Major League Soccer dubbed the last day of the regular season “Decision Day” for good reason.
With 10 matches in the span of some four hours, there were six playoff spots still up for grabs, as well as two knockout-round byes, and the Supporters’ Shield winner still to be decided.
The Eastern Conference playoff field was set following Sunday’s early matches. Toronto FC benefited from an expanded postseason field, earning the sixth and final playoff spot in the conference. It is the team’s first trip to the playoffs in nine years.
Ethan Finlay scored twice and the Columbus Crew routed visiting D.C. United 5-0 on Sunday to secure second place and a knockout-round bye.
The Montreal Impact beat Toronto 2-1, with Didier Drogba scoring twice inside a minute early in the second half, to earn the third seed. The two teams will meet again in the knockout round on Thursday in Montreal.
New England earned a spot as the fifth seed with a 3-1 victory over New York City FC. The Revolution will play fourth-seeded United on Wednesday at RFK Stadium.
Expansion Orlando City FC fell 1-0 at Philadelphia. The Lions went into the game with a very slight chance to make the playoffs, but they needed New England to lose while making up an eight-goal differential.
The New York Red Bulls, playing in a later match at Chicago, had already secured a playoff berth in September and were guaranteed the top seed in the East regardless of the outcome of the regular-season finale.
But the Red Bulls were still wrestling with FC Dallas for the Supporters’ Shield when the day started, and won the award for league’s best overall record with a 2-1 victory over the Fire.
Dallas, which had secured the top seed in the West, defeated San Jose 2-1 to knock the Earthquakes out of the playoffs.
The Vancouver Whitecaps also earned a knockout-round bye with a 3-1 victory over Houston.
Darlington Nagbe scored twice for the Portland, which defeated Colorado 4-1 to finish in third place. The Timbers will host sixth-place Sporting Kansas City on Thursday night.
Kansas City edged Los Angeles 2-1, sending the fifth-seeded Galaxy to fourth-seeded Seattle for a knockout match on Wednesday night. The Sounders beat Real Salt Lake 3-1.
The winners of the knockout-round matches go on to face the top seeds in a two-legged playoff.
The Decision Day games were clustered together with just two starting times — 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. EDT — for the first time.
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