It’s crunch time in MLS. Teams high up the table struggle. The west tightens up. A battle for sixth in the east has begun. let’s take a look back. This week around MLS, week 22.
Eastern Confernece games:
D.C. United 1
Toronto FC 1
Highlights
DC United’s place after week 22: 11th in east.
Toronto FC’s place after week 22: 1st in east.
Montreal Impact 2
Orlando City SC 1
Highlights
Montreal Impact’s place after week 22: 9th in the east.
Orlando City’s place after week 22: 7th in east.
Chicago Fire 4
New England Revolution 1
Highlights
Chicago Fire’s place after week 22: 2nd in east.
New England Revolution place after week 22: 10th in east.
New York City FC 3
New York Red Bulls 2
Highlights
New York City FC’s place after week 22: 3rd in east.
New York Red Bull’s place after week 22: 4th in east.
Western Confernece games:
Minnesota United FC 0
Seattle Sounders FC 4
Highlights
Minnesota United’s place after week 22: 10th in west.
Seattle Sounders place after week 22: 4th in the west.
Colorado Rapids 2
Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2
Highlights
Colorado Rapids place after week 22: 11th in west.
Vancouver Rapids place after week 22: 7th in west.
Real Salt Lake 0
Houston Dynamo 0
Highlights
Real Salt Lake’s place after week 22: 8th in west.
Houston Dynamo’s place after week 22: 2nd in west.
Portland Timbers 3
LA Galaxy 1Highlights
Portland Timbers place after week 22: 5th in west.
LA Galaxy’s place after week 22: 9th in west.
East-vs-West games:
Philadelphia Union 3
FC Dallas 1
Highlights
Philadelphia Union’s place after week 22: 8th in east.
FC Dallas place after week 22: 3rd in west.
San Jose Earthquakes 2
Columbus Crew SC 1
Highlihgts
San Jose Earthquakes’ place after week 22: 6th in the west.
Columbus Crew place after week 22: 6th in the east.
Sporting Kansas City 1
Atlanta United FC 1
Highlights
Sporting Kansas City’s place after week 22: 1st in west.
Atlanta United’s place after week 22: 5th in east.
Now let’s have a look at the standings and scenarios of each conference:
Eastern Conference standings:
| Points | Overall | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Club | PTS | PPG | GP | W | L | T | ||||
| Toronto FC | 44 | 1.91 | 23 | 12 | 3 | 8 | ||||
| Chicago Fire | 41 | 1.86 | 22 | 12 | 5 | 5 | ||||
| New York City FC | 40 | 1.74 | 23 | 12 | 7 | 4 | ||||
| New York Red Bulls | 35 | 1.59 | 22 | 11 | 9 | 2 | ||||
| Atlanta United FC | 35 | 1.59 | 22 | 10 | 7 | 5 | ||||
| Columbus Crew SC | 32 | 1.33 | 24 | 10 | 12 | 2 | ||||
| Orlando City SC | 30 | 1.3 | 23 | 8 | 9 | 6 | ||||
| Philadelphia Union | 29 | 1.26 | 23 | 8 | 10 | 5 | ||||
| Montreal Impact | 27 | 1.29 | 21 | 7 | 8 | 6 | ||||
| New England Revolution | 26 | 1.18 | 22 | 7 | 10 | 5 | ||||
| D.C. United | 19 | 0.83 | 23 | 5 | 14 | 4 | ||||
Eastern Confernece scenarios:
The east had a bit of a shake up in week 22. Toronto FC could only draw bottom dwellers DC United. Chicago fire beat New England to pull three points behind the leaders. Montreal got three huge points at home vs Orlando. Philadelphia found a commanding win against west favorites FC Dallas. Columbus fell flat on their road trip to San Jose. The New York derby produced fireworks; it ended David Villa 3, Bradley Wright-Phillips 2. Atlanta found a late point on the road at the first place team in the west, Sporting Kansas City.
There is now a race for the last three playoff spots in the east. Teams four through 10 are all still alive in this race. Spots four-eight are separated by six points or less. The same goes for teams six-10. The east is heating up, the only safe teams seem to be Toronto, Chicago and NYCFC at the top. DC United are the only team not close to the race for a playoff spot.
Western Conference standings:
| Points | Overall | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Club | PTS | PPG | GP | W | L | T | ||||
| Sporting Kansas City | 37 | 1.61 | 23 | 9 | 4 | 10 | ||||
| Houston Dynamo | 34 | 1.48 | 23 | 9 | 7 | 7 | ||||
| FC Dallas | 34 | 1.62 | 21 | 9 | 5 | 7 | ||||
| Seattle Sounders FC | 34 | 1.48 | 23 | 9 | 7 | 7 | ||||
| Portland Timbers | 34 | 1.42 | 24 | 9 | 8 | 7 | ||||
| San Jose Earthquakes | 32 | 1.39 | 23 | 9 | 9 | 5 | ||||
| Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 31 | 1.48 | 21 | 9 | 8 | 4 | ||||
| Real Salt Lake | 26 | 1.08 | 24 | 7 | 12 | 5 | ||||
| LA Galaxy | 23 | 1.05 | 22 | 6 | 11 | 5 | ||||
| Minnesota United FC | 22 | 0.96 | 23 | 6 | 13 | 4 | ||||
| Colorado Rapids | 21 | 1 | 21 | 6 | 12 | 3 | ||||
Western Conference scenarios:
The west is becoming tighter and tighter after week 22. Seattle welcomed Minnesota to town and thrashed them. Colorado drew Vancouver; as did, Houston and Real Salt Lake. Dallas fell for the second straight week. San Jose put on a good show in their win vs Columbus. Portland showed their supremacy over LA. Sporting Kansas City lost the chance to distance themselves for everyone in the west by drawing Atlanta.
This year’s west looks like last year’s east. Teams one through seven are only separated by six points. It seems that there will be a lot of movement before the playoffs. With seven teams going after six spots there will be one odd man out. Right now teams one-seven are in striking distance of glory, and defeat. Sporting Kansas City have a three point lead on everyone competing. Houston, Dallas, Seattle and Portland are all three points behind SKC. RSL, LA, Minnesota and Colorado all seem to be out of the running for the playoffs this season.
As always, here are the goals, saves and team of the week:
Goals of the week:
Make your #ATTGotW picks.
VOTE: https://t.co/j3vaFedTs8 https://t.co/ZSBMTHc675
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 8, 2017
Saves of the week:
Some big stops, but which one was the Save of the Week?
VOTE: https://t.co/VDucGmW9eF https://t.co/ltiLxOcXFu
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 8, 2017
Team of the week:
Bench: Sean Johnson (NYC)-Alvas Powell (POR)-Chad Marshall (SEA)-Cristian Roldan (SEA)-Sacha Kljestan (NY)-Bradley Wright-Phillips (NY)-Marco Ureña (SJ)
Here’s a look at the week 23 fixtures:
Saturday, August 12th:
Seattle vs Kansas City
Toronto vs Portland
DC vs Salt Lake
Columbus vs Chicago
NY Red Bulls vs Orlando
Dallas vs Colorado
New England vs Vancouver
Philadelphia vs Montreal
Houston vs San Jose
LA vs NYCFC.
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Follow me on twitter @TGing21 for Soccer Twitter fun! Coming soon: A look at the Union’s big win vs FC Dallas and how they’ll fare vs Montreal and A look back at what the Gold Cup win means for USA’s future. Until then, Peace out!
Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
