Week 4 in the MLS saw 5 draws in 7 games. Keller got red-carded, a Blanco to McBride goal was brilliant and the Galaxy may have found a starting keeper in Donovan Ricketts. Oh yaeh, Seattle gave up its first goal after Keller was ejected and lost its first game.

This week’s seven matches averaged just a bit over 17,200, an increase of over 1,300 from last year’s week 4 matches. Naturally, a Seattle home game helped, but that should not be counted as an oddity that skews the numbers, but rather as an positive addition that is of a permanent nature. Good for the league, no doubt.

5 clubs remain winless, including the 2008 MLS Cup finalists, Columbus and Red Bull, along with FC Dallas, Houston and the Galaxy. Three clubs remain undefeated, idle New England, Chivas USA, and Chicago who gained a draw with San Jose on a terrific Chirs Rolfe strike in the 85th minute.

The Red Bulls still have not scored a goal. The only goal for them was an own goal in the New England game.

There were 7 ejections this week, including 3 in the Super Clasico in LA. Greg Berhalter, in his first game for the Galaxy was among the group.

After week 4 the numbers look like this…

2009 – Week 4: 17,258
2008 – Week 4: 15,896
2007 – Week 4: 15,336
2006 – Week 4: 15,619
2005 – Week 4: 12,952

Of the teams that have played at least 2 home games, here are the early attendance comparisons to 2008:

Chivas: +6.5%
Columbus: +7.7%
DC United: -14.9%
FC Dallas: -22.9%
Houston: -11.5%
Kansas City: -9.5% (attributable to the miserable conditions last week)
Los Angeles: -8.7%
Real Salt Lake: -29.5%
San Jose: -4.7%
Toronto: +1.7%

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It’s a little early in the season for these scoring statistics to be considered relevant, but here they are…

Chicago and Real Salt Lake lead the league with 2.0 goal scored per game. The Red Bulls are bottom with an average of .25.
Defensively, Seattle, Chivas and the Revs are giving up less than a goal a game, while FC Dallas and surprisingly the Quakes are allowing 2 goal per game.