Soccer Betting Preview: MLS Cup Playoffs Down to Final Four
There will be a new Soccer Betting MLS Cup champion this season as the New York Red Bulls took out the defending champion Houston Dynamo, winning 3-0 on Sunday. Dane Richards had a goal and an assist to lead the Red Bulls. New York tied the Dynamo 1-1 in the first leg so the winner of Sunday’s game advanced. New York will now play Real Salt Lake in the MLS Cup semifinals on Saturday. It is the second time that New York will have advanced to the Conference finals.
There will also be a new runner-up this season as the New England Revolution lost to the Chicago Fire. The Fire defeated New England 3-0 to advance to the conference finals. “It’s a big relief,” Fire coach Denis Hamlett said. “These are the guys that have knocked us out of the playoffs — I keep losing track of how many years.” New England had knocked out Chicago the last three seasons. “It was huge,” said Justin Mapp, “For most of the time I’ve been here, we’ve ended up playing them and, more often not, they’ve knocked us out.” New England was playing without Steve Ralston, who led the team in goals and assists and without Taylor Twellman who had tied for the team lead in goals. Chicago will now travel to Columbus in the Conference final.
Brad Evans and Robbie Rogers scored as Columbus took out Kansas City 2-0 on Saturday. The teams had tied 1-1 in the first leg. Evans’ goal came in the seventh minute. “It took a fortunate bounce and actually bounced really high,” Evans said. “I kind of got lucky in that sense.” Rogers scored in the 57th minute. “We scored two timely goals. We were able to exploit the space behind the defense,” said Crew coach Sigi Schmid. “That’s something I was very pleased with.” Columbus had the league’s best record with 57 points and will be favored over Chicago. Columbus will be appearing in their fifth MLS Cup semifinal match. They have never made it to a Soccer Betting MLS Cup final in their history.
The other match on Saturday had Real Salt Lake playing to a 2-2 tie with Chivas USA and advancing 3-2 on aggregate since they won the first leg 1-0. Dema Kovalenko and Javier Morales scored for Real Salt Lake.
