5 Things We Learned from MLS Matches from October 24-26
In the final weekend of the Major League Soccer season, there was still plenty to play for, highlighted by the Supporters' Shield race, one final playoff spot up for grabs in the West and the MLS single-season goal-scoring record on the line.
Catch up on all the action, and see all of the important goals in this week's edition of "Five Things We Learned from MLS."
The Supporters' Shield Belongs to the Seattle Sounders
1 of 5In a thrilling finish to the Supporters' Shield race, the LA Galaxy and the Seattle Sounders faced off twice in the final two weeks of the season to decide the winner.
Last week, the Galaxy blew a 2-0 lead in Los Angeles and ended up tying 2-2. That meant they needed a win in Seattle in their final match to capture the title.
The Galaxy started the game without stars Omar Gonzalez and Robbie Keane (Gonzalez due to suspension, Keane due to injury), and the match stayed 0-0 through 85 minutes.
But it was Seattle, not LA, that finally found the breakthrough with Marco Pappa tallying twice in the dying minutes to lead the Sounders to the title.
The Portland/Vancouver Race Came Down to the Wire
2 of 5Coming into the last weekend of the MLS season, the Vancouver Whitecaps and the Portland Timbers were separated by only a single point in their fight for the last playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Portland did its part, winning 2-0 over FC Dallas, but so did the Whitecaps in a 1-0 win over the Colorado Rapids. Vancouver will now continue its season; the Timbers are done.
It was a thrilling finish to the season for both teams with the Timbers losing only once in their last nine games and the Whitecaps going unbeaten—and only allowing a single goal—in their last five matches.
The Playoff Matchups
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In the Western Conference one-off play-in game, FC Dallas will host the Vancouver Whitecaps this Wednesday night. The winner will then go on to play Seattle in the Western Conference semifinals.
The other semifinal matchup in the West will feature the LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake.
In the Eastern Conference one-off play-in game, the New York Red Bulls will host Sporting KC on Thursday night. The winner will go on to face D.C. United in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The Columbus Crew and the New England Revolution will play in the other Eastern Conference semifinal.
Can Sporting KC Stop Their Free Fall?
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In Sunday night's late matchup, Sporting KC fell to the New York Red Bulls 2-0. With playoff spots for both teams secure, a result wasn't crucial (although, it could have helped Sporting avoid the play-in game), but it continued a worrying trend for Sporting. Over its last 13 games, Kansas City has only won three times, and those victories came over Toronto FC, Chivas USA and the Chicago Fire—three of the worst teams in the league.
Sporting are the defending MLS champions, and they have a roster full of stars and one of the most respected coaches in the league, but their poor run-in to the playoffs has left them having to win a one-off play-in game on the road to defend their title.
Noteworthy Goals
5 of 5With most of the attention on the Supporters' Shield race and the Western Conference playoff battle, some noteworthy goals flew largely under the radar this weekend.
Bradley Wright-Phillips scored twice over Sporting KC to tie the MLS single-season goal-scoring record.
The Montreal Impact's retiring Marco Di Vaio tallied against D.C. United with a classy finish in the final game of his career in front of his hometown fans.
Lee Nguyen scored his 18th goal of the season against Toronto FC. It will look good on the stat sheet for Nguyen's MVP hopes, but it was one of the more bizarre goals of the season. Toronto's entire defense stopped playing when the assistant referee raised his flag, but the center official didn't blow his whistle.
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