Seattle, Houston, and Columbus advance to the MLS Conference semifinals
It’s the round one finales from the MLS playoffs in Monday’s soccer news, with three teams moving to the conference semifinals. That started with Seattle advancing past FC Dallas with a 1-0 home win. Albert Rusnak scored in the 36th and goalkeeper Stefan Frei kept the clean sheet with one save. The Sounders will host LAFC in the Western Conference semifinals on November 26.
“It’s a tough one, and it shows you how tough it is to win away from home in this league,” FC Dallas midfielder Sebastian Lletget said. “Every year it keeps getting tougher. I am proud of this team and proud of the steps we are taking forward. We reached a new ceiling and we want to break that.”
Houston advanced past Real Salt Lake 4-3 on penalties after drawing 1-1 in regulation at Shell Energy Stadium. Corey Baird put the Dynamo up in the 28th and Diego Luna equalized for RSL in the 65th. Salt Lake failed to convert in the third round of penalties and Houston failed to convert in the fourth. RSL failed to convert in the fifth round with the Dynamo moving on to the next round. They’ll host Sporting Kansas City on November 26.
It was a great night for the organization, to advance in the playoffs and continue this ride,” Houston coach Ben Olsen said. “This season has been really enjoyable for the players, myself, the staff and our fans. Nobody wanted the season to end tonight. We worked very hard throughout the last month or two to keep climbing up the table, to be in this situation, and to have a home game. Fortunately, Kansas City did their part to knock out a higher seed. Now we play them here at Shell Energy Stadium. It will be a great test for us, so I’m looking forward to that matchup.”
Columbus beat Atlanta 4-2 at home. Darlington Nagbe scored for the Crew in the 9th, Malte Amundsen doubled the lead in the 17th, and Alexandru Matan made it 3-0 in the 33rd. United’s Giorgos Giakoumakis pulled a goal back in the 35th, but the Crew’s Diego Rossi made it 4-1 in the 47th. Atlanta’s Xande Silva scored in the 50th minute. Columbus plays at Orlando on November 25.
“I think when you play the way that we do, obviously at times we are exposed, we are open at the back,” Atlanta goalkeeper Brad Guzan said. “I don’t know exactly right now what the magic answer is. I said after the last game that we are an attacking team. We want to go forward, create chances, score goals and be on the front foot. That being said, we have to find a way to be stronger on the other side of the ball.”
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