DCU 3, Olimpia 2

And 7-3 aggregate and through to Chivas in two weeks.

No disrespect to Eskandarian, but that's quite an upgrade on the 11 car. Emilio is the real thing. He has that gear, the ability to be turning for the return pass even as he's making the first pass, that marks him as a player of, for MLS, superiority. He and Gomez, boyee: the potential for the breathtaking at any moment will make for a wonderful season of delights.

One distinct difference I see so far between Nowak's and Soehn's philosophies is Soehn is sending Erpen forward far more regularly, loping a midfielder behind to cover, and I think this signals a far less rigid - and hopefully far more joyful - system. It will be interesting to see United versus a presumably far more organized Chivas (which presumably won't give United so much space on the ball), but I sense Soehn is giving his players both more freedom and responsibility than Nowak.

Walker gacked three, and where was Dyachenko? And Perkins just collapsed and had to leave with a quadriceps injury - no word on severity yet.

The weather was fine, wusses.  Since one STANDS during the game, who cares if the seats were wet. Sweet Jeebus of the Midfield, it was excellent to be back at the stadium.

UPDATE: Kinney has posted a youtube of last night's highlights at DCenters.