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The 2018 MLS Cup will take place at 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday, Dec. 8. The match will be broadcast in more than 170 countries, according to a statement released Wednesday by Major League Soccer.
FOX will broadcast the final nationally, UniMas will be the Spanish-language broadcaster and in Canada, the game will air in English on TSN and in French on TVA Sports. All playoff matches will also be broadcast nationally across various networks.
The MLS regular season ends Oct. 28, and the top six teams in both the Eastern and Western Conferences will advance to the postseason, which begins Oct. 31 with a single-elimination Knockout Round.
Following the Knockout Round, the Eastern and Western Conference two-game semifinals will be played Nov. 4 and 11. There will be four games each date of the home-and-home series, and two teams from each conference will advance.
The Conference Championships will follow a similar format, with doubleheaders Nov. 25 and 29. Conference champions will play each other for the MLS Cup at the home venue of the finalist with the best regular-season record.
Last year, Eastern Conference champion Toronto FC beat the Western Conference champ Seattle Sounders to hoist the MLS Cup trophy. The Sounders beat Toronto in the 2016 final.
Here is the full 2018 MLS playoff schedule:
Knockout Round
(Conference third seed vs. sixth seed, and fourth seed vs. fifth seed in a single-game elimination match)
Eastern & Western Conference Knockout Round
** UniMás will broadcast all four Knockout Round matches. ESPN2 and FS1 will each broadcast one of the four Knockout Round matches.
Conference Semifinal Series
(Two-game series, aggregate-goal, home-and-home format between conference top seed vs. lowest advancing seed from Knockout Round and conference second seed vs. highest seed from Knockout Round)
Eastern & Western Conference Semifinal Leg 1 (hosted by lower-seeded teams)
Eastern & Western Conference Semifinal Leg 2 (hosted by higher-seeded teams)
Sunday, Nov. 11 — Four Games, Times TBD (two games each on ESPN/ESPN Deportes and FS1/ FOX Deportes)Conference Championship Series
(Two-game series, aggregate-goal, home-and-home format)
Conference Championship Leg 1 (hosted by lower-seeded teams)
Conference Championships Leg 2 (hosted by higher-seeded teams)
Thursday, Nov. 29 — Two Games, Times TBD (one game each on ESPN/ESPN Deportes and FS1/ FOX Deportes)2018 MLS Cup
(Hosted at the home venue of finalist with best regular-season record)
Saturday, Dec. 8 — 7:30 p.m. ET (FOX, UniMás, TSN, TVA Sports)
The post MLS Cup playoff schedule released appeared first on Pro Soccer USA.
Original author: Alicia DelGallo, Pro Soccer USA
Week 27 in Major League Soccer is in the books and what a strange one it was. All three of the top teams in the Supporters’ Shield race — Atlanta United, New York Red Bulls and New York City FC — lost.
Meanwhile, the Seattle Sounders, Philadelphia Union and Vancouver Whitecaps continued lengthy unbeaten streaks.
The Major League Soccer Power Rankings are created by averaging the rankings submitted by a committee of Pro Soccer USA’s editor and writers.
