MLS Weekly Wrap Up: Playoff bound with a little help from our enemies

This weekend’s match against LAFC was exciting and frustrating all at once. Being in that building when Carlos Vela shot that tying penalty shot was physically painful, but probably not as painful as what the Montreal Impact fans across town were experiencing. This week’s wrap up will focus on the Eastern Conference and the matches that impacted Toronto FC.

Saturday

New England Revolution 0-0 Real Salt Lake

The New England Revolution currently sit in the last Eastern Conference playoff spot, right below Toronto FC. They are five points behind Toronto, so only getting a point out of this match was beneficial for the Reds. They put 23 shots on net, only three of them landing on target. The chances were there, but they couldn’t find the net.

FC Cincinnati 0-0 Chicago Fire

The Chicago Fire are currently sitting outside of a playoff spot. Being Toronto’s next opponent, a 0-0 draw going into the match is a nice score to see. They out-shot FC Cincinnati, but only one ball fell on target. Nothing came of this match for either of Toronto’s conference rivals, as FC Cincinnati continue to play spoiler.

Houston Dynamo 2-1 Orlando City

Orlando City sit three places below the playoff line. They were in need of a Toronto FC-style run, but have fallen short the last several weeks. This one was no different, losing by a goal to the Houston Dynamo. The lone Orlando City goal was scored by Dom Dwyer bright and early at 6’. Houston scored two late back-to-back goals to finish the match thanks to Alberth Elis (70’) and Christian Ramirez (73’).

LA Galaxy 2-1 Montreal Impact

With their focus on Wednesday’s clash with Toronto FC, the Montreal Impact’s loss to LA Galaxy was a fun — and crucial — one for #TFCLive fans. Zlatan Ibrahimovic opened up scoring with a goal at 31’, before the Impact’s Lassi Lappalainen brought the game to a draw at 48’. LA’s Uriel Antuna eventually wrapped it up for the Galaxy with the winning goal at 50’.

Montreal now sit two spots behind the playoff line, with their chances of making the post-season slim. With 37 points, they are one spot below Chicago Fire. They play Atlanta United and the New York Red Bulls to finish off the season, so, things don’t look great for them.

Sunday

Aside from a 1-1 draw for the first place New York City FC against FC Dallas, Sunday’s matches were crucial to Toronto FC.

The other New York team, the New York Red Bulls, who entered the contest in sixth-place (two points behind Toronto) shut out the third-place Philadelphia Union 2-0. And then, Wayne Rooney’s D.C. United got a big 2-0 victory over the Seattle Sounders to lift them into fourth place.

Toronto now enters Week 30 sitting in sixth place, two points back of D.C. United. They’ll play the Chicago Fire on Saturday, before wrapping up the MLS regular season at home against Tim Bezbatchenko’s Columbus Crew SC.