Football
Associated Press 8y

Toronto FC close in on first-ever playoff berth, Red Bulls top Crew

Sebastian Giovinco and Jozy Altidore scored as Toronto FC beat the Philadelphia Union 3-1 on Saturday to close in on the first playoff berth in franchise history.

Toronto improved to 14-13-4. Philadelphia (9-16-7) was eliminated from playoff contention.

Giovinco, taking his third free kick of the first half, converted in the 28th minute from the edge of the penalty box when his shot deflected off Raymon Gaddis in the wall and looped high into the far corner of the goal. Giovinco has 21 goals this season.

Altidore scored in the 63rd, fighting off a defender to tap the ball in for his 12th of the season. The 25-year-old was also named to the U.S. men's team roster for its upcoming CONCACAF Cup match vs. Mexico on Oct. 10.

Toronto-born defender Steven Vitoria scored for Philadelphia in the 66th minute. Philadelphia had an own goal in stoppage time when Richie Marquez put Jonathan Osorio's cross into the net.

Bradley Wright-Phillips scored the go-ahead goal in the first half and the New York Red Bulls held on to beat the Columbus Crew 2-1.

The playoff-bound Red Bulls (15-9-6) have a three-point lead over D.C. United in the Eastern Conference with four games to play. The Crew (13-11-8) have lost consecutive games and are four points back of the Red Bulls.

Crew goalkeeper Steve Clark tried to kick the ball to Harrison Afful, but it was intercepted by a charging Connor Lade. Lade then crossed the ball to Wright-Phillips, who scored off a header in the 21st minute for his 15th goal of the season.

The Crew's Justin Meram split five defenders, and floated his shot just off defender Damien Perrinelle's head and through goalkeeper Luis Robles' hands in the eighth minute.

Lloyd Sam tied it three minutes later. Sacha Kljestan assisted on the goal.

Seb Hines scored on a volley in the 80th minute as Orlando City avoided elimination from the playoff race with a 2-1 victory over the Montreal Impact.

Orlando City entered the game in seventh place, needing at least a tie to remain in the Eastern Conference playoff race. It won its fourth straight and has two games remaining in the season.

Montreal would have clinched a playoff berth with a win, but retained its hold of sixth place and the final playoff position with four games to go.

Cyle Larin opened the scoring for Orlando in the 33rd minute, extending his rookie scoring record to 15 goals.

Dominic Oduro tied it in the 43rd minute with a loose-ball finish. Orlando City goalkeeper Tally Hall was shown a yellow card for dissent. He argued that he had secured the ball before Oduro kicked it loose.

Orlando City teammates, Tommy Redding and Rafael Ramos, suffered a head-to-head collision in the fourth minute. Both left the game on stretchers after a seven-minute delay.

David Accam and Harry Shipp scored eight minutes apart in Chicago's three-goal second half and the Fire beat New England 3-1 to deny the Revolution a chance to clinch a playoff spot.

New England, which had its five-game win streak snapped by a 1-1 draw with Philadelphia, took a 1-0 lead in the first half when Chris Tierney fired a beautiful cross from just inside the sideline to the right of Chicago keeper Jon Busch, finding Juan Agudelo in front of the goalmouth for the header in the 31st minute.

Accam found open space in the penalty area and fired a right-footed shot past New England keeper Bobby Shuttleworth to even the score in the 51st minute, and Shipp booted home the go-ahead goal eight minutes later, threading a shot between Shuttleworth's legs.

Chicago snapped a five-match losing streak.

Krisztian Nemeth scored in the 83rd minute and Sporting Kansas City beat the Portland Timbers 1-0 with both teams jockeying for playoff position.

Nemeth dribbled past three defenders and beat Timbers' goalkeeper Adam Kawarasey for the lone goal. The sellout crowd at Providence Park booed loudly when the match was final.

Kansas City (13-9-9) moved up into the third place in the Western Conference standings, while Portland (12-11-8) fell into a tie for sixth with San Jose -- which holds the tiebreaker for the final playoff spot. The Timbers have three games left in the regular season and the Earthquakes have two.

That was after San Jose Earthquakes and the Vancouver Whitecaps played to a 1-1 draw Saturday night.

Cristian Techera opened the scoring for the Whitecaps in the 39th minute with a shot from the middle of the box that deflected off defender Shaun Francis' foot and looped over goalkeeper David Bingham.

San Jose equalised in the 62nd minute, when Vancouver goalkeeper David Ousted saved Cordell Cato's narrow-angle shot but muffed it away and Chris Wondolowski punched home the loose ball for his 16th goal of the season.

The Earthquakes improved to 12-12-8. The Whitecaps (15-12-4) remained in second place and moved one point behind the conference-leading Los Angeles Galaxy.

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