Vancouver thump LAFC to stay alive; Red Bulls knock out Columbus; Sounders move on

We continue the action from the first round of the MLS Cup Playoffs on Sunday night, with another trio of games from around the league.

This is what happened.

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Vancouver Whitecaps 3-0 LAFC

Scorers: Gauld 10′, Hollingshead (OG) 13′, Segura (OG) 68′

The Vancouver Whitecaps made a statement with a resounding 3-0 win against LAFC north of the border to force a third game back in Los Angeles.

The ‘Caps were rampant from the first whistle and took a two-goal lead thanks to two goals in three minutes, the second of which was the first of LAFC’s two own goals that night.

Ryan Gauld was pulling the strings for the home team all night, and perhaps should have put Vancouver more than two goals ahead at the break.

While the visitors created an avalanche of opportunities to close the gap and turn things around, an own goal by Eddie Segura just after the hour put Vancouver three clear and eased their navigation into the third and decisive game of the series.

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Houston Dynamo 1-1 Seattle Sounders (Seattle advances on penalties)

Scorers: Roldán 86′; Roldán (OG) 90+3′

Seattle Sounders ousted Houston from the MLS Cup Playoffs after winning a second consecutive penalty shootout against the Dynamo.

Just like in the first game of the series, quality attacking moves were a rare sight in Houston on Sunday night.

The first drama didn’t come until after the hour mark, when experienced Houston midfielder Héctor Herrera was sent off for appearing to spit at the referee.

With the numerical advantage, Seattle took control and finally found what they believed would be a dramatic winner through Cristian Roldán, who fired in from inside the box after a well-worked team move down the left flank.

But the drama didn’t stop there. The 10-man Dynamo pushed to find an equaliser, and did so in stoppage time when Cristian Roldán went up and down, putting the ball into his own goal after a dangerous cross. And with that, the game went to penalties.

Both teams were clinical with their spot kicks and it took until the seventh round in the shootout for Stefan Frei to make a great save on Tate Schmidt to send Seattle to the next round.

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New York Red Bulls 2-2 Columbus Crew (NYRB advances on penalties)

Scorers: Vanzeir 64′, Forsberg 80′ (P); Arfsten 55′, Ramírez 90+7′

The Crew looked eager to get back into the series from the start and pushed hard for the first goal in the first half, but luck was not on their side. The reigning champions saw two shots hit the post in a matter of seconds in the final minutes of the half.

However, after the break, super substitute Max Arfsten made a big impact when he scored just minutes into the match to give the visitors the lead, but that lead did not last long as the Red Bulls responded through Dante Vanzeir. in less than 10 minutes. later.

The Red Bull Arena was disrupted again in the final 15 minutes when a Red Bull player was brought down in the box by veteran defender Rudy Camacho. Emil Forsberg stepped up and shot the penalty to give the hosts the lead with just over 10 minutes remaining, putting the champions on the ropes.

The Crew pushed for an equalizer in injury time, and were rewarded for their efforts when Christian Ramirez shocked the home crowd with a headed goal in the 7th minute of injury time to send the game to penalties.

There was more drama in the shooting. Both John Toljin and Yevhen Cheberko saw their efforts saved for their respective teams, but misses from Max Arftsen and Alexandru Mățan deep in the penalty shootout saw the champions go down.

The Red Bulls’ victory represents the first true upset in the MLS Cup Playoffs this season.