This week around MLS, week 21: Recapping all the games, goals and glory

There were goals, saves and a lot more action in week 21. Who gained group and fell short? As the season progresses every game becomes more crucial. Teams who need to make run’s show what they’re made of ; teams who have had success show if they are real or not.Who gained ground and fell short? This week around MLS, week 21:

Philadelphia Union 3Columbus Crew SC 0

Highlights

The Union and Crew dueled for the second time in five days. This match was the exact opposite of the first. The Union dominated at home. Getting three goals and the majority of possession. The Crew were hurt by bad fouls, receiving two red cards. Playing the majority of the match short-handed sealed their fate. The Union are still looking up the table; the Crew are battling for the a playoff place.

Atlanta United FC 1Orlando City SC 1

Highlights

Atlanta and Orlando face off for the second time, a weeks time after Atlanta’s victory in Orlando. This one was in Atlanta, and Orlando brought reinforcements. They Signed forward Dom Dwyer midweek, and he started at Atlanta. His play was felt, as it opened up space for Kaka to operate. The Brazilian scored a screamer for Orlando. Atlanta equalized late for a share of the spoils. Atlanta are sitting pretty above the red line; Orlando are battling for the lower playoff places, but their reinforcements will help!

New England Revolution 3Philadelphia Union 0

Highlights

Both New England and Philadelphia have been starving for points in the super competitive eastern conference. Philly beat the Rev’s 3-0 in the first meeting. This match went to New England by the same score. Kei Kamara had a double against the Union. New England shut down Philly’s chances. The Union lost all momentum they had from their midweek win; the Revolution are looking to make a run for the red line.

New York Red Bulls 4Montreal Impact 0

Highlights

The Red Bulls have been on a tear in the past few weeks. They dismantled Montreal this past week. Montreal could find nothing agaisnt the New York. Daniel Royer continues his hot streak scoring two goals on the night for Red Bulls; he scored six goals in the month of July for New York. Montreal have dropped crucial points in their race for the playoffs; New York keeps climbing the table!

FC Dallas 0Vancouver Whitecaps FC 4

Highlights

The shocker of the week came at Dallas. Vancouver came south and put up a four goal shutout. They scored the opener and never looked back. Dallas had chances to come back, but an unfortunate red card put a damper on their play. Vancouver kept attacking and scoring. Their scoring included a bicycle kick that nutmegged Dallas’ keeper. Vancouver is progressing and holding themselves above the redline; Dallas are still in second and will look for a bounce back at struggling Philly.

Houston Dynamo 2Portland Timbers 2

Highlights

Houston and Portland played a thriller of a match. Both teams exchanged blows that eventually ended up resulting in a draw. Portland scored first thanks to a Diego Valeri rocket. Houston equalized off of a botched save. Valeri set up Blanco for the go ahead goal for the visitors. Houston kept trying to find the equalizer and found it on a late header. Houston and Portland move to 3rd and 4th in the west respectively; both are poised to fight for the top of the table.

Sporting Kansas City 3 Chicago Fire 2

Highlights

This match could be a preview of the MLS final. SKC vs Chicago; 1st in the west vs 2nd in the east. This match did not disappoint. Sporting took the early lead, then gave it away from a spectacular own goal. Kansas City found the lead right before the half from a bicycle kick from Benny Feilhaber. Sporting built on their lead in the second half. Chicago found a second goal, but it was too late to find an equalizer. Both teams are high up their respective tables, and are fighting for the supporters shield.

Minnesota United FC 4D.C. United 0

Highlights

Two of the worst defenses met in this match, and only one conceded. DC United’s dumpster-fire that is 2017 culminated losing 4-0 to Minnesota. DC barley looked like they showed up for the match. hey were out possessed and dismantled by the Loons. Minnesota scored twice in each half, having eight shots; four shots on target. DC had more shots, 18, but only five of those on target, and none were of quality. Both teams are still in the basements of their divisions; of the two, the Loons are trending forward.

Real Salt Lake 2Columbus Crew SC 2

Highlights

An east vs west match with a lot on the line for both teams. RSL has been trying to climb up the western table; Columbus has been fighting for an eastern conference playoff spot. Both teams played to a draw. Columbus opened the scoring from a goal from Ola Kamara. Salt Lake then turned on the jets. They scored two unanswered to take the lead at home. Kamara showed up again, and tied the game late. Real Salt Lake are still fighting to get above the red line; Columbus are in the sixth spot in the east for them moment.

San Jose Earthquakes 1Colorado Rapids 0

Highlights

Two lower western conference sides clashed in San Jose. This one was an affair that had a lot of maybe. Both sides kept attacks flowing but the finishing touch was missing. A moment of brilliance from San Jose’s Nick Lima broke the deadlock. He touched a bouncing ball outside of the box, and hit a lazar for a goal. San Jose moved up to seventh in the west, one point below the red line; Colorado continues to flounder in last place in the west.

