Barca Ties But United Wins

This past weekend was full of upsets in the land of Jedi Soccer.  Our beloved FC Barcelona surrendered a shocking 2 - 2 draw against Real Sociedad--surely a moral victory for Socieded-- but both DC United and the Fort Lauderdale Strikers posted wins in their matches.

Sporting their crisp new all-black 'away' Jerseys, FC Barcelona appeared to have the match sewn up with two early goals from Xavi Hernandez and Cesc Fabregas, but astonishingly they let Socieded back into the match with two quick-strike goals in the 57th and 59th minutes of play, allowing the home side to claim a 2-2 tie against mighty Barcelona.  Given that derby rivals Real Madrid posted a 4-2 crushing of Getafe, this is not an auspicious start to the season, as it gives the Galacticos some hope.  Next week we look forward to Barcelona returning to form.

In the States, however, the Jedi Soccer sides we follow, did quite well.   DC United saw striker Charlie Davies score a hat trick, for a 3-0 thrashing of Chivas USA, ending his nine-game scoring drought in spectacular fashion.  For his splendid efforts, the MLS has named Charlie Davies the MLS player of the week, a fine accomplishment.  With this win, United claws its way back into 5th place in the MLS Eastern Conference.

Likewise, the Fort Lauderdale Strikers downed FC Edmonton by the score of 2-1.  FC Edmonton opened the scoring in the 44^thminute when John Jonke headed home Paul Hamilton’s long free kick. The equalizer came for Fort Lauderdale when Hamilton saw the ball go into his own net midway through the second half.  Then Brian Shriver scored the decisive goal in the 90^thminute as Fort Lauderdale won their third game in a row.  With this splendid win, the Strikers have secured a playoff berth in the 8 team league.

So despite the dissapointing outcome for FC Barcelona, both DC United and the Strikers both performed quite well this past weekend.  And now-- back to business for Barca!