Wayne Rooney

The MLS playoffs began Wednesday, on Halloween. Crowds were pretty pathetic. 

With the second pair of MLS Knockout Round matches on Thursday, attendance at Audi Field in Washington, D.C., and Banc of California Stadium in LA was just what you wanted it to be, with stadiums full of rowdy — perhaps too rowdy in LA. 

Major League Soccer’s Decision Day (the final match week of the regular season) came and went this past Sunday and served as the perfect precursor to the main event: we have absolutely no idea how this’ll all pan out. You’ll find our how to watch MLS Playoffs 2018 and a knockout round preview below. 

Wayne Rooney’s time at DC United has been, to put it bluntly, special. The club’s season has done a 180 since his debut in mid-July. Before Rooney (the “BR/AR” era should certainly be a way of measuring time from now on if you’re a DC soccer or general MLS fan), DC United was having a season to forget. Now, just last week they secured a playoff spot.

The ridiculous transformation that D.C. United’s experienced since the arrival of Wayne Rooney reached a fitting conclusion today with a 3-1 victory over New York City FC and a berth in the 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs. Rooney scored twice for United and strike partner Luciano Acosta was also on the scoresheet before David Villa struck a late consolation goal on a celebratory day at Audi Field.

D.C. United’s unlikely push for an Eastern Conference MLS Playoff place — inspired by the arrival of Wayne Rooney — continued apace tonight with a match against reigning champs Toronto FC (although the Reds have already been eliminated from playoff contention).

In the 18th minute, United took the lead thanks to Rooney’s monster free kick from long-range. It was the Englishman’s 10th goal in 18 MLS appearances this season to go along with six assists. 

Wayne. Freaking. Rooney.