MLS Cup: Crew win, complete double

The Columbus Crew defeated the New York Red Bulls 3-1 in the 2008 MLS Cup at the Home Depot Center on Sunday, completing the MLS double (Supporters Shield and MLS Cup) and winning their first-ever Cup.

In a match that had TYH wishing he had put money on the match, Columbus played midnight to New York's Cinderella story, getting goals from Alejandro Moreno, Chad Marshall and Frankie Hejduk -- all assisted by MLS Cup MVP Guillermo Barros Schelotto.

Moreno opened the scoring in the 31st minute, taking a GBS thru pass and scoring with a low diagonal shot inside the far post. But Red Bull fans held out hope after their side equalized in the 51st minute, as John Wolyniec scored his second of the playoffs off a Dane Richards pass. But the hope was shortlived -- two minutes to be exact -- as the Crew regained the lead in the 53rd minute, with yet another Chad Marshall header off a GBS corner. With New York pressing in attack, GBS had one more bit of magic, chipping over the New York backline to Heydude, who headed over the onrushing Danny Cepero (Johnny swept the leg), and that's all she wrote.

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MLS Cup: #8 tackles #1 in Cup final

New York Red Bulls vs. Columbus Crew

MLS Cup 2008 (@ the HDC)

Sunday, November 23

3:30pmET on ABC, TeleFutura

After sneaking into the Cup playoffs through the backdoor, left open by DC United on the final regular season matchday, it looked like the New York Red Bulls would have yet another brief appearance in the postseason. But they managed the impossible and knocked out the defending Cup champion Houston Dynamo with a 3-0 thrashing. Then, with Alexi Lalas promising to shotgun a large can of Red Bull if New York upset Real Salt Lake, the soccer gods saw fit to turn a myriad of Salt Lake shots toward the woodwork and New York told Lalas, "Bottoms up, buttercup!" with a 1-0 win. 

Now they're in the final, but in order to put a cherry on top of this improbable Cup sundae, they must beat the Supporters Shield Champion Columbus Crew, the #1 seed in the MLS Cup playoff and a club that scored 11 more goals than New York had points during the regular season. It's not only improbable; it would be the biggest upset in MLS history.

Can Cinderella pull it off? Or will the Crew play matador to these winged Red Bulls?

TYH's Prediction: NY 1-3 CLB

TYH'S MLS BEST 11 (Conf. Champ.)

GOALKEEPER

D. Cepero (NY)

DEFENDERS

C. Leitch (NY), K. Goldthwaite (NY), C. Marshall (CLB)

MIDFIELDERS

D. van den Bergh (NY), G.B. Schelotto (CLB), B. Carroll (CLB), J. Rojas (NY)

FORWARDS

E. Gaven (CLB), B. McBride (CHI), J. Wolyniec (NY)

MLS Cup: Fill the Cup with Red Bull

New York 1-0 Real Salt Lake (Rio Tinto Stadium)
Cinderella still has wings, as the Red Bulls stun Real Salt Lake 1-0 in a match that saw the home side hit the post several times. Now thanks to the silly format of the MLS Cup, the east coast club has won the Western Conference crown, but more importantly, New York will be making their first appearance in the MLS Cup, where they will face Columbus. Dave van den Bergh was the hero for the Red Bulls, cleaning up a rebound in the 28th minute (truly a garbage goal). RSL had the bulk of the possession and the best of the chances from that point on, but it appears that the soccer gods are Mormons, as RSL went begging on chance after chance. Overall, it was a pretty dreadful match, especially when compared to Thursday's instant classic between Chicago and Columbus. But by far the best thing about this match is that now Alexi Lalas will have to make good on his promise to shotgun a can of Red Bull. I hope he gets sick.

