Football
Associated Press 7y

Montreal Impact clinch playoff spot in draw with Toronto; D.C. United in

The Major League Soccer postseason picture continued to take shape on the penultimate weekend of the season, with the Montreal Impact and D.C. United clinching playoff spots.

The Montreal Impact clinched a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference after a 2-2 draw with struggling Toronto FC at Stade Saputo on Sunday.

Ignacio Piatti started things off for the Impact in the 19th minute as he picked up a pass from Marco Donadel from a corner and buried a shot from outside the penalty area to the top right corner of the TFC goal.

Evan Bush saved Montreal twice in the opening 20 minutes, turning Justin Morrow away at the doorstep and then denying Jonathan Osorio's first-time strike from 12 yards out minutes later.

And Piatti almost doubled his tally in the 23rd  minute. Matteo Mancosu's cut-back pass found the Argentine six yards out, but his shot was deflected away from goal by Toronto.

Jozy Altidore put the visitors back on level terms in the 52nd minute, controlling a cross into the box and poking home past Bush from very close range.

Piatti found his second two minutes later from the penalty spot after Morrow brought Mancosu down in the area, putting Montreal back on top 2-1.

Substitute Donovan Ricketts earned TFC the point in the 86th minute, tapping home from right in front of the goalmouth after an Altidore header fell to his feet.

Fanendo Adi scored on a penalty kick in the 35th minute and the Portland Timbers continued to fight for a playoff spot with a 1-0 victory over the Colorado Rapids.

The defending MLS Cup champion Timbers won their fifth straight at home and pulled even on points with Sporting Kansas City for the sixth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Timbers were a point back of fifth-place Seattle.

Colorado dropped to second in the conference standings behind Dallas while vying for the Supporters' Shield for the team with the best regular-season record.

The Timbers have been winless on the road this season, which has hurt their playoff chances. But the result Sunday keeps them in the playoff race heading into the final game of the regular season next Sunday against the Whitecaps in Vancouver.

The Rapids wrap up the regular season at home next Sunday against the Houston Dynamo.

Carlos Ruiz stabbed home Mauro Diaz's flick pass in the 89th minute and FC Dallas moved to the top of the table with a 2-1 victory over the Seattle Sounders.

FC Dallas moved two points ahead of the Colorado Rapids and eliminated the New York Red Bulls from contention with a game to go. The Sounders would have clinched a playoff berth with a win and remain in contention with Sporting KC and the Portland for the final two playoff spots.

Maximiliano Urruti tied it for FCD in the 79th minute, smashing home a rebound from Matt Hedges' close-range attempt.

Nicolas Lodeiro slipped a free kick between FC Dallas goalkeeper Chris Seitz and the inside post to open the scoring for Seattle in the 41st minute. It came five minutes after the Sounders' Herculez Gomez had a goal disallowed due to an offside call.

Patrick Mullins had a goal and an assist and D.C. United clinched a third consecutive MLS Cup playoff appearance with a 3-1 victory over New York City FC on Sunday.

Bobby Boswell and Rob Vincent added goals to help United win its fourth straight. NYCFC was eliminated from the Supporters' Shield race and fell three points behind the New York Red Bulls for the top seed in the East.

United opened the scoring in the 27th minute when Lloyd Sam sent in a low cross and Luciano Acosta deflected it through to Mullins for the finish. Boswell headed home Sam's corner in the 31st minute and Vincent capitalized on a defensive miscue in the 45th.

David Villa scored for NYCFC on a penalty kick in the 72nd minute -- his 22nd of the season. But he dropped a goal behind Bradley Wright-Phillips in the Golden Boot standings.

Carlos Rivas and Julio Baptista scored as Orlando City beat Philadelphia 2-0 to prevent a playoff-clinching opportunity for the Union.

With New England's 2-1 loss to Chicago on Sunday, The Union needed only a tie to secure the final playoff spot.

Philadelphia maintained its three-point lead over New England in the standings and will host the East-leading New York Red Bulls on the final weekend of the regular season next Sunday. The Revolution host the Montreal Impact.

Rivas opened the scoring for Orlando on a breakaway in the 59th minute. He collided with Union goalkeeper Andre Blake, who came off his line to challenge, and the ball caromed forward into the goal.

Baptista scored on another breakaway in the fifth minute of second-half, stoppage-time with his shot slipping through Blake's deflection.

