New York Red Bulls Maintain Final Playoff Spot Despite 2-0 Loss to Sporting KC

In a season of underachievement, the New York Red Bulls were clearly out-played by Sporting Kansas City in a 2-0 loss on Saturday afternoon at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park.Watching them play live has been painful at times, but watching them on television was even more excruciating. Sporting almost took an immediate lead when Omar Bravo crossed the ball to an unmarked Aurelian Collin, who misfired his header past the left post.Even though the Red Bulls had numerous scoring opportunities, the team looked flat and out of sync. After colliding with Sporting's Roger Espinoza, Thierry Henry was immediately issued a red card in the 28th minute. Playing a man down for the remainder of the first half, the Red Bulls were able to hold Sporting to a scoreless draw. Despite the ejection of Henry, the Red Bulls failed to take advantage of their scoring opportunities.In the second half, Sporting KC gave their 19,921 assembled fans two good reasons to cheer. The first was in the 57th minute, when Teal Bunbury accepted a pass from Julio Cesar and kicked the ball past Red Bulls goalkeeper Frank Rost to give Sporting KC a 1-0 lead.  Moments later, Joel Lindpere had the opportunity to produce the equalizer when ...

MLS: Teal Bunbury, Sporting Kansas City Punch Ticket for Postseason

KANSAS CITY, Kan.—Sporting Kansas City, who were dead last in the league in May, continued their resurgence after the opening of LIVESTRONG Sporting Park and clinched a spot in the MLS playoffs with a 2-0 win over the New York Red Bulls. A standing-room-only crowd of 19,921 saw Sporting earn its first playoff berth since 2008.With Philadelphia and Toronto playing to a 1-1 tie, Sporting moved into a tie for first place in the Eastern Conference.Kansas City started the game in full-on attack mode. The first truly dangerous chance came in the first minute. Omar Bravo lifted a soft cross into the six-yard box, where defender Aurelien Collin headed it just wide.New York's first chance came in the 11th minute when they put a ball into the penalty area. Luke Rodgers whiffed on it before Dane Richards took a shot that was saved by Jimmy Nielsen.New York's hopes for winning the match took a huge hit in the 28th minute. While Roger Espinoza was on the ground, Thierry Henry kneed him in the back. Referee Kevin Stott wasted no time in reaching for the red card, and New York was reduced to 10 men.Kansas City fairly dominated possession for the ...

MLS & Houston Dynamo: Jeld-Wen Fortress Pierced in 2-0 Victory over Portland

Dominic Kinnear’s Houston Dynamo inched closer to the MLS Cup Playoffs with a 2-0 victory over John Spencer’s Portland Timbers on Friday night at Jeld-Wen Field in Portland, Ore. With the win, Houston leapfrog the New York Red Bulls, the Columbus Crew and Sporting Kansas City for second place in the highly competitive MLS Eastern Conference with a record of 11-9-13 (46 points). The 36th minute saw Andre Hainault open his scoring account with a delivery from one of the league's top providers in Brad Davis. The assist was Davis’s 15th of the season. In the 59th minute, Danny Cruz made up for a yellow card caution eight minutes prior with a volley from Luiz Camargo. Portland are not eliminated from the MLS Cup Playoff picture just yet, since they have a game in hand over the Dynamo and Colorado Rapids, who were consigned to a scoreless draw with Real Salt Lake. However, the road ahead got a bit tougher for the Timbers, and they will need some help in order to stay alive. On Wednesday, Oct. 19, the Timbers will hit the road for a match against D.C. United before concluding their inaugural season away to Real Salt Lake ...

Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Chivas USA Live Blog: Play-by-Play Analysis, Reaction

Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy have been rock-solid at home, to say the least. Major League Soccer's top side completed an unbeaten regular season home campaign when they hosted fellow Home Depot Center tenants Chivas USA in the renewal of the Honda SuperClasico on Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011 and prevailed, 1-0.Chad Barrett scored the game-winner in the 53rd minute of play for the Galaxy, who improve to 19-4-10 on the year.Keep it right here on Bleacher Report for continuing coverage of the 2011 Major League Soccer season.Read more MLS news on BleacherReport.com

MLS Playoffs: Sizing Up the Eastern Conference Contenders

It's that time of the year again—the business end of the season. One week left and teams are scrambling to find their way into the postseason. It will be an exciting end to the season as there are are seven teams in the East still alive in the playoff hunt.So without further ado, here are the Eastern Conference contenders listed from bottom to top. All numbers are courtesy of playoffstatus.com.Begin Slideshow

