MLS Opening Weekend Roundup

The 2008 MLS season kicked off Saturday with some surprising results to say the least.  The defending champions Houston Dynamo got smashed by the New England Revolution and David Beckham and his LA Galaxy also got throttled in Colorado.  You wouldn't think a squad with Beckham, Landon Donovan and Carlos Ruiz in the attack would get shutout, much less beaten 4-0, but it happened.  The Colorado Rapids opened a can on the Galaxy winning 4-0.

Colorado 4  LA Galaxy 0
Christian Gomez scored on a penalty kick and the Colorado Rapids beat David Beckham and the Los Angeles Galaxy 4-0 on Saturday night in the season opener for both teams.  Beckham played in his first regular-season game in Colorado since joining the Galaxy last year. Beckham flew back from Europe after playing for England against France on Wednesday.  "It's always going to be tough when you have international games," Beckham said. "I felt OK for most of the match, maybe not at my sharpest, but it was overall a tough game for us. We created chances, but didn't put them away."  Terry Cooke scored early in the game, Omar Cummings scored in the 67th minute and Colin Clark added an 80th minute goal for the Rapids.  Things got testy toward the end of the game. In the 90th minute, Galaxy defender Abel Xavier was issued a red card after tackling Ciaran O'Brien. Right after that, O'Brien's hard tackle on Carlos Ruiz earned him a red card.

New England Revolution 3  Houston Dynamo 0
Steve Ralston and Adam Cristman scored first-half goals Saturday as the New England Revolution opened the season with a 3-0 win over the Houston Dynamo in a rematch of the last two MLS Cup finals, both won by Houston.  Sainey Nyassi scored in stoppage time and Matt Reis earned the shutout as the Revolution extended their regular-season unbeaten streak over Houston to five matches (2-0-3). The Dynamo, though, beat New England 2-1 in last year's championship match and 4-3 on penalty kicks after a 1-1 tie in 2006.  Ralston tapped in the rebound of Kenny Mansally's shot in the 15th minute. Cristman headed in a rebound of Jeff Larentowicz's drive in the 32nd minute.  Reis, who had 10 shutouts last season, made a spectacular diving right-hand save on Houston's Stuart Holden in the 60th minute. On the ensuing corner kick, Nyassi cleared a drive by Ed Robinson off the goal line.

KC Wizards 2  DC United 0
Argentinian World Cup veteran Claudio Lopez and Colombian forward Ivan Trujillo scored second-half goals in their Major League Soccer debuts, giving the Kansas City Wizards a 2-0 victory over D.C. United on Saturday in the season opener for both teams.  Kansas City goalkeeper Kevin Hartman made three saves and extended his league record with his 68th career shutout.  Trujillo, who spent his first three professional seasons in Colombia, took a feed from Jack Jewsbury and made a sliding shot past D.C. keeper Zach Wells in the 47th minute. Michael Harrington set up the play with a long cross to Jewsbury, whose pass inside found Trujillo just outside the 6-yard box.  In the 61st minute, Lopez took a long pass from Ryan Pore at the top of the penalty area and chipped the ball over Wells, who deflected the shot but could not keep it out of the goal.

Chicago Fire 1  Real Salt Lake 1
Cuauhtemoc Blanco scored in the second minute of stoppage time to give the Chicago Fire a 1-1 tie with Real Salt Lake on Saturday in both teams' season opener.  Bakary Soumare's own goal in the 71st minute gave Real Salt Lake the 1-0 lead. Real Salt Lake's Dema Kovalenko whipped the ball into the penalty box and Soumare's attempted clearance went past goalkeeper Jon Busch into the net.  Real Salt Lake nearly scored again in the 82nd minute, but Busch saved Kovalenko's volley off a corner kick.

Columbus 2  Toronto FC 0
Adam Moffat scored the first goal of the Major League Soccer season and the Columbus Crew beat Toronto FC 2-0 on Saturday.  The Crew's Brian Carroll knocked a long, arcing pass from midfield to Moffat, who deflected the ball in front of him with his chest and sent a blistering shot from 24 yards past goalkeeper Brian Edwards and inside the left goal post in the 26th minute.  "It's a great feeling,'' Moffat said of his second career goal in a Crew uniform. "Anytime I score it's a surprise to myself, really. So it was good.''  Alejandro Moreno doubled the Crew's lead when he outran Toronto defender Marco Velez and met a pass from Eddie Gaven that left Moreno alone against Edwards. Moreno slotted his shot beneath the left arm of Edwards and inside the right post in the 76th minute.