This was weird and I’m not sure what we learned. Let’s talk it out.
So…
Both teams were already shorthanded coming into this one. The Crew were short so many folks, they ended up only having one keeper available. The one thing that really couldn’t happen for Columbus happened.
Abraham Romero picked up a DOGSO red card in first-half stoppage time and, from there, let’s be real, the whole thing felt a little silly. Outfield player Sean Zawadzki moved to goalkeeper, the Crew went down to 10 men and Seattle didn’t have to do much to do at that point besides kick the ball toward the goal.
We learned nothing. The standings don’t care about what we learned or didn’t though. Columbus are two points behind second-place Cincinnati now with a game in hand. They’re 10 points back of Inter Miami with a game in hand. Cincy just caught a huge break before Hell Is Real next Saturday and Inter Miami just put the last necessary nail into the coffin of the Supporters’ Shield race.
In the Western Conference, Seattle are up to fifth and just cruised to a win in what, on paper, was the toughest remaining game on their schedule.
Henry Kessler scored against his old team, Luca Langoni scored for the second time in his first three MLS games and Caleb Porter gave a press conference that will live on the internet forever. This game had a lot.
In the end, what you need to know is Porter didn’t appreciate a couple of refereeing decisions. St. Louis scored their second goal of the game while the Revs waited the required one minute to sub on a player after Langoni took more than 10 seconds to come off the field. After that, a hand ball call didn’t go the Revs’ way even after being reviewed. Porter’s thoughts on these matters are out there if you want to find them.
Anyway, the Revs are five points back of the playoff line now. They still have a couple of extra games to play, but their path over the line got a lot harder with this result. St. Louis already had longshot odds to get back into the playoff race. Their season is almost over.
It took until the last moments of the game for New York to salvage a point. Sixteen-year-old Julian Hall scored his second-career MLS goal to save the day for a Red Bulls side that’s sliding their face across the pavement as they try and reach the finish line. They’ve won twice in their last 12 MLS games now.
Somehow, they’re still in fourth place. It’s fair to be worried though.
Sporting KC need something close to a miracle to make the playoffs.
Two first-half goals were enough for D.C. to squeeze by Chicago in a battle between teams fighting for their playoff lives. D.C. are up to ninth in the standings, but we have to point out they’ve played at least a game more than everyone else behind them. Atlanta, Philadelphia and New England are all within touching distance.
Still, D.C. have been a team that’s felt better than their record at times this season. They don’t have a gentle schedule to close out the year, but it feels like all it could take to get them over the line is two or three more wins. If Christian Benteke stays hot, they’ve got a shot. He’s up to 18 goals and six assists on the season and leads the Golden Boot race by a goal.
For the Fire, that’s about that. They haven’t made the playoffs since 2017.
Both teams limped into this one without their full assortment of attacking pieces available and neither could find a breakthrough. Houston honestly might feel disappointed here, but, hey, taking four points from back-to-back games against LAFC is an excellent pair of results. They’re sitting in seventh while LAFC are four points back of first with two games in hand on the Galaxy. El Tráfico is up next.
Another game where key pieces were missing. Both teams will be fine, but maybe a little disappointed with the result. Vancouver’s new DP Stuart Armstrong made his debut 84 minutes into this one and didn’t really have time to make a difference.
With the draw, Vancouver are sitting in sixth with a couple of extra games to play. Dallas are now two points behind ninth place and have played an extra game than all the folks in front of them.
- Albert Rusnák picked apart a short-handed Crew side.
- Canada flexed their "confidence and personality" in a historic win over USMNT.
- Jacob Shaffelberg helped lead Canada to the win.
Good luck out there. Take any chance to spread holiday cheer.
