Major Link Soccer - Enjoying the Big W

It was a relief this weekend to finally see the Seattle Sounders close out a good game with three points. The Fire played well throughout the match, but quality won through for the first time this season. O'Brian White scored a brilliant header and incidentally continued the reverse-curse of Toronto FC players regaining their form once leaving the snake-bitten club. Kasey Keller earned a much deserved man-of-the-match award for imitating the proverbial brick wall between the sticks. Rick Morrison has pictures from the match including some new black & white photos. Prost Amerika has photos of the match from Melissa Brassard and Jane Gershovich. Hot Time in Old Town has a review of the action from the Chicago Fire's perspective.

Parke Still Mentally in Seattle: Jeff Parke took a blast to the face in the match. In true form he picked himself back-up and was on the pitch for the next play. He and his team were back training on Sunday and in post-practice quotes he discusses the relief when he realized it wasn't another concussion. Sigi Schmid put it all in perspective in the post-game quotes as remarked that it was good "[Parke] and Ozzie are still walking around and actually know what city they're in and what team they belong to." 

*Update*: O'Brian White is up for MLS Goal-of-the-Week. Click here to vote. 

More links after the jump:

RSL Shows Their Depth: This weekend Real Salt Lake took on the New England Revolution after defeating Saprissa in the CONCACAF Champions League earlier in the week. RSL rested most of their starters for the game and showed class and skill in dismantling a fatigued Revolution side. This team is the deepest I can remember in MLS with almost two full squads of starting caliber players. This week the team will have a real test when the Colorado Rapids come to Rio Tinto Stadium. On April 20th, RSL will play Monterry in the finals. Monterry may be missing their key striker Humberto Suazo who left a match early this week in the Mexican Primera division. Reoccurring shoulder issues may force the striker to undergo season ending shoulder surgery. 

Davies Wants to Drive: Charlie Davies scored again off a penalty kick in a dramatic 1-1 draw between DC United and the LA Galaxy. The penalty came off a pretty clear dive by Davies. He played a chip down the middle that fooled Donovan Ricketts. Davies jumped the fence and tried to enter the show model Volkswagen during his goal celebration. Luckily he kept his shirt on and avoided the mandatory yellow card. I'm sure the ad execs at DC United are quite happy with the post game photos that look like something out of a promo shoot. In other news, Ben Olsen's hometown paper has a profile on the coach who is leading the nascent renaissance at DCU. 

Kroenke to Take Over Arsenal: Stan Kroenke, owner of the Colorado Rapids, among other professional sports teams is on the verge of a complete take-over of venerable English club Arsenal. Kroenke can bring much needed capital to the Gunners in their quest to reclaim their former glories. This could potentially be very good for the Colorado Rapids and MLS. Arsenal has a very strong and well-established youth academy who has produced young, quality MLS players such as Ryan Smith and our own Steve Zakuani. The Rapids could become an outlet for young, talented Arsenal players in need of playing time and experience. 

Injuries Wrack KC: Injuries are starting to mount at Sporting KC. Designated player Omar Bravo will miss the next three to six weeks with a sports hernia injury. Sporting KC has also missed the services of fast winger Ryan Smith along with Chance Meyers, Graham Zusi and Júlio César. Sporting KC is currently recovering during a well-timed two week break. They'll face tough matches against the LA Galaxy and the NY Red Bulls after the break.