MLS weekend: The five top matches to view and review

The five matches most worthy of checking out this weekend:

Real Salt Lake at D.C. United (Saturday, 7 p.m. ET): Real Salt Lake has been around long enough now, since 2005. Jason Kreis’ men need to go into RFK and get a win already! It will not be easy for the club has never won at D.C.; this version of United is better than most from the last few years. Along with an 0-4-3 mark there, RSL lost in the 2010 U.S. Open Cup, too.

The home club will be missing top man Dwayne De Rosario, still suspended for naughtiness. But they’ll also be quite happy to be back at RFK after the season opening loss at Houston.

RSL has some travel momentum going, having ambushed San Jose last week in the Bay, 2-0. Most pundits and preview makers (I raise my hand here) have D.C. United and RSL to compete for top spots in their conference in 2013.

New England at Chicago (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network): The Revs had an extra week of preseason prep, so that’s good or bad, depending on your point of view. Jay Heaps (pictured) is in his second year in charge, says it’s playoffs or bust this year.

“On Day 1 last year, we wanted to create a culture where we out-work, we out-think, we out-prepare, and that will lead us to out-play,” Heaps told the Boston Herald. Of course, what really counts is the level of talent attached to all that idealism and want-to. In that regard, the team definitely looks fortified. The attack belongs to Lee Nguyen and Juan Toja now. Oh, and watch for rookie Andrew Ferrell. Or have I said too much about that young man already?

From Chicago’s side, they left a serious stinker in L.A. last week, falling 4-0 to the champs. Chris Rolfe needs to be better. Of course, a lot of Chicago Fire men can say the same after that one.

Vancouver at Columbus (7:30 p.m. ET): The Whitecaps will be without their captain and emotional fulcrum, Jay DeMerit, who has likely been lost for the season. That is truly a devastating blow, so we’ll see how Martin Rennie’s team responds.

Kenny Miller, by the way, seems set to take the captain’s armband.

Columbus still looks to me like an intriguing team. But we couldn’t tell much from last week’s road win over Chivas USA; that looks like so much low-hanging fruit at the moment. On the other hand, Federico Higuain’s goal was “real deal” stuff. Watch it here.

Montreal at Portland (10:30 p.m. ET): The visitors from Montreal sure got Marco Schallibaum’s coaching days in MLS off to a splendid start, upsetting Seattle last week in the Pacific Northwest. If you haven’t seen Davy Arnuad’s game-winner, well, what are you waiting for?

The Impact players and coaches remained out west this week, dodging some travel during a dodgy time to travel and aiming to take advantage of better training weather.

So they should be nice and acclimated as they try to pull off the PacNW double, wouldn’t it?

It’s probably best to catch Portland now, before the players get even more settled into new ways under manager Caleb Porter. Diego Valeri was particularly peppy and effective in last week’s 3-3 draw with New York. Will Johnson was all over the freakin’ place. And presumably, center back Mikael Silvestre will be a little less bungle-prone. If not, Portland has a big issue to deal with straight away.

New York Red Bulls at San Jose (10 p.m. Sunday, ESPN): Thierry Henry and Co. make their second cross-country trip of the young season. A good first half and a very wobbly second half left the Red Bulls with about what you’d expect on the road, a draw at Portland. All things considered – especially as San Jose lost at home a week back and will be seeking some redemption Sunday – a couple of points from two road matches to open the season, not to mention Mike Petke’s pro coaching career, wouldn’t look so bad for the boys from Harrison.

Of course, there is this little matter of Henry having a go at his own teammates. It was just a wee little one. They’re from New York! They can take it, right?

The full schedule of weekend matches in MLS Round 2 is here:

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