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MLS Matchday 28: A Look Back

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Week 28 in MLS was supposed to be a chance for teams chasing playoff berths to score clutch victories and grab hold of their opportunities to secure a place in the post-season. Only two team, the New England Revolution and Columbus Crew, did that.

While the Crew already had a hammerlock on a playoff spot, the Revolution was the only team currently in the heart of the playoff race to secure three points (unless you count FC Dallas, which is holding on to the longest of longshots for the playoffs thanks to a suddenly unstoppable offense).

More teams stumbled than stepped up, from Toronto FC and Colorado, which both settled for ties when they needed wins, to Seattle and Real Salt Lake, which both needed anything but the losses they suffered.

D.C. United felt the most crushing result of the weekend, dropping a 2-1 decision to a San Jose team that hadn't won on the road in more than a year. That loss puts a serious dent in D.C.'s playoff hopes and opens the door for teams on the end of the bubble like Kansas City and Toronto FC.

Here is a full rundown of the past weekend's MLS action:

SATURDAY

Columbus Crew, 2, Los Angeles Galaxy 0. No Schelotto, Moreno or Marshall? No problem for the Crew, which showed off its depth in beating the Beckham-less Galaxy with ease.

New England Revolution 2, Seattle Sounders 1. Sounders start off strong again, but find away to fade when it counts as Shalrie Joseph adds to his MVP campaign. The celebration is tempered for the Revs by the news that Steve Ralston is out for the season with a torn ACL.

Chicago Fire 2, Toronto FC 2. The Fire struggle at home yet again, though this time the absences of Cuauhtemoc Blanco and Chris Rolfe to injury didn't help. Toronto FC played well, but Nick Garcia's poor play cost TFC yet again.

Kansas City Wizards 0, Colorado Rapids 0. Rapids settle for third straight tie and suddenly find themselves in somewhat shaky ground in the playoff race. The Wizards are looking much tougher these days, but the playoffs are a real longshot.

FC Dallas 3, Real Salt Lake 0. RSL lays another egg after having played so well the weeks before last. Can anybody stop the FC Dallas attack these days? You could almost seeing them surge to the post-season if the defense could come together.

Chivas USA 1, New York Red Bulls 1. Sacha Kljestan will have nightmares about his missed penalty kick, particularly if Chivas USA misses the playoffs by two or fewer points. Red Bulls now have eight points from five matches. Not bad considering they got 10 points from their first 22 matches.

SUNDAY

San Jose Earthquakes 2, D.C. United 1. Was D.C. United looking ahead to its mid-week Champions League match, or is San Jose just that much better these days? Either way, D.C. United may not recover from such a gut-wrenching defeat.

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What did you think of the weekend's MLS action? Still stunned that D.C. United lost? Impressed with New England's comeback? Think anybody can stop Columbus?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. with Seattle and New England with some winnable games in the future i don’t think DC, Toronto or RSL have a shot. Which is too bad. I can’t believe that Toronto with so much talent and great support can’t make the playoffs. They really are turning into the Cubs of the MLS.
    I think we may see Chicago drop down some rankings and Seattle and NE move up but the 8 today will be the 8 at the end.

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  2. Looking at the most resent playoff list. Don’t things look pretty sealed with the exceptions of Toronto, Seattle and D.C. for the 8th? L.A. Goats and New England both have two games in hand. Ives, and public, am I off-base?

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  3. Like David said, Sacha is looking more like his old self. There are of course still a lot of signs he’s still trying to find form but I think that a streaking Sacha gets Chivas somewhat deep into the playoffs.

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  4. It looks like a couple teams are going to stumble into the 7 and 8 spot. DC, Chivas, Seattle, Colorado, Toronto and RSL manage 3 points total between them.

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  5. Sacha Kljestan was NYRB MVP this week. He had the keeper beat but Sacha you have to get it on frame next time. That said he had a wonder strike before that and looked pretty threatening all night. I think he may have finally come out of his funk. Angel go one decent ball and that is all it took. Fun 2nd half to watch I thought though my 9 month old only allows so much of my attention to be on the game.

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  6. This “Ives Gem” is worth re-posting here:

    “San Jose’s 2-1 victory against D.C. United at RFK Stadium on Sunday snapped a 20-match regular season road win-less streak. The Earthquakes hadn’t won on the road in 477 days. That is the second longest such streak. The longest? The Red Bulls’ current 25-match regular season road win-less streak. The Red Bulls travel to San Jose this weekend.”

    nice one Ives.

    Reply

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