All eyes shall be on the soon-to-retire Landon Donovan the remainder of this MLS season. However the playoff race must be compelling too, beginning with some key battles this weekend.
BY
Brian Sciaretta
Posted
August 08, 2014
7:04 PM
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How Will MLS Say Goodbye?
Main League Baseball has spent a long time perfecting the lengthy goodbye, culminating within the sometimes maudlin Derek Jeter tributes we’re seeing this yr. However Main League Soccer has by no means actually seen a participant like Landon Donovan, so will probably be fascinating to observe how the league sends off its most iconic participant.
Sure, the Landon Donovan Farewell Tour begins in earnest this weekend, and the matchup could not be significantly better: The Galaxy will host Donovan’s former staff, the San Jose Earthquakes, in a Friday evening bout.
StubHub hubbub apart, the Galaxy is enjoying nice soccer in current weeks and is as soon as once more a robust contender to win MLS Cup this yr. Now with a hungry Donovan (nonetheless simply 32) who is raring to exit on high, the Galaxy may make a run on the Supporters Protect. The SoCal aspect at the moment ranks fifth in factors however has between one and three video games in hand on the groups forward of it.
D.C. United and Actual Salt Lake face off
D.C. United’s conflict with Actual Salt Lake is by far the very best of the weekend in MLS. United had a disappointing 1-0 loss to Houston simply earlier than the All-Star break however first place within the East is properly inside attain for Ben Olsen’s staff. Actual Salt Lake additionally has first place in its sights, trailing Western Convention leaders Seattle by two factors. (Seattle has two video games in hand.)
This weekend shall be a great take a look at to find out whether or not D.C. United—second in Japanese Convention—is a real MLS Cup contender or just a playoff staff. Salt Lake is coming off a productive street win towards Colorado.
All of a sudden slumping Seattle seems to rebound
For many of the first half of the season, Seattle breezed by way of the MLS calendar. However the winds shifted over the previous two weeks because the Sounders fell to a surging Galaxy aspect and the the last-place Earthquakes.
Now returning house to CenturyLink Discipline, the Sounders will look to rebound towards a hungry Dynamo staff that desperately wants factors to get again into the playoff race. Seattle is now in jeopardy of shedding the highest spot within the West ought to it fail to win.
Three veterans of the U.S. World Cup staff shall be on-hand: Clint Dempsey, Brad Davis, and DaMarcus Beasley. DeAndre Yedlin is at the moment in London, deep in negotiations with Tottenham Hotspur.
Dallas vs. Colorado has playoff implications
Dallas and Colorado might not be high groups in MLS today however the match between the 2 must be fascinating as each are hovering across the playoff line within the West. Colorado is a proficient however younger staff enjoying beneath a brand new head coach in Pablo Mastroeni. After a robust first half of the season, Colorado has misplaced its final two and Mastroeni must get his staff again on observe shortly.
Dallas, however, has been in high kind just lately, going undefeated in its final seven contests with three wins in its final 4. Nonetheless, the Texan staff sits simply 4 factors away from the playoff line. Each groups have rather a lot to play for on Saturday evening and it must be a bellwether of how issues will form up down the stretch.
Right here is the complete slate of video games—all occasions Japanese.
Friday
San Jose Earthquakes at Los Angeles Galaxy (10:30 p.m.; NBCSN)
Saturday
Montreal Influence at Philadelphia Union (7 p.m.; MLS Dwell)
Toronto FC at Columbus Crew (7:30 p.m.; MLS Dwell)
Colorado Rapids at FC Dallas (9 p.m.; MLS Dwell)
DC United at Actual Salt Lake (10 p.m. MLS Dwell)
Chivas USA at Portland Timbers (10:30 p.m.; MLS Dwell)
Sunday
Sporting Kansas Metropolis at Vancouver Whitecaps (8 p.m. MLS Dwell)
New York Pink Bulls at Chicago Fireplace (8 p.m.; UDN)
Houston Dynamo at Seattle Sounders (10:30 p.m.; ESPN2)
