Western Conference playoff picture still muddled after Saturday's matches
Results on Saturday did little to clear the air in MLS' Western Conference playoff race.
Saturday could have been moving day in the Western Conference in some respects. Two big showdowns, one between the San Jose Earthquakes and Vancouver Whitecaps, and another featuring the Portland Timbers and Sporting Kansas City, could well have cleared up the playoff picture out West.
As it happened, the two matches left things as muddled as ever.
A 1-1 draw between San Jose and Vancouver was not the result either side would have been hoping for. Vancouver missed the chance to jump back to the top of the West standings. Now, after 31 games played each, the Whitecaps trail the LA Galaxy by a point. For San Jose, a win would have pulled the club level with the Seattle Sounders on points, but the draw leaves the Earthquakes chasing the Sounders, with Seattle - for one day - holding a game in hand.
In the other match, Sporting Kansas City did its part, taking a 1-0 win over the Timbers. Three points jumped SKC over Seattle and FC Dallas in the table, and pulled the club to within one point of the Whitecaps, and just two points back of the Galaxy and the top seed in the West. Had the result gone the other way, Portland would have been in a much more comfortable situation, but as it stands the club is in very real danger of missing out on the playoffs, despite holding a game in hand on both San Jose and the Houston Dynamo, the two teams also fighting for that final playoff spot.
The results also make the three Western Conference clashes on Sunday all the more interesting. Colorado, the bottom team in the West, may have a part to play. Taking on Real Salt Lake, the Rapids have a chance to play the spoiler to RSL's season. Salt Lake sits six points back of the final playoff spot in the West and would effectively out of the playoff race with a loss.
Sunday's other two games involve four teams with it all to play for, starting with the Texas derby match between FC Dallas and the Houston Dynamo.
Should FC Dallas take all three points in that match, the club would be well on pace to claim the top spot in the West. Having played just 29 matches, FCD has at least one game in hand on every team in the conference and sits just three points back of the Galaxy and first place.
For the Galaxy, a trip to Seattle Sunday looms large.
The Sounders are coming off a draw in Kansas City, and will be without their two starting center backs, but could close the gap on the Galaxy to just one point with a win.
Should Sunday's results go one way, with Dallas and Seattle both winning, the top five spots in the Western Conference would be seperated by just two points.
A loss by FC Dallas, coupled with a Seattle win, would leave that gap at just three points, and would leave three teams tied on 44 points in sixth place.
Wins for Toronto FC and the New York Red Bulls on Saturday left the Eastern Conference playoff race a bit more settled. Toronto moved to 46 points, five points clear of the playoff line with a game in hand on seventh place Orlando City. The Red Bulls also look like the odd-on favorites to finish top of the East, with the club sitting three points clear of second-place DC United and holding two games in hand.
The New England Revolution took a tough 3-1 loss to the Chicago Fire, but still look like a good bet for the playoffs with 47 points from 32 games played. Orlando City was the big winner in the East on Saturday, taking a 2-1 win over the Montreal Impact to make the race for sixth a bit more interesting. Montreal now holds just a one-point advantage, but still has two games in hand on Orlando as the expansion club chases that final playoff place.