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New York Red Bulls went down 3-2 to Chicago on Wednesday.
New York Red Bulls went down 3-2 to Chicago on Wednesday. Photograph: Robin Alam/ISI/Corbis
New York Red Bulls went down 3-2 to Chicago on Wednesday. Photograph: Robin Alam/ISI/Corbis

Red Bulls and DC United fight at the top, and Montreal Impact hope for better

This article is more than 8 years old

First plays second in the Eastern Conference; Montreal and Toronto hope to stoke their rivalry; it’s the California Clasico; and Seattle host Portland Timbers

New York Red Bulls and DC United square off in Atlantic Cup

The New York Red Bulls saw their six-game undefeated streak end this past midweek against – of course! – the last-placed Chicago Fire in a 3-2 loss. The game was notable for Ronald Zubar’s bizarre (and likely illegal) equalizer for the Red Bulls, from a corner dribbled towards the 18-yard-box by Sacha Kljestan after Lloyd Sam sneakily “played” the ball ahead of time – despite the referee failing to blow the whistle.

Had New York somehow found a way to win rather than let Kennedy Igboananike finish a little too easily past Luis Robles for the 73rd minute winner, New York would be heading to home to face DC with a good chance at overtaking their Atlantic Cup rivals for first place, while the rest of the Eastern Conference grumbled about the dodgy goal.

Instead, the surging Red Bulls will have to settle for the possibility of cutting DCU’s lead atop the East to two points with three games in hand. Despite failing to capitalize against the lowly Fire, New York are favourites against United. Ben Olsen’s team have struggled of late with two consecutive league losses, a 3-1 reverse against New York City FC and last weekend’s shock 0-2 home loss to the San Jose Earthquakes.

Olsen was blunt following the debacle against the Quakes, a game in which United took bags of shots but failed to truly trouble keeper David Bingham. “We should put them on goal. We should shoot them on goal. That would help a lot,” Olsen complained. They’ll need to do that at the very least if they want to restart their Supporters’ Shield bid in September.

Montreal Impact hope to put their rotten week behind them

Didier Drogba’s debut last Saturday aside, this hasn’t been a great week for the Montreal Impact.

Still clinging to the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference despite being tied on points with NYCFC and Orlando City, the Impact’s 0-1 loss against the Philadelphia Union last weekend echoed their other 0-1 home defeat against DC United three weeks ago, a game where their opponents’ only shot on goal produced the match-winner. Though the margins were slightly closer against Philly, Montreal still outshot them 16-7; some better finishing from Dominic Oduro might have taken some of the pressure off Drogba when he came on to hopeful applause in the 59th minute.

After that came Montreal’s 0-2 defeat (2-4 on aggregate) to the Vancouver Whitecaps in the second leg final of the Amway Canadian Championship. While fans of Canadian soccer missed out on the surreal prospect of Drogba competing for the fan-founded Voyageurs Cup after he stayed at home to nurse a “toe injury,” Montreal could have used him in a defeat marred by a second yellow to Victor Cabrera in the 30th minute.

Now, as part of MLS’ oh-so-organically-named “Heineken Rivalry Week, this weekend Montreal will travel to BMO Field to face Toronto FC, a club coming off a vital 5-0 home win against Orlando City. Though it’s a rivalry that has yet to touch the ferocity of its NHL counterpart – this isn’t quite the Leafs v the Canadiens – the sight of a media-unfriendly Drogba putting the sword to a team desperate to put playoff qualification beyond all doubt may change that.

San Jose Earthquakes host the LA Galaxy in Cali Clasico

It’s the California Clasico, and this season the game comes at a perfect moment for fans of both clubs and interested neutrals. San Jose are on a tear with three consecutive wins, their most recent two coming against ostensibly superior opponents in Sporting KC and DC United. Now the club is now tied on points with the struggling Seattle Sounders, though still below the red qualification line with one fewer victory. Los Angeles, meanwhile, are in first place on the back of four straight victories in MLS (five in all comps), with Giovani dos Santos – now with two goals and three assists in three league matches – playing the second-half season saviour role occupied last season by Landon Donovan.

Better still, the game is in Avaya Stadium, away from the fortress that is the StubHub Centre. The Quakes have already nicked one result against LA back when the Galaxy were a more uneven side, a 3-1 win. Now a reinvigorated team under coach Kinnear – with poacher Chris Wondolowski getting some help from the supporting cast – the Quakes should have no reason to fear their southern rivals.

Cascadia rivals on opposite trajectories

Oh, Seattle. There is little to add to this space that could not easily be copoed and pasted from the last place where the woes of Sigi Schmid’s club are discussed. Though a 4-0 win against Orlando City was for some a portent for change, the club followed that up with two losses, a 2-0 result against Real Salt Lake in MLS and a midweek 1-0 defeat to Club Olimpia of Honduras in theConcacaf Champions League.

The latter match, to be fair, involved travel and an unseasoned first team. “We obviously couldn’t bring along a lot of our top players,” Schmid explained, ones he’ll need rested when the club host Cascadia rivals the Portland Timbers at CenturyLink Field this weekend. The Timbers are sitting comfortably in fourth after a 2-2 draw with the Houston Dynamo last week, a game in which Portland’s 22-year old Designated Player Lucas Melano scored an equalizer, his first goal for the club and a sign, coach Caleb Porter hopes, of more to come.

With Seattle desperately clinging to the last playoff spot in the West, a win against Portland would bring the two clubs within two points of each other in a packed upper half of the table. The Timbers should be prepared for a raucous reception.

Philadelphia seek to put tough year behind them

This past week, to little fanfare, the Philadelphia Union announced that it had terminated the contract of Algerian goalkeeper Rais M’Bolhi “by mutual consent.” Signed last year by the Union after an impressive performance for his country in the 2014 World Cup, M’Bolhi was an unqualified disaster, benched indefinitely by coach Jim Curtin after a series of poor performances led Philadelphia to a disastrous start to this year’s campaign.

Though M’Bolhi became something of a scapegoat early on for the club’s struggles, he is also a symbol of what many fans felt was inept management from the club’s higher ups, including Nick Sakiewicz, CEO of the Union’s ownership group and himself a former goalkeeper. Now, nearly five months later, the club is still alive with a long shot chance at post-season qualification in the Eastern Conference as they host the New England Revolution.

While Philadelphia have understandably focused most of their efforts on next month’s US Open Cup final against Sporting KC, they have a chance this weekend to close the gap on the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. It won’t be easy: New England are undefeated in their last four matches with three wins and a draw, but after a rough 2015 and a recent victory against Montreal, the Union are a team with nothing to lose.

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