Lewis Neal - DC United

Lewis Neal received his first start for DC United in last night’s match against the Colorado Rapids. He played the full 90 minutes of the match and registered an assist. Neal also received Men of the Match honors along with teammate Dwayne De Rosario, and Rapids goalkeeper Matt Pickens.
 
Neal preformed very well in the midfield for United where he gathered the ball in the midfield from a misguided Rapids pass.  He picked out a streaking Dwayne De Rosario and provided a precise pass splitting two Colorado defenders.  Neal’s ball gave DeRo all the room he needed to slot home his shot and give DCU a 1-0 lead.

Neal also set up United’s second goal in the 60th when he crossed the ball from the edge of the 18 yard box into Branko Boskovic for a header that was deflected off of the Rapids keeper Pickens and Hamdi Salihi knocked in the rebound for a DC United 2-0 victory.

“Lewis [Neal] was dangerous,” said DC United Head Coach Ben Olsen. “[He’s] a guy who can not only pass centrally, as you saw on the goal, but he’s a threat on his left foot whipping balls in.”

In recent weeks Neal has been getting some quality minutes could this be his breakout performance?

Lawrence Olum - Sporting Kansas City

Olum’s Sporting Kansas City were on the road over the weekend to take on the Chicago Fire at Toyota Park. Lawrence Olum got the nod in the 88th minute on a substitution with Sporting’s Matt Besler. Sporting Kansas City ended up losing the match 2-1.

Orlando City will face their former teammate and Sporting KC if they can advance to the Third Round of this year’s U.S. Open Cup.

Yordany Alvarez - Real Salt Lake

Real Salt Lake snapped Seattle Sounders six-match unbeaten streak with a 1-0 victory on a goal scored by Fabian Espindola at CenturyLink Field this past Saturday. Alvarez saw some playing time in the 80th minute of the match where he had six successful passes in the midfield and helped control the match.

Yordany could possibly see more playing time in the next few weeks due to Kyle Beckerman being on National Team duty.