MLS: Why the Supporters’ Shield Is the True League Championship

I have been a beat writer for the Los Angeles Galaxy for the past couple of years. In both of the seasons I have covered Bruce Arena's club, they've won the Supporters' Shield. The Shield—or, as I enjoy jocularly calling it, the "Pontiac on a Pedestal"—is given to the team that has the best regular season record. In most countries around the world, this would, in fact, be the league championship trophy. To me, I believe this is the trophy.Let's face it: this trophy is given to the team with the best regular season record. The team that has gone through 34 (soon to be 36) rounds of football to finish at the top of both the Eastern and Western Conferences. This isn't an easy trophy to obtain, ladies and gentlemen on the View from Victoria Street and Bleacher Report. In a perfect world, Los Angeles would have four stars above their crest, not the two that they currently sport—both earned from winning the Americans' closest equivalent to the Carling Cup—which is of course, the MLS Cup. D.C. United have also won the Shield four times, so their jersey would stay unchanged anyway, since that is also the same number ...

Los Angeles Galaxy Ins and Outs, October 13, 2011

Give All The Good Guys... Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy were getting their doop on last weekend as they cheered the Philadelphia Union to a 2-0 victory over the Seattle Sounders at CenturyLink Field. The Union victory completed a successful Major League Soccer Supporters' Shield defense. “It’s one of those things that you want to be a direct result of what you did that day,” Galaxy goalkeeper Josh Saunders told MLSSoccer.com's Luis Bueno. “However, it was kind of nice to be able to sit back and watch someone else do some of the work for us.” Omar Gonzalez, Landon Donovan, Sean Alvarado and Mike Magee were all watching the match. “We were cheering when Philadelphia was scoring,” Gonzalez said on Monday. “It was nice. It was fun.” For defender Todd Dunivant, the defense was going to be a challenge, and needing help from their rivals was going to be necessary. “It’s the hardest thing to do in this league,” Dunivant said. “You get all the credit for winning MLS Cups, but winning the Shield is the hardest thing to do in this league. It’s nothing to scoff at. We wanted to have a nice night to celebrate it.” But for ...

A David Beckham Move to Paris Saint-Germain Makes the Most Sense

It appears that David Beckham's most likely destination when he leaves Los Angeles Galaxy could be French outfit Paris Saint-Germain, and out of all the clubs mooted for him, it makes the most sense.As his four-year spell in California enters its final few matches, he is already looking out for where to take the Beckham Brand roadshow next.The former England captain has just two MLS regular-season games, one last CONCACAF Champions League group fixture and the playoffs left before his highly lucrative contract at the Home Depot Center expires at the end of November. He may be 36 years old, but that will not stop Beckham from being in the market for another club—especially considering his very public ambition to play for Team GB at the London Olympics in 2012.After all, he is still one of the most famous athletes on the planet, and if he can squeeze in an extra season or two before he finally calls it a day, then no doubt his bank manager would be a very happy man. That is not to say he would offer nothing from a football perspective. This season has been his most productive since making the move stateside in 2007. In 25 league appearances ...

Vancouver Whitecaps vs. DC United: 5 Thoughts on Wednesday’s Win

In front of an energetic crowd at BC Place, the Vancouver Whitecaps (6-16-10) defeated DC United (9-11-11) 2-1, earning their second victory in a row for the first time and severely damaging DC's playoff hopes.The goals came in quickfire fashion from forwards Camilo Sanvezzo and Long Tan. With less than a minute gone in the first half, Jordan Harvey thumped a cross into the DC penalty box for Camilo to poke into the net, adding to his team-leading goal tally.Not to be outdone, with only a few minutes gone after the restart in the second half, Alain Rochat thumped a ball into the DC penalty box for Long Tan to strike home.And although DC managed to pull a goal back through Brandon McDonald, the Whitecaps stood their ground and held on for a memorable victory.Here are five thoughts on the game.Begin Slideshow

MLS: Omar Bravo Captains SKC Against Former Club in International Friendly

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Sporting Kansas City forward Omar Bravo captained his current club against his old team in an international friendly at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park on Wednesday night. Bravo, a product of the Club Deportivo Guadalajara youth academy, scored 108 goals for the Mexican side after making his senior team debut in 2000.After the game, Bravo said through a translator, "I respect Davy Arnaud a lot as the captain of the team, but I see it as a gift from Peter (Vermes) because of a game like this. It's something that means a lot to me to be captain for a game like this."Chivas had the first truly dangerous chance of the game in the eighth minute. Midfielder Marco Fabian got loose on a breakaway. He managed to get around goalkeeper Eric Kronberg, who had come completely outside the 18-yard box. Two defenders had managed to get in behind Kronberg and Aurelien Collin tackled Fabian, but the ball trickled toward the net. Kronberg managed to hustle back and make sure the ball stayed out of the net.In the 13th minute, KC forward Kei Kamara put a cross from the left wing into the penalty area for Jeferson. The Brazilian ...