FRISCO - It’s a post-season defining week around MLS with 16 teams, including FC Dallas, in action Wednesday night in a double-match week before the international window next weekend. By week’s end, every team will have just two or three games remaining in their 2017 regular season campaign.
Vancouver jumped to the top spot in the West with a 2-1 win over the Colorado Rapids on Saturday, while Portland jumped into a tie for second place by virtue of a 3-0 win against Orlando and Sporting KC did not let Wednesday night’s U.S. Open Cup party spoil business at-hand with a 2-1 win over the LA Galaxy, to also pull to 47 points.
Seattle dropped a 2-0 result to RSL to drop to fourth place, with Salt Lake surging to the fifth spot with wins in five of their last seven matches - something that does not help FC Dallas’ hopes in the playoff race. More on that in a minute.
San Jose dropped a 4-0 result to Patrick Mullins..I mean DC United on the forward notched all four goals in the span of 31 minutes in the second half. Houston rallied late to earn a 1-1 draw against NYCFC and a crucial point to stay tied for the final spot.
Dallas’ loss in Minnesota leaves them at 38 points for another week, just one point below the playoff line, but needing to act fast in a battle for essentially the final two playoff seeds.
What to Watch For
Houston take on the Galaxy Wednesday and Minnesota Saturday at home, San Jose hosts Chicago and Portland on the same nights and Real Salt Lake play a single match against LA Saturday. These are the three teams that FCD is battling for the postseason. A case could be made that Seattle, who seem to be on a downward trend themselves could come into play as well, but with a three-point cushion on fourth place, they’d have to drop points against Vancouver Wednesday and in Philadelphia Sunday before they factor in.
Regardless of what happens around them, FC Dallas have to start earning points of their own beginning Wednesday night against Colorado.