(1) Atlanta United (16-5-6, 54 points): A seven-match unbeaten streak went up in smoke Sunday night, courtesy of a 3-1 loss to D.C. United. It was an opportunity to jump back in front in the Shield race squandered. (2) New York Red Bulls (17-7-4, 55 points): It took the finale of a brutal stretch of five matches in 15 days to make the Red Bulls look tired. Montreal capitalized, scoring twice off set pieces en route to a 3-0 home win. On a positive, the Red Bulls became the first team to clinch a playoff berth. (5) FC Dallas (14-6-7, 49 points): FC Dallas didn’t just win El Capitán, they also moved above New York City FC in the Shield race with a 4-2 win over the Houston Dynamo. Santiago Mosquera struck for a brace. (3) Sporting Kansas City (13-7-6, 45 points): After winning four straight games without conceding a goal, SKC dropped a 3-1 decision to red-hot Seattle Saturday at CenturyLink Field. Diego Rubio scored the lone goal. (7) Seattle Sounders FC (12-9-5, 41 points): Raul Ruidiaz leveled 10 minutes after Diego Rubio’s opener and four minutes after a Graham Zusi own goal, Nicolas Lodeiro scored from the penalty spot in a 3-1 win that extended the Sounders winning streak to eight games. (6) Los Angeles Football Club (13-7-7, 46 points): Clearly, father knows best. In a game pitting Bob Bradley’s LAFC against Toronto FC, captained by his son Michael Bradley, the visiting expansion side pulled out a 4-2 win. (4) New York City FC (14-7-6, 48 points): NYCFC lost for just the second time this season after scoring first and have now just won once in their last six games following a 2-1 defeat at Columbus Saturday night. Just 4-7-3 away, NYCFC is 10-0-3 at home this season. (8) Columbus Crew SC (12-8-7, 43 points): Goals by Harrison Afful and Justin Meram two minutes apart helped lift Crew SC to a 2-1 win over NYCFC Saturday night at MAPFRE Stadium. (9) Philadelphia Union (12-11-4, 40 points): The Union are now five matches without a loss, but a Scott Sutter stoppage time equalizer stung. Cory Burke and Fafa Picault scored for Philadelphia in a 2-2 draw with Orlando City. (11) Real Salt Lake (13-10-5, 44 points): RSL are absolutely rolling, extending a winning streak to three games and outscoring the opposition, 14-3, during that span. The latest result, a 6-2 home victory over LA Galaxy, was powered by a Damir Kreilach hat trick and an Albert Rusnak brace. (10) Portland Timbers (11-7-8, 41 points): Lawrence Olum leveled 12 minutes after Scott Caldwell put the Revolution in front as the Timbers rallied to earn a 1-1 draw at Gillette Stadium Saturday night. (12) D.C. United (8-11-6, 30 points): Luciano Acosta scored a brace and Wayne Rooney converted from the penalty spot as D.C. United defeated Atlanta United, 3-1, Sunday night for their most impressive win of the season (14) Montreal Impact (11-14-3, 36 points): Speaking of impressive victories, the Impact’s 3-0 defeat of the New York Red Bulls created a six-point gap above the playoff line for Montreal. Rod Fanni and Bacary Sagna scored their first MLS goals in an eight-minute span late in the first half. (15) Vancouver Whitecaps FC (11-9-7, 40 points): The ‘Caps are now unbeaten in six straight games following a 2-1 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes. Alphonso Davies and Nicolas Mezquida scored in each half (13) Toronto FC (7-14-6, 27 points): It’s now back-to-back losses for the defending champions following a 4-2 defeat to LAFC which may have just buried their chances of booking a playoff berth. (16) LA Galaxy (10-10-8, 38 points): The good news for the Galaxy was a goal by Jonathan dos Santos straight after kickoff gave them a 1-0 lead on the road. The bad news was the six goals conceded in a 6-2 defeat at Real Salt Lake, extending a winless streak to six games. (17) Houston Dynamo (7-13-7, 28 points): The Dynamo are now 10 games without a win and have lost seven of their last eight following a 4-2 defeat to FC Dallas in the third and final Texas Derby of the season. (18) Minnesota United (9-15-2, 29 points): The Loons had a bye on the weekend and will take a five-match winless streak, with four losses in those five games, to Audi Field to take on D.C. United on Sept. 12. (19) New England Revolution (7-10-9, 30 points): Another lead lost, another goal conceded off a set piece, another game without a win. That was the case for the Revs Saturday, a 1-1 draw with the Portland Timbers making it nine games since their last win. (21) Orlando City SC (7-16-3, 24 points): It’s pretty clear at this point the Lions will not play in the postseason, but there’s no quit in the squad, rallying to draw the Philadelphia Union at home Saturday. Scott Sutter leveled in stoppage time after Dom Dwyer put the hosts in front inside of 10 minutes. (20) Colorado Rapids (6-14-6, 24 points): The Rapids also had a bye in Week 27 and will return to action Saturday at Portland, trying to snap a three-match winless streak. (22) San Jose Earthquakes (4-15-8, 20 points): The Quakes have the dubious achievement of becoming the first team in MLS eliminated from playoff contention following a 2-1 loss to the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday. (23) Chicago Fire (6-15-6, 24 points): How do you reward a team that hasn’t win since June 30? Why, you send them to Germany of course. The Fire were in Munich for Bastian Schweinsteiger’s testimonial match.Pro Soccer USA writers Dylan Butler and Emily Olsen contributed to this report
The post MLS Power Rankings Week 27: FC Dallas move into top 3; NYCFC drop four spots appeared first on Pro Soccer USA.
Original author: Dylan Butler, Pro Soccer USA
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