MLS Cup: Crew through to first Cup Final

Chicago 2-3 Columbus (Crew Stadium)
The Columbus Crew stormed back from a 1-0 first-half deficit to beat the Chicago Fire 2-1 on Thursday night in a fast-paced, up-and-down match. In a match destined to outperform the Cup Final, a header from Chad Marshall and a low volley by a resurgent Eddie Gaven, gave Columbus their first Eastern Conference Championship and put them through to their first-ever MLS Cup final appearance. The victory was particularily sweet for Crew fans, who filled Crew stadium and provided an excellent atmosphere, as former Crew star Brian McBride, now with Chicago, scored the go-ahead goal, following chants of "traitor, traitor" from the partisan crowd. It is hard to believe that Saturday's Western Conference final or the MLS Cup final will live up to the atmosphere and play of last night's contest.

MLS Cup: Conf. championships set

Eastern Conference Championship
Thursday, November 13
Chicago Fire @ Columbus Crew (7:30pmET  on ESPN2)
It's Blanco versus Schelotto. This is the real MLS Cup. It's too bad that it has to take place in the Eastern Conference championship. Both clubs rolled over their semi-final opponents, but Columbus will enjoy home field advantage. The Fire are just 6-5-4 on the road this season, whereas the Crew are 11-2-2 in the comfy confines of Crew stadium. The Crew and Fire drew both times they faced each other in the regular season, so this match has the makings of an instant classic.

Prediction: Chicago 2-3 Columbus

Western Conference Championship
Sunday, November 16
New York Red Bulls @ Real Salt Lake (TBA)

Who gets to claim underdog status in this one? The team who have been colossal underachievers since they joined the league in 2005 or the perennial choke artists New York, who barely made it into the playoffs before beating the defending Cup champs. Midfield play will figure greatly in this one and unfortunately for New York, RSL have Javier Morales who definitely should be in the conversation for MLS Cup MVP. Can Angel and company pull off another shocker?

Prediction: New York 2-3 Salt Lake (AET)

MLS Cup 2008 - (@ the HDC)

Sunday, November 23
3:30pmET on ABC, TeleFutura

TYH'S MLS BEST 11 (Cup Semis)

GOALKEEPER

J. Busch (CHI)

DEFENDERS

W. Conde (CHI), F. Hejduk (CLB), K. Goldthwaite (NY)

MIDFIELDERS

G.B. Schelotto (CLB), J. Morales (RSL), D. Richards (NY), B. Carroll (CLB)

FORWARDS

C. Rolfe (CHI), A. Moreno (CLB), J.P. Angel (NY)

MLS Cup: NY West stun Dynos

New York 3-0 Houston (Robertson Stadium)
After narrowly making the playoffs, thanks to a DC loss on the last day of the regular season, the Red Bulls managed one of the biggest upsets in MLS Cup history by knocking out the defending Cup champions 4-1 on aggregate, after trouncing the Dynamo in their home stadium 3-0. With the aggregate locked at 1-1 after the first leg, Dane Richards scored in the 25th minute to get things going for New York. Then, Juan Pablo Angel converted a PK 11 minutes later and the Red Bulls were well on their way. John Wolyniec sprinkled a little salt in the champs wound in the 81st minute with New York's third unanswered goal. Despite being an Eastern Conference club, New York will advance to face Real Salt Lake in the Western Conference by virtue of MLS's crazy playoff structure that awards the final four spots in the playoffs by record and not by place in the conference.

MLS Cup: Crew, RSL advance

Kansas City 0-2 Columbus (1-3 agg.) (Crew Stadium)
The Columbus Crew dispatched the Eastern Conference fourth seed with a 2-0 win in the home leg of their semi-final series on Saturday. Brad Evans scored in the 7th minute and Robbie Rogers doubled the lead in the 58th. The Crew advance to the Eastern Conference final to face the Chicago Fire, winners in their semi-final series against New England.

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Salt Lake 2-2 Chivas USA (3-2 agg.) (HDC)
A 2-2 draw in the away leg was all that Real Salt Lake needed to advance after securing the one-goal advantage in the home leg against Chivas USA. A Sacha Kljestan PK in the 30th minute gave Chivas the lead, but Dema Kovalenko equalized for RSL and then Javier Morales put them ahead in the 77th. An 83rd minute goal by Justin Braun made the final few minutes interesting but they were unable to find the aggregate equalizer to force overtime. Salt Lake will face the winner of Sunday's Houston-New York match. New York and Houston drew 1-1 in the first match at Giants Stadium.

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MLS Cup: Fire bomb Revs

New England 0-3 Chicago (Toyota Park)
After a tight, well-played home match, the New England Revolution forgot to pack their cleats for the second-leg and were eliminated by the Chicago Fire from the MLS Cup after in a 3-0 defeat last night. Chris Rolfe began the rout with a garbage goal in first-half injury time. Second-half goals by Wilman Conde and Gonzalo Segares added insult to injury. The Revs were without injured stars Taylor Twellman and Steve Ralston once again, and Chicago was fired up by their home crowd of 17,312. The Fire advance to the Eastern Conference finals to face either Columbus or Kansas City.

MLS Cup: Favorites save late draws

Chivas USA 0-1 Salt Lake (Rio Tinto Stadium)
After saving RSL from elimination, Yura Movsisyan kept RSL moving in a positive direction, scoring the only goal, a cheeky back-heel, in the opener of Salt Lake's Western Conference semifinal with Chivas USA. His 90th minute goal gives Real the advantage going into the second-leg in Los Angeles next week.

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Houston 1-1 New York (Giants Stadium)
After backing into the playoffs courtesy of a DC United loss, New York managed to lead the home leg of their series with Houston for almost 40 minutes, as Juan Pablo Angel put the Red Bulls up 1-0 in the 48th minute before the Dynamo's Kei Kamara in the 85th minute. By virtue of finishing of finishing fifth in the Easy, New York shifted over to become the fourth seed in the Western Conference semifinals.

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Columbus 1-1 Kansas City (CAB)
Davy Arnaud's 53rd minute strike looked like it would be the game-winner against Eastern COnference top-seed Columbus, when Steven Lenhart scored a crucial equalizer two minutes into injury time. Columbus will now host Kansas City at Crew Stadium, even on goals (there is no road-goal advantage in the MLS Cup).

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MLS Cup: Revs unlucky in opener

Chicago 0-0 New England (Gillette Stadium)
The 2008 MLS Cup playoffs opened up with arguably the best match-up that fans will see until the Cup final, as New England drew 0-0 with Chicago in the first leg of the #2 vs. #3 Eastern Conference semi-final. The Revolution, who were without three starters -- Taylor Twellman, Steve Ralston and Adam Cristman, were unlucky to come away with only a point, as they clearly had the better run of play in the second half and would have scored if not for some timely tackles by John Thorrington and Bakary Soudmare. Chicago may count themselves unlucky as well, considering they had a Brian McBride goal disallowed for offside, but replays showed that it was the correct call. The Fire will host New England at Toyota Park on November 6 in a winner take all match.

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MLS Cup: Format tougher for East seeds

The 2008 MLS Cup tournament begins on Thursday, October 30, and while Houston get to play the worst qualifying team (ranked eighth on a single table), Columbus (who won the true championship of MLS -- the Supporters Shield) have to play the sixth team overall, a streaking Kansas City. And thanks to MLS Cup's farcical format, Chicago face New England, while Chivas USA get Salt Lake. Here's the rundown of match-ups.

EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS

#2 (#3) Chicago vs. #3 (#4) New England

#1 (#1) Columbus vs. #4 (#6) Kansas City

WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS

#2 (#5) Chivas USA vs. #3 (#7 ) Salt Lake

#1 (#2)Houston vs. #4 (#8) New York

*Conference Rank (Single-Table Rank)

Click here for the complete MLS Cup schedule.

The MLS Cup playoff picture

What if I show them my man boobs?

