The Columbus Crew are the new MLS Cup champions, beating Seattle Sounders in the finals, 3-0. A convincing win over the previous champions was Crew’s signature on one of the best seasons in their history.
Seattle Sounders survived a scare against the Minnesota United, eliminating the conference rivals and reaching the MLS Cup Playoff finals. Gustav Svensson’s stoppage-time goal propelled the reigning champions in their second consecutive finals, fourth over the past five years.
Minnesota United have reached the Western Conference MLS Cup playoffs finals. They would defeat Sporting Kansas City, the first-seeded team in the West with 0-3, displaying one superb performance, especially in the offensive aspect of play.
The Seattle Sounders knocked out FC Dallas from the MLS Cup Playoffs, entering another Western Conference finals. Sounders won minimally, 1-0, with the only goal being scored by Shane O’Neill.
Three minutes into the second half, Seattle won a corner. Nicolas Lodeiro took it, with O’Neill reaching the ball at the six-yard line, heading it away to the far post of Dallas’ goal. There was no chance for Jimmy Maurer, the guests’ goalkeeper, to prevent a score. This was the first shot on target in the entire match.
The Columbus Crew is in the Eastern Conference finals, following a 2-0 win over Nashville SC last night. Crew’s Gyasi Zardes was the man of the match as the 29-year old’s effort in the overtimes pushed his team to the next round of the MLS Cup Playoffs.
Zardes would assist Pedro Santos for the opener in the 99th minute, getting away down the left flank and hitting Santos, who was in the box. The Portuguese had no problems while executing.
Nashville and New England Revolution made massive upsets last night, with the two teams eliminating the top teams in their respective conferences. Nashville was better than Toronto FC, while Revs defeated Philadelphia Union.
The Supporters’ Shield winners, Union, was a heavy favorite against the Revolution, but a four-minute blitz in the first half knocked out the home team who didn’t have a chance to consolidate and respond.
Adam Buksa in the 26th and Tajon Buchanan, four minutes later, were the scorers for the guests.
The last day of the MLS’ regular part of the campaign was thrilling due to several reasons. The most important ones were the races for the top spots in both conferences and the Supporters’ Shield trophy.
In the end, Philadelphia Union emerged as this season’s No.1 team during its regular part, defeating the New England Revolution at home with 2-0. Union ended first due to Toronto FC’s loss on the road in New
Soccer clubs from Los Angeles had mixed success last night, with the Galaxy being beaten badly by the Portland Timbers, while on the other side, FC posting a win over Houston Dynamo.
The Timbers went full power on the Galaxy, defeating the team from LA with 5-2, and packing three goals over the opening 45 minutes. The hosts started strong, right from the kick-off, and the Polish forward Jaroslaw Niezgoda had his little show over the opening 20 minutes.
Two matches of the MLS league took place last night, both of them in Canada. Unfortunately for the soccer fans in that country, both of their teams lost.
Montreal Impact suffered a narrow defeat against Nashville SC, 0-1, with the only goal coming in the 33rd minute. Alex Muyl was fouled, but instead of waiting for his players to organize themselves, he saw Randall Leal, and quickly passed the ball towards him. The Costa Rican was faster than the Impact defense, getting into a position that would allow
The LA Galaxy suffered a massive defeat at home to Portland Timbers, 3-6, experiencing the full power of the MLS is Back tournament winners.
It was a display of ruthless force from the Timbers who are second in the Western Conference, trailing Seattle Sounders three points but finding themselves in the best form comparing to other rivals in this assembly. Portland won four straight victories, among which against Seattle as well.
The Timbers opened this match early, with Felipe Mora scoring a goal in the 14th minute after Yimmi Chara’s assist. Jeremy Ebobisse netted the first of his two goals
The Seattle Sounders defeated LAFC in the opening game of MLS’s weekend program. The final result of Friday’s clash was 3-0 for the hosts, who were much better and who dominated throughout the course of the entire game.
Last year’s Supporter’s Shield winners are unrecognizable this season, and their streak of bad performances continued in Seattle. This was their fifth defeat in the previous seven MLS games, which is something nobody expected to see. It appears that Carlos Vela’s absence heavily negatively influences the team.
The Sounders were aggressive right from the start imposing a tempo the guests couldn’t