Oscar Pareja Makes All the Wrong Moves as FC Dallas Crash out of Postseason

The 2014 MLS Cup playoffs have been all about managers making perfect tactical adjustments. Mike Petke's usage of Peguy Luyindula helped New York advance to the Eastern Conference Final, while LA's Bruce Arena worked magic with his pairing of A.J. DeLaGarza and Stefan Ishizaki on the right wing in the win over Real Salt Lake.  FC Dallas boss Oscar Pareja had a chance to add his name to the tactical-genius list Monday night. Instead, he made a few questionable moves that led to his side's elimination at the hands of the Seattle Sounders.  Pareja's side entered the clash at CenturyLink Field in need of at least one away goal in order to pave their path to the Western Conference Final. Despite a valiant effort, they came up short and drew 0-0 with the Sounders. Seattle advanced on a 1-1 aggregate thanks to a first-leg away goal scored by Osvaldo Alonso.  The Hoops were handed a golden opportunity to pounce on the hosts after Alonso limped off the pitch with an apparent hamstring injury in the 56th minute. From that point on, Pareja should have adjusted his lineup to attack during every remaining minute of the match.  Pareja waited until the 80th minute to make ...

MLS Team of the Week from Conference Semifinal 2nd Legs

With the possibility of playoff elimination staring them in the face, a few stars shined in the second leg of Major League Soccer's Conference Semifinal round.  The best team performance came from the LA Galaxy, who blew out Real Salt Lake 5-0 at home. Because of the dominant showing, four Galaxy players feature in our Team of the Week.  Not all the players in the Best 11 from the four second-leg matches this weekend were on the winning side of the coin. There were a few impressive contributors for clubs that are now planning their offseason vacations.  Here is a look at our MLS Team of the Week from the second leg of the Conference Semifinal round. Begin Slideshow

Seattle Sounders vs. FC Dallas: Winners and Losers from MLS Play-off

Seattle Sounders are through to the penultimate round of the Major League Soccer play-offs following Monday's scoreless draw at home to FC Dallas. Having come out of the first leg of this Western Conference semi-final with a 1-1 draw in Texas, Seattle never needed to score in the return fixture and ended up progressing on the away-goals rule. Dallas, meanwhile, created plenty of chances on the Pacific Coast but lacked precision in the final third, and at the final whistle questions swirled over manager Oscar Pareja's second-half substitutions. Overall, several performances stood out from the second leg, as the following slideshow will highlight. Here are the individual winners and losers from Monday's encounter.Begin Slideshow

MLS Cup Playoffs 2014: Seattle vs. FC Dallas 2nd Leg Score and Twitter Reaction

It wasn't pretty, but the Seattle Sounders advanced to the Western Conference final after a 0-0 draw with FC Dallas on Monday night at CenturyLink Field, moving on by an aggregate score of 1-1 on away goals. This was the first year that Major League Soccer used the away-goals rule in the playoffs. Away goals don't technically count double—which is often how they're described—but in order to go on, Dallas needed a minimum of one goal on Monday in order to advance. That gave Seattle the incentive to park the proverbial bus and play for the draw. Entering the second leg, however, Sounders center back Zach Scott denied that he and his teammates would revert to a defensive position and protect their slim lead. "We’ve never really adjusted the way we play around a specific result we need to get," Scott said, per MLSsoccer.com's Ari Liljenwall. "We’re not going to bunker in, we’re not going to look for any specific scoreline. We’re just going to play our soccer." While the Sounders failed to score, it wasn't for a lack of trying. Seattle enjoyed the lion's share of chances and was on the whole the better team on the night. FC Dallas were game challengers, though. In the ...

Seattle Sounders vs. FC Dallas: Live Score, Highlights from MLS Play-off

Major League Soccer—CenturyLink Field, Seattle   SEATTLE SOUNDERS 0-0 FC DALLAS Seattle advance on away goals Referee: Baldomero Toledo   Lineups Seattle Sounders: Frei, Yedlin, Marshall, Scott, Gonzalez, Evans, Alonso, Pineda, Pappa, Dempsey, Martins FC Dallas: Seitz, Hernandez, Loyd, Hedges, Watson, Ulloa, Michel, Castillo, Akindele, Diaz, Perez Follow @jerradpetersRead more MLS news on BleacherReport.com

Complete Team Performance Propels LA Galaxy into Western Conference Final

After leaving Rio Tinto Stadium with no away goals in the first leg of their Western Conference Semifinal series with Real Salt Lake, the LA Galaxy made a massive statement with a 5-0 home win in the second leg.  From the first minute until the final whistle, the Galaxy embarrassed the defending Western Conference champion at StubHub Center to get one step closer to qualifying for the MLS Cup.  In the victory, every single player that manager Bruce Arena named to the starting 11 played a key role in shutting down one of the most dynamic teams in the league. Not only did Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane come to life, but the Galaxy dominated in their own half and the midfield as well.  While the headlines may tell us about Donovan's hat-trick in his final trip to the postseason, all of the pieces came together perfectly for the Galaxy in the triumphant victory.  Every goal scored by the Galaxy saw terrific combination play from multiple players in order to break down the strong Real Salt Lake back four.  The first goal, which was netted by Donovan, was the product of two tweaks to the lineup made by Arena. Stefan Ishizaki and A.J. DeLaGarza were ...