LA Galaxy 0Seattle Sounders FC 0

Highlights

LA ruffled some feathers by firing their coach and signing ex-Sounders boss Sigi Schmid. The Sounders came to town and played a rather uneventful match. Both teams went up and down the pitch, but neither could find a breakthrough. Each team was in the double digits when it came to shots, but each failed to get three on target. Seattle sits in a lower playoff place, and will need better results to keep it; LA is a bottom dweller, they will need to get wins fast to be a contender.

Toronto FC 4New York City FC 0

Highlights

Toronto has owned NYCFC over the last few years. While NYCFC has turned a corner to being a true contender in the east, they still can’t beat Toronto. TFC lit up NYC this past week. Giovinco was the star once again for Toronto, putting his countryman Andrea Pirlo on skates for the whole match. The Atomic Ant scored a stunner from the run of play and from a free kick. NYCFC had little answers for Toronto. NYCFC will need to get wins agaisnt the top teams in the east to be a true contender; Toronto has proven why they are the best team in MLS.

Here’s a look at where everyone stands after week 21:

Eastern Conference

Points		Overall							Home	Away
#	Club	PTS	PPG	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	W-L-T	W-L-T
1	Toronto FC	43	1.95	22	12	3	7	41	22	19	8-0-3	4-3-4
2	Chicago Fire	38	1.81	21	11	5	5	40	24	16	9-0-1	2-5-4
3	New York City FC	37	1.68	22	11	7	4	40	31	9	7-1-3	4-6-1
4	New York Red Bulls	35	1.67	21	11	8	2	32	26	6	7-2-2	4-6-0
5	Atlanta United FC	34	1.62	21	10	7	4	41	28	13	6-2-1	4-5-3
6	Columbus Crew SC	32	1.39	23	10	11	2	33	37	-4	7-3-1	3-8-1
7	Orlando City SC	30	1.36	22	8	8	6	23	31	-8	6-3-3	2-5-3
8	New England Revolution	26	1.24	21	7	9	5	36	34	2	7-2-2	0-7-3
9	Philadelphia Union	26	1.18	22	7	10	5	29	27	2	6-3-2	1-7-3
10	Montreal Impact	24	1.2	20	6	8	6	30	36	-6	5-3-1	1-5-5
11	D.C. United	18	0.82	22	5	14	3	18	42	-24	3-5-2	2-9-1

Western Conference

Points		Overall							Home	Away
#	Club	PTS	PPG	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	W-L-T	W-L-T
1	Sporting Kansas City	36	1.64	22	9	4	9	28	17	11	7-0-4	2-4-5
2	FC Dallas	34	1.7	20	9	4	7	32	23	9	6-2-3	3-2-4
3	Houston Dynamo	33	1.5	22	9	7	6	39	32	7	8-0-3	1-7-3
4	Portland Timbers	31	1.35	23	8	8	7	39	38	1	5-2-4	3-6-3
5	Seattle Sounders FC	31	1.41	22	8	7	7	32	31	1	6-1-3	2-6-4
6	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	30	1.5	20	9	8	3	30	29	1	5-3-2	4-5-1
7	San Jose Earthquakes	29	1.32	22	8	9	5	24	34	-10	6-1-4	2-8-1
8	Real Salt Lake	25	1.09	23	7	12	4	30	44	-14	4-4-3	3-8-1
9	LA Galaxy	23	1.1	21	6	10	5	31	37	-6	1-6-4	5-4-1
10	Minnesota United FC	22	1	22	6	12	4	29	45	-16	6-5-2	0-7-2
11	Colorado Rapids	20	1	20	6	12	2	20	29	-9	6-4-1	0-8-1

Here’s a look at the goals, saves and team of the week:

Goals of the week:

This might be the toughest decision you make all day.

Vote now for the #ATTGotW: https://t.co/CzDf7rn67U https://t.co/WIAnZmHsBm

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 1, 2017

Saves of the week:

Decisions, decisions. Who had the Save of the Week?

VOTE: https://t.co/iccXrBtqou https://t.co/UfxSyYymME

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 1, 2017

Team of the week:

BENCH: Luis Robles (NY), Chris Mavinga (TOR), Jerome Thiesson (MIN), Kelyn Rowe (NE), Sacha Kljestan (NY), Hector Villalba (ATL), Fredy Montero (VAN)

Heres a look at the week 22 fixtures:

Saturday, August 5th:
Philadelphia vs Dallas
DC vs Toronto
Montreal vs Orlando
Minnesota vs Seattle
Chicago vs New England
Salt Lake vs Houston
Colorado vs Vancouver
San Jose vs Columbus

Sunday, August 6th:
Portland vs LA
NYCFC vs NY Red Bulls
Kansas City vs Atlanta.

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Follow me on twitter @TGing21 for Soccer Twitter fun! Coming soon: A look back at how the Union blew a big opportunity, A look back at what the Gold Cup win means for USA’s future, a look at if the Union will make a move in the summer transfer window and A look at if the Union will be able to get a win vs FC Dallas . Until then, Peace out!

Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports