Thursday, October 29, 2015

MLS Playoff Knockout Round 2015

Four games in this year's knockout round, beginning with...

DC United hosting the New England Revolution on Wednesday night. Bobby Shuttleworth and Bill Hamid are in goal. New England was first to score in the fifteenth minute on a Juan Agudelo goal, via Kevin Alston. In the forty-fourth minute, Andrew Farrell of the Revolution had a yellow card for a foul. DC got on the board with a Chris Pontius goal in the forty-fifth minute, coming off of Fabian Espindola. United's Bobby Boswell took a yellow card for his foul in the sixty-ninth minute. In the seventy-second minute, New England had a yellow card given to Jermaine Jones for a foul. Markus Halsti of DC had a yellow card assessed to him in the seventy-seventh minute for a foul. United took the lead on a Chris Rolfe goal in the eighty-third minute, assisted by Espindola and Nick DeLeon. The Revolution melted down in stoppage time, with Jones taking a red card for abusive language and a yellow card for dissent, essentially gaining a double-ejection for the game. DC won 2-1, and Rolfe was man of the match for the winner.

Westward, the Seattle Sounders FC welcome the Los Angeles Galaxy. Donovan Ricketts and Stefan Frei are the veteran keepers. Seattle led off with a fifth minute Clint Dempsey goal. Los Angeles tied it in the sixth minute on a Sebastian Lletget goal, set up by Gyasi Zardes and Giovani dos Santos. The Sounders took the lead with a Nelson Valdez goal in the twelfth minute, passed from Andreas Ivanschitz. The Galaxy tied it in the twenty-second minute on a Zardes goal, courtesy of Juninho. Omar Gonzalez of Los Angeles took a yellow card for a forty-fourth minute foul. Seattle took another lead on a seventy-third minute Erik Friberg goal. The Galaxy had a yellow card given to Baggio Husidic for a foul in the seventy-eighth minute. In stoppage time, the Sounders' keeper Frei received a yellow card for time wasting. The final held at 3-2, with the man of the match being Friberg for his winner.

On Thursday, the Canadian battle with the Montreal Impact bringing in Toronto FC led off the slate. Chris Konopka and Evan Bush are the keepers. In the eighteenth minute, Montreal struck first with a Patrice Bernier goal, set up by Ignacio Piatti. The Impact added on with Piatti's goal in the thirty-third minute. Montreal extended the lead as Didier Drogba scored in the thirty-ninth minute, via Bernier. In the eighty-seventh minute, Toronto had a yellow card go to Marco Delgado for a foul. The final stayed at 3-0, with the man of the match being Bernier for a goal and assist.

The final knockout round game has the Portland Timbers hosting Sporting Kansas City. Tim Melia and Adam Larsen Kwarasey are in the six-yard boxes. Kansas City took a yellow card for an eleventh minute foul by Kevin Ellis. Dominic Dwyer of Sporting had a yellow card for his persistent infringement in the thirty-fifth minute. Portland's Liam Ridgewell took a yellow card for a foul in the thirty-eighth minute. In the fifty-seventh minute, the Timbers began with a Rodney Wallace goal, set up by Diego Valeri. Wallace took a yellow card for his foul in the sixty-ninth minute for Portland. Kansas City saw yellow cards in the seventy-sixth minute for a foul by Krisztian Nemeth and dissent by Amadou Dia. Melia came out in the eighty-fourth minute, and Sporting's Jon Kempin came on in goal. In the eighty-seventh minute, Kansas City equalized with an Ellis goal, via Graham Zusi. The tie went into overtime. Saad Abdul-Salaam of Sporting had a yellow card for his ninety-third minute foul. Kansas City took the lead on a Nemeth goal in the ninety-sixth minute, assisted by Dia. The Timbers saw a yellow card for George Fochive in the 107th minute. Portland's Valeri had a yellow card for his foul in the 115th minute. The Timbers tied it in the 118th minute on a Maximiliano Urruti goal, coming off of Dairon Asprilla. In the shootouts, the goals came from Benny Feilhaber, Zusi, Paulo Nagamura, Soni Mustivar, Jacob Peterson, and Dia for Sporting, while the Timbers saw Nat Borchers, Ridgewell, Urruti, Asprilla, Darlington Nagbe, Fochive, and the keeper Kwarasey score to win 3-2, with the score of 7-6 on penalty kicks. The man of the match can only be Kwarasey, for stopping enough shots to get this far and then burying the decisive one for the Timbers to advance.

Four more games this Sunday as the Conference Semifinals have their first legs. Follow me on Twitter @KipperScorpion.

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