New York City FC and the Portland Timbers were convincing in their Round 1 victories, and their rewards are dates with Major League Soccer’s 2021 conference champions: the New England Revolution and Colorado Rapids. The opening salvo of the MLS Cup playoffs contained its fair share of drama as well, none more so than when Jakob Glesnes struck an improbable long-distance volley in the 123rd minute to secure the Philadelphia Union’s place in the elite eight.
And who could have predicted that the Seattle Sounders, finalist in four of the past five MLS Cups, would be knocked out by the former club of assistant coach Freddy Juarez? Real Salt Lake’s advancement was more entertaining than the wins of Nashville SC and Sporting Kansas City, despite registering zero shots across 120 minutes, but does that mean they’ll have the edge over the latter in their second-round meeting on Sunday?
ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura, Caitlin Murray, Dan Hajducky and Austin Lindberg preview all four conference semifinal matchups, predicting which clubs will be moving on to the final four and whose players will be watching the rest of the postseason from far-flung beach resorts.
Jump to: New England-NYCFC | Philadelphia-Nashville | Colorado-Portland | Sporting KC-RSL
Eastern Conference
Twenty-three days will have passed between the last time the Revs took to the pitch in anger and when they’ll play their first postseason game. Three-plus weeks is a long layoff, and would typically raise questions of rustiness when coming up against an opponent who’s already playoff tested, but in this particular instance, New England can be thankful for the rest.
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Striker Adam Buksa missed the club’s final game of the regular season with a foot injury, but is expected to be fit enough to face NYCFC on Tuesday. The 25-year-old Poland…
Source : espn