MLS Cup Playoffs 2014: LA Galaxy vs. Real Salt Lake 2nd Leg Score and Reaction

Entering the second leg of the Western Conference semifinal between Real Salt Lake and the Los Angeles Galaxy, many observed that the Galaxy would go as far as Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane could take them. The two veterans answered the call, scoring four of the Galaxy's five goals in a 5-0 aggregate victory for Los Angeles at the StubHub Center on Sunday evening. The postseason is the time most coaches ask their star players to shoulder a larger burden in order to propel the team forward. Fox Soccer's Kyle McCarthy noted that throughout the early stages of the MLS Cup playoffs, many of the biggest stars have accepted the added responsibility: Donovan, who's retiring at the end of the season, was brilliant on the night, notching a hat-trick and hammering Real Salt Lake on the counter-attack. His performance led many, including soccer writer Richard Whittall, to question if Donovan is making the right decision to step away from the game: ESPN's Bob Ley countered that the 32-year-old could be leaving at the perfect time, before his skills diminish to a larger extent: Sunday's match is merely another entry in a legendary MLS career. The Galaxy also get a measure of revenge, having lost to Real ...

New England Revolution to Face New York Red Bulls in Unlikely Conference Final

The New England Revolution have advanced to the Eastern Conference final after defeating the Columbus Crew 7-3 on aggregate. The Revolution will face the New York Red Bulls in the next round. Both New York and New England are flying high at the moment, which makes this a matchup between two “teams of destiny” that are very motivated to silence their critics. The Red Bulls have been in terrific form recently, which has resulted in their first conference final appearance since 2008. New York has lost just twice since October 4, and one of those defeats was to D.C. United in the second leg of their semifinal, which ended up as a meaningless result. However, New England has been equally, if not, more impressive. The Revolution won 10 of their final 14 matches after losing their previous eight. MVP candidate Lee Nguyen has led the charge with 18 goals and five assists in 32 appearances. Nguyen has continued his impressive 2014 in the playoffs. He scored twice in the semifinals against the Crew, and has been a standout on one of the most entertaining teams in MLS. The Red Bulls are no slouch, though. The likes of Thierry Henry and Peguy Luyindula have contributed to ...

MLS Cup Playoffs 2014: New England vs. Columbus 2nd Leg Score, Twitter Reaction

The New England Revolution easily qualified for the MLS Eastern Conference final, beating Columbus Crew 3-1 at Gillette Stadium on Sunday to advance 7-3 on aggregate. The Revolution will face the New York City Red Bulls, who knocked out DC United on Saturday.     Fans expecting New England to just sit back and defend their lead were quickly reminded that simply isn't their style, with Kelyn Rowe taking a shot on goal within 30 seconds of the opening whistle. Needing at least three goals to advance to the Eastern Conference final, Columbus predictably committed men forward in an attempt to score an early goal. With Federico Higuain not playing, the onus fell on the creative midfielders to make the difference, with Justin Meram looking lively early. New England quickly took control of the midfield proceedings, however, and Jermaine Jones in particular seemed to be in excellent form. While possession remained with the Crew, there were no openings to be found early. Inside MLS saw the same thing: Columbus had their first chance after a deflected shot fell into the path of Jairo Arrieta, who was beaten to the ball by Revolution goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth, knocking it into Arrieta and out of play. Lee Nguyen was unusually quiet, with ...

Why the New York Red Bulls Can Win the MLS Cup

The New York Red Bulls have never been able to do it. The MetroStars could not do it either. With a franchise cursed for nearly 20 years, what makes this season different? With Saturday's 2-1 loss at D.C. United, the Red Bulls advanced to the Conference finals for the first time since 2008. In all likelihood, this sets the Red Bulls up for a showdown with the New England Revolution in the MLS final four.  That means with three positive results, the Red Bulls could take home the MLS title for the first time in the history of the club. Though the franchise's history in the playoffs is less than stellar (to put it kindly), there is a different feel with this group; this year's New York Red Bulls can win the MLS Cup. Though New York had a rough first half of the season, in the second half of the season and the playoffs, four things have emerged that suggest the Red Bulls can go all the way.   Tactical Change In New York's first 25 regular season matches, the club only managed three clean sheets. The Red Bulls were not—and are not—a spectacular defensive team. But the team's defensive record up to that point ...