FC Dallas defeated the Houston Dynamo by a score of 1-0 in their first leg match at Pizza Hut Park. It was Dallas’s first victory  over the defending champions in 5 tries this season. The Dynamo came on strong in the second half and came very close to drawing even but were unable to break through. Dario Sala made 4 top of the line saves  in order to help secure the points for the home side. Dwayne De Rosario had a big match in a losing cause for the visitors. The Dynamo were done in by poor performances from their two strikers Brian Ching and Joseph Ngwenya.

Red Bull New York were held to a 0-0 draw in the first leg of their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the New England Revolution. Despite having the better of the run of play throughout the match and especially in the first half, Bruce Arena’s boys were unable to break down the Revs defensive scheme. Arena had started this match with what for him is a very adventurous formation that included three strikers in Juan Pablo Angel, Francis Doe and Josmer Altidore. At times during the first half it really looked as if this this attacking formation would pay off but things remained deadlocked heading into the break.

The Chicago Fire won a match that they absolutely had to have when they defeated DC United by a score of 1-0 at Toyota Park. The victory means that a draw away in the second leg  at RFK Stadium would see Chicago through to the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Fire also continued their superb play against DC in head to head playoff matches.  Having played 6 times to date they have won 5 times and drawn once.  Manager Juan Carlos Osorio had his club extremely well prepared and they put together an almost perfect tactical plan to obtain the victory. Chris Rolfe played a huge part in helping the plan work by providing a vital goal before the 15 minute mark that allowed the home side to settle down and play with focus. 

The Chicago Fire host DC United as the first round of the playoffs gets underway at Toyota Park.  It’s a tough match up for the Fire as they finished the season as the 4^th  seed in the Eastern Conference and have been drawn against the top seed in MLS. Still, there are a number of good signs for Juan Carlos Osorio’s side as they prepare to do battle with the best the MLS has to offer. With their victory in their final regular season match over the Los Angeles Galaxy they finished the season on an 8 match unbeaten run. Over that run they won 3 matches while drawing the remaining 5.

The Los Angeles Galaxy and Red Bull New York played to a 1-1 draw in their Round 29 match at the Home Depot Center. The match was extremely important to the Galaxy as they needed at least a draw to keep their playoff hopes alive. They had won 5 straight matches coming into this contest. As for New York, this match was pretty much a friendly as they have already clinched 3^rd place in the Eastern Conference and the result of this game would not affect their playoff seeding. The match was also notable for the fact that David Beckham made his first appearance in almost 7 weeks for Frank Yallop’s squad.

Week 29 in MLS is set to be a memorable one. The recent poor form of the Kansas City Wizards along with the recent 5 match winning streak of the Los Angeles Galaxy have resulted in 4 clubs vying for the last 2 open playoff spots. Normally the last week of the regular season is marked by games with little more riding on them than a friendly match. Instead, between the matches with direct playoff spots up for grabs and the matches with home field advantage and conference championships riding on them week 29  is filled with key games.

Chivas and the Hoops played to a scoreless draw in their Round 28 match at Pizza Hut Park.  The visitors had a lot more riding on this result as they were looking to secure first place in the Western Conference and the home field advantage in the playoffs that comes with it. The point allows them to stretch their lead over the second place Houston Dynamo to 4 points with just 2 matches remaining. This puts the onus entirely on the Dynamo to have to win each of their last two matches just to have the smallest chance of catching Chivas. Meanwhile the Hoops are pretty much set in the 5^th position of the playoff table as they are 4 points behind 4^th place Houston and 5 ahead of 6^th place Red Bull New York.

This week’s Thursday night match will feature two clubs that have already qualified for the post season in FC Dallas and Chivas USA. The Hoops return home to Pizza Hut Park after a strong performance on the road against the Columbus Crew which saw them run out 3-1 winners. Abe Thompson came up a with a superb performance which featured 2 goals and he was selected as the MLS player of the week for his effort. With Guatemalan international Carlos Ruiz still out for a second straight match due to suspension and Kenny Cooper still recovering from a fractured tibia, Thompson should be in the starting eleven for the second straight week. Steve Morrow’s club are currently in 3^rd place  of the Western Conference standings with 43 points.

The game on Saturday repeated the scenario which the Crew supporters are all too familiar with these days. Columbus had opened up the match playing very good, attacking soccer but they were unable to score more than one goal. Sure they were without their top play maker, Guillermo Barros-Schelotto of Argentina who was out with a hamstring injury, but Robbie Rogers, Alejandro Moreno and Andy Herron were sharp as the Crew produced an impressive  25 shots at goal for the match. However, it’s always something with Columbus and this week they ran into a rookie goal keeper in Ray Burse who was absolutely superb in the net. His 8 saves coupled with the Hoops early equalizer through Arturo Alvarez in the second half helped take the wind out of the Crew’s sails. With time running out head coach Sigi Schmid  gambled and sent on the aforementioned Barros-Schelotto in hopes of finding some magic in the final moments. Instead, the all out attack played right into the hands of the visitors who were playing for the counter attack. Ricardinho and Abe Thompson would combine to produce 2 goals over the final 4 minutes to clinch a playoff spot for Dallas.

Though the top spots are mostly set for the upcoming MLS Cup playoffs, there are some very interesting battles brewing on the bottom end of the standings. For the first time in a few years, there is an actual race to be had for the final position.