CONCACAF Champions' League point(s) on Wednesday night as well. By that time they will know whether their fate is sealed as Monterrey faces off with Saprissa in Costa Rica on Tuesday night, a game that Seattle fans will be cheering hard for the Mexican side. The Sounders will face Marathon of Honduras at 7pm PT. SFC lost the first match between the two 2-1 in Honduras.



In addition to being a weekly blogger for WFD, I write for the Washington State University student newspaper, The Daily Evergreen, where I have a weekly sports column. I am also the Washington State University men's basketball beat writer for Jim Basnight's college hoops blog on mynorthwest.com. You can find past pieces and follow my work not only for WFD but for The Daily Evergreen and mynorthwest.com by following me on twitter @heathharshman or adding me on facebook. Any feedback is welcome at heath_harshman@yahoo.com.