Timbers beat RSL 3-1, clinch home field in first round
SANDY, Utah (AP) — Sebastian Blanco scored two goals and the Portland Timbers beat Real Salt Lake 3-1 on Wednesday night to clinch home field for the first round of the playoffs.
Blanco put in a header in the 17th minute and scored on a give-and-go with Jaroslaw Niezgoda to finish a counter attack just before halftime. In between, Blanco centered the ball with pace that went off Aaron Herrera for an own goal.
With the season ending Sunday, Portland (16-13-4) is locked into the fourth seed in the Western Conference.
Salt Lake (13-14-6) could have clinched a playoff spot, but only managed a penalty-kick goal by Albert Rusnak, his career-high 11th, in the closing minutes.
ATLANTA UNITED 0, RED BULLS 0, TIe
HARRISON, N.J. (AP) — Bradley Guzan made three saves to help Atlanta United tie New York.
A win by either Atlanta or New York would have secured their spot in the postseason. With the draw, Nashville and Philadelphia each clinched a top-four seed in the Eastern Conference, and will host their first playoff matches.
Atlanta (12-9-12), which extended its undefeated run to five games, will play last-place Cincinnati in a regular-season finale on Sunday. New York (13-12-8), which has never lost to Atlanta in 10 meetings, will play Nashville on Sunday.
New York was without head coach Gerhard Struber after he was was suspended due to yellow card accumulation. Assistant coaches Bradley Carnell and Bernd Eibler managed the match in Struber’s absence.
AUSTIN 3, SPORTING KANSAS CITY 1
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Sebastian Driussi scored on a wide-open header 30 seconds into the game and Austin went on to beat Sporting Kansas City.
Jared Stroud assisted on the first goal and scored the third as expansion Austin (9-20-4) kept Kansas City (17-9-7) from controlling its own destiny in the battle for the top seed in the Western Conference. Seattle has a one-point lead heading into Sunday’s season-ending games.
Julio Cascante scored on a header in the 22nd minute to put Austin on top and Stroud scored his first MSL goal in the 60th minute. Johnny Russell converted a header for Kanas City in the 65th minute, extending his points streak to 10 games.
MONTREAL 2, DYNAMO 0
MONTREAL (AP) — Rudy Camacho and Kamal Miller scored and Montreal beat Houston to keep its playoff hopes alive.
Montreal (12-11-10) will face sixth-place Orlando City, two points ahead of eighth-place Montreal in the Eastern Conference, on Sunday in the regular-season finale.
Houston dropped to 6-16-12.