MLS

Jimmy Maurer made seven saves through regulation and a 30-minute overtime, then had the only stop in an eight-round penalty shootout as FC Dallas upset host Portland following a 1-1 draw on a rainy Sunday night in the first round of Major League Soccer's Western Conference playoffs.

Dallas advanced to the next round while the Timbers, who captured the MLS is Back Tournament earlier this summer, were eliminated. Dallas will play the winner of Tuesday's game between Los Angeles FC and Seattle.

There’s a growing feeling that the 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs might represent a watershed moment in pure, uncut sporting mayhem.

What the actual fuck just happened? Orlando City beat NYCFC in a shootout in the first round of the MLS Cup Playoffs. We already wrote a story about the first 120 minutes of the match, which included some despicable play from Orlando’s Ruan, but the shootout was such madness it deserves its own write-up.

It didn’t take long for the MLS Cup Playoffs to heat up. Leave it to Florida to get this crazy party started.

While the playoffs technically started Friday with a couple of play-in games, the first round began Saturday with an afternoon clash between Orlando City and NYCFC in Orlando. 

Randall Leal and Hany Mukhtar scored 10 minutes apart in the first half and Dax McCarty added some second-half insurance as host Nashville SC rolled to a 3-0 win over Inter Miami on Friday night in an MLS Eastern Conference postseason play-in game.

In a matchup of expansion sides, it was all Nashville, which finished seventh in the Eastern Conference during a uniquely memorable first season in the league. Miami, meanwhile, saw its special season come to an end while playing short-handed after claiming the 10th and final playoff spot in the East.

We’re still well over a year away from even seeing Angel City take the pitch, but the NWSL club might already be the most popular team in the league. Now we know where they’ll be playing their games and who will be footing some of the tab.

The latest meeting between the Montreal Impact and the New England Revolution will carry the highest stakes yet when the Revolution host the Impact on Friday in a winner-take-all MLS Cup Playoffs play-in game.

Due to the pandemic-influenced nature of the 2020 MLS schedule, the Impact and Revolution played four times at four different venues during the regular season. The Revolution went 3-1-0, winning each of the past three meetings.

The Seattle Sounders are slight favorites to repeat as MLS Cup champions, but several teams are considered strong contenders with the playoffs set to begin Friday.

The Sounders tied with Sporting Kansas City atop the Western Conference standings with 39 points, although Seattle played one more game. Sporting KC open the playoffs being offered at 8-1 to win the MLS Cup by SportsBetting.com.

Los Angeles FC star Diego Rossi tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss the team's playoff game against the Seattle Sounders.

The forward was tested following Uruguay's loss to Brazil in a World Cup qualifier on Tuesday. He did not appear in the game.

Rossi is the third LAFC player to test positive while playing with his national team in the past week. Midfielder Jose Cifuentes and defender Diego Palacios, members of Ecuador's team, also tested positive and likely will miss the playoff opener on Nov. 24 in Seattle, the Los Angeles Times reported.