Football
ESPN staff 10y

Jermain Defoe scores twice in debut

Former Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe scored twice in the first half of his Major League Soccer debut, and new-look Toronto FC held off the Seattle Sounders 2-1 on Saturday.

Defoe's first MLS goal was a quick counter in the 17th minute when he was able to find space between Seattle defenders DeAndre Yedlin and Djimi Traore. Defoe received a perfect through pass from Jonathan Osorio as he split the defenders and beat Stefan Frei with the right-footed shot.

#INSERT type:image caption:Jermain Defoe scored twice in the first 25 minutes. END#

His second, just seven minutes later, came off a sloppy, careless giveaway by Seattle's Marco Pappa. Attempting to drop the ball back to a teammate, Pappa's pass lacked enough force and instead fell directly to Defoe, who deposited his second goal.

Defoe has now scored on his debut for all five teams he has played for in his career: West Ham, Bournemouth, Tottenham, Portsmouth and now Toronto FC.

Defoe's debut upstaged the return of U.S. national team midfielder Michael Bradley to MLS in his first game for Toronto.

Clint Dempsey cut Toronto's lead in half when he scored midway through the second half off a quick counter that was started by Lamar Neagle and assisted by Obafemi Martins. It was Dempsey's second goal since joining the Sounders after scoring just once last season.

Vicente Sanchez scored on a penalty in the 72nd minute after a controversial decision by the substitute referee and the Colorado Rapids and new coach Pablo Mastroeni opened the season with a 1-1 tie with the New York Red Bulls.

Thierry Henry scored on a header in the 57th minute for the Red Bulls, who were trying to bounce back from a dismal 4-1 loss at Vancouver last weekend.

Referee Alan Kelly, on the pitch because of the Professional Referee Organization lockout, awarded Colorado a penalty after defender Jamison Olave used his chest to knock Marvin Chavez to the grass as he took a pass from Sanchez.

The San Jose Earthquakes drew 3-3 with Real Salt Lake when Victor Bernardez tied the game with his second goal in the 95th minute.

Bernardez jumped on a loose clearance off a last-ditch cross from Shaun Francis. Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando went up against Earthquakes forward Alan Gordon to try and punch it clear, but the ball barely made it out of the visitors' 6-yard box, allowing Bernardez to hammer it home. The final whistle sounded just after the ensuing kickoff.

Chris Wondolowski also scored for the Earthquakes in their season opener. Joao Plata, Kyle Beckerman and Luke Mulholland scored for Salt Lake.

Will Bruin scored in the 40th minute to help the Houston Dynamo beat the Montreal Impact 1-0.

Bruin took a pass from Giles Barnes and chipped a shot off defender Eric Miller's foot that fell just under the crossbar. Bruin also had two goals in Houston's season-opening victory over New England. He's the first Dynamo player since Brian Ching in 2006 to score in each of the first two games of a season.

Matt Hedges scored a late goal and then made a clutch goal-line clearance in second-half stoppage time, giving unbeaten FC Dallas a 1-1 draw against Will Bruin scored in the 40th minute to help the Houston Dynamo beat the Montreal Impact 1-0.

Bruin took a pass from Giles Barnes and chipped a shot off defender Eric Miller's foot that fell just under the crossbar. Bruin also had two goals in Houston's season-opening victory over New England. He's the first Dynamo player since Brian Ching in 2006 to score in each of the first two games of a season. on Saturday night.

Aurelien Collin put Sporting up 1-0 in the 81st minute, heading in Benny Feilhaber's corner kick.

But in the 90th minute, after Uri Rosell's foul gave the visitors a restart 25 yards from goal, Hedges ran onto Michel's free kick and headed it past Eric Kronberg to equalize for FC Dallas (1-0-1).

Sebastien Le Toux scored in the 31st minute, lifting the Philadelphia Union to a 1-0 victory over the New England Revolution on Saturday.

Le Toux received a crossing pass from Leo Fernandes and sent the ball past goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth.

^ Back to Top ^