5 Things We Learned from MLS Week of September 26-28
It was another great week of action in Major League Soccer as the LA Galaxy and the Seattle Sounders continued to battle for supremacy in the Supporters' Shield race and a handful of teams continued to fight for the final playoff spots in the East and the West.
There were also some terrific goals to see and a horrific injury for the Portland Timbers' Will Johnson.
Here are "5 Things We Learned" from this week in MLS.
A Statement Win by the LA Galaxy
1 of 5The LA Galaxy and the Seattle Sounders entered this weekend tied on points with 54 and exit the weekend tied on points with 57.
While the Sounders won Saturday, twice coming from behind against Chivas USA to win 4-2, the big statement this weekend was made by the Galaxy, who beat the New York Red Bulls 4-0 Sunday night.
The race between these two Western Conference rivals will likely determine the winner of MLS' Supporters' Shield as the two teams are six points ahead of their closest competitor, D.C. United, with only four games to go.
The Portland Timbers May Make the Playoffs, but Does It Matter?
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The race for the final Western Conference playoff spot over the past few weeks has been between the Portland Timbers and the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Last week, the Timbers picked up what appeared to be a huge 3-0 win over the Whitecaps, but a week later, it doesn't seem to matter.
On Saturday, the Timbers not only gave up a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2 to Toronto FC, but they also lost captain and midfield anchor Will Johnson for the season. Only seven seconds into the match, Johnson went into a tackle which resulted in him breaking both his tibia and fibula. He remained in Toronto for surgery after the match.
Between losing Johnson and their leaky defense, the Timbers aren't likely to advance beyond the first round of the playoffs even if they do make it in.
For their part, Vancouver won 2-1 over Real Salt Lake and now have a one-point lead in Western Conference playoff race.
Craziness in the East Continues
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Keeping up with the nuttiness in the Eastern Conference this season has been difficult and won't get any easier heading into the last month of MLS action with five teams vying for the last two playoff spots.
The Columbus Crew won 2-0 over the Montreal Impact and currently sit in fourth place, three points clear of the red line.
The New York Red Bulls got crushed on the road in Los Angeles and now have only a one-point lead on Toronto for fifth place.
Toronto's win over the Timbers has them in sixth place, and the Philadelphia Union lost to D.C. United and are three points behind the Red Bulls for the final playoff spot.
Finally, Houston kept a glimmer of hope alive with a 2-0 win over the Chicago Fire, but the Dynamo are still five points behind New York.
Owning Up
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Making predictions in MLS can be a bit of a fool's errand, especially with the wide parity in the league.
The New England Revolution, which just last month had been left for dead, have now won six of their last seven and sit, amazingly, in second place in the East. At one point between May and July, the Revs had lost eight straight and seemed to have no chance of making the playoffs.
On the other hand, Sporting KC, which at one point in the season looked unbeatable when they went eight games unbeaten between May and August, are now only five points above the red line. In its recent skid, Sporting has lost six times in its last eight games and has given up 17 goals over that same stretch.
Finally, D.C. United, the worst team in the Eastern Conference in 2013, now looks a sure thing to go from worst to first, as they currently hold a six-point lead in the East with four games to go.
The Best and the Worst
5 of 5As usual, there was some great action this week in MLS, highlighted by two terrific goals by Obafemi Martins (both goals and his quality assist can be seen here) and Robbie Keane's beautiful chip against the Red Bulls.
The Chicago Fire's Sean Johnson also had a great save worth watching (video here) in their loss to the Dynamo.
Finally, and a candidate for miss of the season, Columbus' Bernardo Anor missed (video here) an absolute sitter Saturday.
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