Across The Pond
There is plenty of action to report on in the MLS involving the two former Preston players that now ply their trade there. First up is Danny Dichio who had been struggling with a groin strain in recent weeks, was forced to leave the field of play just before half time in Toronto's 1-0 win over Montreal on Tuesday 27th May. Dichio was replaced by Jarrod Smith meaning that the goal scoring responsibilities were up for grabs. The only goal of the game came from Marco Velez as a Laurent Robert cross was met by a towering header.
In Toronto's other game last week they came up against LA Galaxy on Saturday 31st May but due to international commitments, David Beckham was absent from the Galaxy line up. Couple that with Dichio's injury and it meant that neither of the two former Preston players were in attendance for this fixture. Accordingly, it was interesting to see how they fared without their star players.
It was Toronto who seemed to cope better, goals from Julius James and Jeff Cunningham gave the reds a vital 2-0 win.
The Galaxy did of course have another game earlier on last week as they came up against the Colorado Rapids. Galaxy, minus David Beckham, lost the match 1-0 after a goal from Conor Casey sealed the win for the Rapids. Galaxy's upcoming fixtures this week see them take on the Colorado Rapids on Sunday at the Home Depot Centre, whilst Toronto face Houston Dynamo.
In other MLS news, Former Preston and Fulham striker Brian McBride has signalled his intent to move back home and finish his career in the MLS. Toronto would have the first rights to the striker with them having the highest allocation ranking after finishing with the worst record in 2007. However, a deal could be done where McBride could move to the Chicago Fire instead. More on this next week.