New York City FC 0-2 New York Red Bulls
Felipe Carballo’s left-footed shot from waaay outside in the 16th minute gave Red Bulls the lead and wind in their sails. He continues his postseason tear; he went the entire regular season without a goal contribution in eight appearances but has two in the past three games. Dante Vanzier doubled that lead nine minutes later and with keeper Coronel firing on all cylinders (he registered six saves) NYCFC never had a chance. Red Bulls have qualified for the playoffs 14 years in a row, but never won the cup. Is this their year?
LAFC 1-2 (a.e.t) Seattle Sounders
Pundits weren’t giving Seattle much of a chance in this match. The specter of a ten-game losing streak hung over them as they walked into BMO Stadium on Saturday for the first of two Los Angeles based Western semi-finals.
After a chess-like opening half in which neither team really had many chances, LAFC finally broke through in the 50th minute with a Ryan Hollingshead finish off a Mateusz Bogus cross. Seattle got an improbable equalizer when Luxembourg’s Maxime Chanot’s off-balance clearance entered his own goal nine minutes later.
The score sheet will show how Jordan Morris won the game in extra time with a lovely strike to the inside corner, but the real victory came deep in the second half when Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei made two remarkable stops to keep the game level, plus another in the 120th minute. Strikers may get the glory, but keepers win the games.
LA Galaxy 6-2 Minnesota United
Dear reader, I was so bullish on the Loons. Maybe it’s my unhealthy obsession with Teemu Pukki (say his name and you cannot help but smile), but I really thought Minnesota had a chance to stop Galaxy in their gilded, Hollywood tracks.
I am a fool.
Galaxy unleashed holy hell in this one… with a hat-trick of braces by Gabriel Pec, Joseph Paintsil and Dejan Joveljic. In their last three games, LA have netted FIFTEEN goals… concession on the other side just doesn’t matter, though Kelvin Yeboah also recorded a brace for the visitors.
Unless someone can knock them out of kilter, LA Galaxy look unbeatable.
Orlando City 1-0 Atlanta United
Funk metal band Primus released an album called “They Can’t All Be Zingers” and that expression can also be applied to playoff games. After three rollicking and wild matches, this one was a rather tepid affair. Once Orlando got on the scoreboard via Ramiro Enrique’s poached second effort on a corner, the match just settled in a humdrum midfield battle. Atlanta looked as if all their mojo was spent in knocking out Inter Miami; they didn’t even manage a single shot on goal.
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