Well now, certainly Major League Soccer referees weren’t about to be upstaged by their World Cup counterparts, right?
Guillermo Barros Schelotto got away with a Thierry Henry-style handball in the Columbus Crew’s 2-0 win over D.C. United, which ended United’s six-game unbeaten streak (including friendlies and U.S. Open Cup). Both Chris Pontius and Adam Cristman had first-half chances. At least D.C. didn’t lose any players to injury, and Troy Perkins did save a late penalty kick attempt by Steven Lenhart, but United were on their heels for most of the second half. Highlights below:
Meanwhile, the Washington Freedom squandered a 2-0 lead for the second straight match, scoring twice in the first 13 minutes but giving up three goals in the final 30 in a 3-2 loss to Philadelphia. Amy Rodriguez scored twice in the match to surge past Abby Wambach on the WPS scoring chart. Rodriguez is tied with Marta at six goals. Wambach has five. The Freedom have dropped two in a row after their own six-game unbeaten (3-0-3) stretch, and now sit fourth in the seven-team WPS standings.
Both D.C. and the Freedom will be in action Wednesday, with the WPS All-Star game taking place in Atlanta and United hosting Richmond at George Mason in the U.S. Open Cup.
