Would-be scorers in MLS sing the penalty kick blues

It was a strange night in Major League Soccer from the shot spot – the 12-yard penalty kick mark, that is.

Each occurrence of PK strangeness, with the pictures to prove it:

In Montreal …Patrice Bernier stepped up and slotted home. Then he did it again. And then one more time.

As Bernier ran up on his first shot, referee Fotis Bazakos noticed Matt Reis not standing on his line but, oddly, inside the goal. Bazakos blew the whistle about the time Bernier was shooting.

Take Two: Bernier put his PK home – but Bazakos ruled he had stopped and restarted his run-up, a legal no-no. By now, everyone should be thinking, “C’mon, guys. It’s a penalty kick. We’ve done this before!”

Take Three: With everything sorted out just so, the Impact midfielder made a good and proper run-up and gave his team a 1-0 lead.

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In Toronto …Ryan Johnson’s penalty kick eluded Colorado’s Matt Pickens but banged off the goal post. Going into Wednesday’s full schedule of games, MLS men had converted 35 of 43 attempts (81 percent). That was only the third to be missed wide, high or off the post.

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In San Jose …Chris Wondolowski connected from the 12-yard spot. It would have been his 18^th goal this year as “Wondo” continues to distance himself from the field in the Golden Boot chase. But Justin Morrow got into the penalty area too early. Way too early. Dallas’ Kevin Hartman saved Wondolowski’s ensuing effort. That, by the way, was Hartman’s third save on four penalty kick attempts this year.

Said Wondolowski, who continues to stand on 17 goals: “I have to make it. It’s a shot from 12 yards out. It doesn’t matter if I have to take the shot five times over, I have to make it each time. It could have killed off the game, but it gave them a little bit of hope. We have to finish them off there.”

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Also in San Jose …Dallas had an opportunity to equalize with a stoppage time PK. We talked about that one here.

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