With one match to play, five teams are vying for the final three spots in the MLS Cup playoffs. Taking into consideration tie-breaks (head-to-head, then goal differential), these are the current standings:

TEAM	GP	W	L	D	Pts.	Diff
Kansas City	29	10	10	9	39	-4
New York	29	10	10	9	39	-3
Salt Lake	29	10	10	9	39	1
Colorado	29	11	14	4	37	-1
DC United	29	11	14	4	37	-7

As you can see, Kansas City, New York and Real Salt Lake are all in the driver's seat. The match to watch next week will be Real Salt Lake versus Colorado, with the winner most likely punching their ticket to the MLS Cup playoffs. The other four clubs will face teams that have already qualified or have been eliminated. DC face Columbus on Sunday, who will likely rest their starters, but even if the Red-and-Black manage a win, they could be eliminated if Colorado beat Real Salt Lake. This is because Colorado boast a much better goal differential, meaning DC would have to win by something like eight goals (depending on the score of Colorado v Salt Lake) to move ahead on the tie-break.

Is all that too confusing? 

Columbus are MLS Champs! Really!

Although you won't hear it from ESPN, Fox Soccer Channel or even the league office, the Major League Soccer champion was decided this weekend when Columbus picked up a point on the road against Chicago, putting them an unreachable 10-points ahead of second-lace Houston in the single table.

By picking up the Supporters Shield for the most points in the regular season, Columbus should be named league champions, but alas, MLS execs cling tightly to the playoff system, a bastardization of all that is good in American soccer. It makes no sense to refer to the MLS Cup winner as the MLS champion. This club has been successful in a single club tournament, consisting of four matches. The league champion should be the club that managed to secure the most points in the course of the season, not simply the team that plays best in October.

After all, the Supporters Shield winner gets all the rights and privileges of a champion (see last year's league champion DC United).

Every year I rail against the injustice, the blatant stupidity of naming the MLS Cup champion the league champion and every year it's the same. I have a dream, a dream that one day the club that finishes atop the league standings after the 30-game schedule will be named the MLS champion.

But I fear I'll be forever dreaming.

Columbus close in on MLS crown

As any TYH reader will tell you, we don't fancy an end of the year Cup playoff to determine the best in MLS when the previous 30 matches will tell the story just fine. Last year's true MLS champions were DC United and this year it will likely be Columbus Crew as they close in on securing the Supporters Shield, MLS's regular season champion.

Although the league still wrong-headedly calls the winner of the MLS Cup, the champion of MLS, the Supporters Shield is the true definition of a champion. The Supporters Shield goes to the club finishing with the most points after the 30-game season. In any other league in the world, the Supporters Shield would be the championship, but alas MLS execs drink far to often from the tainted well water of America's other (inferior) sports.

This MLS Cup "playoff" is a farce, however, as the Supporters Shield winner receives all the same rights and benefits as the winner of the MLS Cup "playoffs" -- an invitation to the various international tournaments (SuperLiga, CCL, etc.) and monetary benefits. It is as ridiculous as MLS's East/West bracket and seeding system.

The top three teams in each conference qualify and are seeded 1, 2 & 3 in their respective four-team playoff conference brackets. The two MLS teams with the next most points, regardless of conference, receive "wildcard" berths. The two wildcard teams will be seeded according to conference first. If more than four teams qualify from one conference, the team finishing lower than fourth in its conference will shift over to the other conference bracket. A team switching conference brackets will be seeded below all other teams in its new conference playoff bracket.

Now, go get a lawyer to figure it out.

Ok, Ok, I'll do it for you ... stop whining. If the regular season ended today. the seeding would look like this.

Eastern Conference

#1 Columbus

#2 New England

#3 Chicago

#4 New York

Western Conference

#1 Houston

#2 Chivas USA

#3 Real Salt Lake

#4 Colorado (based on head-to-head tiebreaker)

The last two spots are awarded regardlesss of conferences, which means that it is possible that a club like Kansas City could sneak in past Colorado. If there are five Eastern Conference teams in the playoffs, then the fifth team switches over to the Western Conference. I know, I know, it is confusing and seems like a stupid way to go about it -- especially given the per conference seeding, since the Supporters Shield winner doesn't get to play the 8th seed. Instead, #1 plays #4 and #2 plays #3 in each conference.

