Wild Card, baby. Yeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhaaawwwww
In the Eastern Conference, the New York Red Bulls (8) take on Charlotte FC (9) at 7:30 pm ET on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV. In the West, Sporting Kansas City (8) host the San Jose Earthquakes (9) at 9:30 pm ET on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV. Loser goes home. Winner moves on to Round One. Happy playoffs, y’all.
Galaxy part ways with Acosta
The LA Galaxy have opened a Designated Player roster spot for the 2024 MLS season, announcing Monday winger Douglas Costa and the club have parted ways. The former Brazil international was only under contract through 2023. With Chicharito reportedly out of contract, the Galaxy could have multiple Designated Player spots to fill this offseason.
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We’ve looked into the future. And the other future. And the other one too. And the other other one.
Great news. Your team won tonight’s Wild Card game. Here’s how they did it.
San Jose Earthquakes won because…
Cristian Espinoza put on a show, didn’t he? The Quakes were never going to slow down SKC entirely, but they always had a chance to go punch-for-punch in attack if Espinoza and Jeremy Ebobisse came up big. Both of the Quakes’ stars did just that against a team that still has a few fatal flaws defensively.
The Quakes' excellent attacking performance didn’t come out of nowhere. We know how good Espinoza and Ebobisse can be at their best. But their best hasn’t been the norm as of late. San Jose came into the night having scored exactly one goal in each of their last five games. Yikes.
In fact, San Jose came into this one having scored multiple goals just twice in the 11 games since Leagues Cup. That included a 3-0 shutout loss to this same Sporting team. Single-elimination games don’t always follow the established rules, though. They’re dice rolls at their core and San Jose put themselves in position to catch a few breaks. Throw in solid performances from Matthew Hoppe and Carlos Gruezo in midfield, add in some missed chances for SKC, and you have a formula that explains why tonight belonged to the Quakes.
Charlotte FC won because…
King Karol did the dang thing, didn’t he? You don’t get many opportunities against the Red Bulls in a normal year. This year, they limited opponents’ chances at an elite rate. However, there’s always the opportunity to break through the press and earn one or two high-probability chances in front of goal. It might be the only two chances you get all night, but you can put this New York side in a bad spot quickly if you take full advantage of those opportunities.
Fortunately for Charlotte, both of those chances fell to Karol Swiderski. He’s been the only truly effective attacking force for this team since their inception, and it felt like it had to be him if it was going to be anybody. He proved tonight why having a match-winning-caliber player in attack is so critical in the playoffs. Once the Red Bulls went down they had no one to turn to.
Same as it ever was for a New York team that struggled at an almost comically high rate to finish chances this season. All it really took was one goal from Charlotte, and that was that.
Sporting KC won because…
It all felt like a heavy favorite taking care of business, didn’t it? Sporting KC have been one of (maybe the) best teams in the West for a while now and came into the playoffs with a ton of momentum after a big win against Minnesota on Saturday. San Jose had been sputtering for a while and coasted their empty car into a gas station on Decision Day with a 1-1 draw against Austin that looked like a match where neither team really wanted to play soccer that day.
Johnny Russell got things going early in attack thanks to an assist from Alan Pulido, and SKC were off and running from that point. They had too much firepower and a notable advantage in playoff-necessary vibes for San Jose to even feel like they were in this. St. Louis are about to have their hands full and then some as Round One begins.
Like, really, really full. Matt Doyle ran the numbers, and since DPs Alan Pulido and Gadi Kinda got back into the lineup in early May, this group has earned 1.71 points per game, the best mark in the West. A rough start to the season means they’ll only have one more game left at Children’s Mercy Park. But this team is dangerous. Even on the road.
New York Red Bulls won because…
It felt from the jump like it would just take one goal, didn’t it? Fortunately for the Red Bulls, [insert Red Bull player name drawn from a hat here] eventually stepped up. At that point, Charlotte had no chance at finding the net. They looked overwhelmed against New York’s press all night.
That’s nothing to be ashamed of. Plenty of teams have struggled to find chances this year against New York. They were the best team in the East by expected goals allowed this season. And they actually created chances at a decent rate, too. They finished the season fifth in the conference in expected goals created. Just 2.5 total xG behind a vaunted Atlanta United attack. They just needed literally anyone to finish one of those chances. Literally anyone. Please someone finish a chance.
They got it tonight from [Red Bull McRedBullFace]. If they just get one goal a game from here on out, they have a genuine chance to win a match or two against Cincy. That feels like a big ask, but it’s totally plausible. Maybe even more likely now that they have a ton of momentum after two straight big wins.
- Jonathan Sigal explained
- Matt Doyle took a look at what could decide tonight’s Wild Card games.
- Jaime Uribarri picked out six MLS Cup dark horses.
- Joe Lowery looked at which teams
- Charlotte FC said they’re "not fearing anyone" before their Audi MLS Cup Playoffs debut.
- Sporting KC are riding a ton of momentum into their Wild Card matchup against San Jose.
- Are the Red Bulls playing for revenge?
- One last time this year: Power Rankings.
Good luck out there. Stand out in the crowd.