Orlando City entered the match out of playoff contention.

David Accam scored in the 80th minute and the Chicago Fire put the New England Revolution on the brink of elimination from playoff contention with a 2-1 victory.

Chicago, already out of the playoff race, won for the first time since Sept. 3. New England lost for just the second time in its last six games.

Michael de Leeuw opened the scoring in the ninth minute for Chicago. Brandon Vincent rolled a cross into the area and an open De Leeuw redirected it home at the near post. Accam scored his ninth goal of the season when he raced to Jonathan Campbell's through ball and finished on a one-on-one opportunity.

New England tied it in the 43rd minute on Diego Fagundez's shot from distance.

There were two red cards in the second half. Luis Solignac was given a straight red for Chicago in the 54th minute after tripping London Woodberry with his studs up. In the 73rd minute, New England goalkeeper Brad Knighton was sent off for taking down Accam in a goal scoring opportunity.

Wright-Phillips scored his 22nd and 23rd goals of the season to break a tie for the Golden Boot lead and the New York Red Bulls beat the Columbus Crew 3-2 on Sunday.

New York secured a bye in the knockout round after Toronto FC tied Montreal 2-2. Columbus was eliminated from playoff contention on Thursday.

New York broke it open with two goals in the first 13 minutes of the second half. Mike Grella scored on an open shot in the 53rd minute off a nice assist from Sacha Kljestan. Five minutes later, Wright-Phillips cut back his defender and rolled it through the legs of goalkeeper Brad Stuver from a difficult angle.

Wright-Phillips added another in the 70th minute. Aurelien Collin had a glancing header of Kljestan's corner kick and Wright-Phillips was uncovered at the back post for an easy tap in.

Adam Jahn put Columbus on the board with a breakaway goal in the 73rd minute and Harrison Afful added another goal 10 minutes later with a chip shot. In the first half, Stuver made up for taking down Alex Muyl inside the penalty area by saving Kljestan's poorly placed penalty kick.

Alan Gordon scored in the 72nd minute and the Los Angeles Galaxy beat the Houston Dynamo 1-0 to clinch a home game in the knockout round of the MLS Cup playoffs.

The Galaxy are locked into the No. 3 seed in the West a week ahead of the regular-season finale. Houston remained in last place in the Western Conference.

In the buildup to Gordon's goal, Dynamo goalkeeper Joe Willis made a diving save of Mike Magee's shot attempt but failed to secure it. David Horst awkwardly attempted to poke the loose ball safely away but Gordon swooped in and blocked it back into the net.

Nick Rimando extended his MLS record with his 129th shutout and Real Salt Lake tied Sporting Kansas City 0-0.

Real Salt Lake leads a group of four teams for the final three playoff spots. Sporting KC, Seattle and Portland are all within one or two points of RSL -- with one week to go.

Joao Plata had three good scoring opportunities for RSL. He started a two-on-two counter-attack in the 59th minute and one-touched Olmes Garcia's deflected cross but Tim Melia went low to block it.

Plata raced to a chipped cross at the back post in the 79th but Melia denied him again. On the last play of the game, Plata had an open header but it went just wide.

Dom Dwyer, who had scored a goal in his last four games, headed down a shot in the 86th but Rimando made a big save. Dwyer protected the goal line on Juan Manuel Martinez's header in the 20th minute and he knocked it away with his knee.

Paolo Tornaghi had a clean sheet in his first MLS start and the Vancouver Whitecaps tied the San Jose Earthquakes 0-0 in a game with no playoff implications.

Both teams had already seen their postseason hopes vanish. Vancouver had its winless streak extended to four games and San Jose (8has only won once in its last 10 games.

Tornaghi came out of his area to block Simon Dawkins' shot from the corner of the 6-yard box in the seventh minute. Cordell Cato tried to curl a shot inside the far post in the ninth minute but Tornaghi dove to deflect it wide.

Vancouver forward Masato Kudo won a loose ball in the penalty area in the 54th minute but David Bingham deflected the open shot. Bingham blocked Kudo's shot in the 56th and Kudo's rebound attempt hit the crossbar.

It was the sixth straight draw in the series at San Jose -- with the last win coming on April 6, 2012.

For the latest on all playoff scenarios and which teams have clinched and been eliminated, check here.

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