If MLS were a single table league (like it should be), a Cup tournament would be simpler and seeding would actually reward a club for a successful regular season. In a single-table format, the playoffs would look like this if the season ended now:

#1 CLB vs. #8 COL

#2 HOU vs. #7 NY

#3 NE vs. #6 RSL

#4 CHI vs. #5 CHV

Ok, so maybe it isn't radically different than the system they have now. After all, Houston and Columbus could end up in the Final still, but it would create far better second round match-ups. And shouldn't the playoffs get better, not worse, each round?

MLS Cup: Dynamo repeat!

Two second-half goals delivered Houston from a goal down to the top of the MLS Cup mountain, as they picked up a second consecutive MLS Cup, defeating eternal Cup bridesmaids New England 2-1 at RFK stadium on Sunday.

As was the case last year, New England struck first with a goal in the 20th minute from Taylor Twellman, his third goal of the competition. The play began when Steve Ralston played behind the Houston defense to the right-side endline and then crossed to Double-T who headed past Pat Onstad from eight yards out.

But the second half was all Houston, as Joseph Ngwenya scored an equalizer in the 61st minute and then Dwayne DeRosario fired home the winner 13 minutes later. DeRosario, who was last year's man of the match, was named the 2007 MLS man of the match, as well.

The equalizer came after Brian Mullan's cross found DeRo at the back post and the Canadaian international slotted it to Ngwenya out in front. Ngwenya made a mess of his first attempt but was able to find and put away the rebound. The winner was scored when Brad Davis sent an early cross into the box and DeRo rose up and snapped home a beautiful header.

MLS Cup: Revs, Dynamo Redux

Nate Jaqua and Dwayne DeRosario scored on either side of halftime, as the Houston Dynamo beat the Kansas City Wizards 2-0 to reach consecutive MLS Cup finals, where they will face last year's foe New England on November 18th at 12pmET at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C.

A DeRosario shot saved by KC keeper Kevin Hartman resulted in a 35th minute corner kick, and Richard Mulrooney's cross soared found Jaqua's head in traffic and Houston's big man redirected the cross into goal to make it 1-0. Following halftime, DeRosario added an insurance goal, when Craig Waibel intercepted a pass and put DeRo through with a nice pass. The Canadian international controlled and then beat Hartman to his inside post.

Scoring Summary:
HOU -- Nate Jaqua 1 (Richard Mulrooney 1) 35
HOU -- Dwayne De Rosario 1 (Craig Waibel 1) 81

MLS Cup: Double-T's bike pedals Revs to final

New England is back in the MLS Cup final for the second year in a row, after Taylor Twellman's 38th minute bicycle kick doused of the Chicago Fire.

Double-Ts bike was created by a deflected cross by Wells Thompson. Splitting Fire defenders Dasan Robinson and Gonzalo Segares, Twellman's overhead kick beat Matt Pickens inside the left post.

It will be New England's fourth title appearance (always a bridesmaid...) where they will face either (last year's Cup final foe and winner) Houston or (please god no) Kansas City.

Chicago 0-1 New England
Scoring:
NE -- Taylor Twellman 2 (Wells Thompson 1) 38

TYH'S MLS BEST 11 (Conference semis Gm2)

GOALKEEPER

K. Hartman (KC)

DEFENDERS

E. Robinson (HOU), M. Harrington (KC), W. Barrett (HOU)

MIDFIELDERS

S. Ralston (NE), S. Joseph (NE), C Blanco (CHI)

FORWARDS

C. Rolfe (CHI), B. Ching (HOU),
J. Ngwenya (HOU), T. Twellman (NE)