Well, that’s it for another season, ladies and gentlemen. We are without any MLS action until February 22nd 2025 when the new season will start with 30 teams in contention instead of 29, as the latest expansion club, San Diego FC joins the league.
Looking back at the 2024 postseason, and it had plenty of upsets and drama to keep fans entertained – or perhaps massively disappointed, especially for Columbus Crew supporters.
For LA Galaxy though, the 2024 playoffs ended in a historic 6th MLS Cup win. They did it without Riqui Puig for the final match too.
But what of the other teams that made it to the playoffs? What of Inter Miami who were expected to do so much better? What of Atlanta who were just happy to be there and ended up in the Conference Semi Finals? And what of the New York Red Bulls, who must be wondering if they will ever get their hands on the MLS Cup?
Here’s a look back at the 2024 post season.
Knocked Out in Round 1
I’m going to skip the wild card round. CF Montreal were unlucky to lose on penalties to Atlanta, although it’s unlikely they would have managed to cause the same amount of upset as the 5 Stripes had they made it through to Round 1. The Vancouver Whitecaps gave the Portland Timbers an absolute pasting, winning 5-0 in a contest hardly deserving of the name.
There we go. Done. Now, let’s look at the teams knocked out in Round 1.
Inter Miami
After finishing 8 points clear in the Supporter’s Shield standings, Miami were officially the best performing team of 2024. They were a little more vulnerable than their closest competitors at the back though, with 49 goals conceded, but ya know, Messi. So many people thought they could win the double.
Things started well. Miami dominated in the first game, ultimately winning 2-1 but they were denied by the woodwork on several occasions. The score line did not represent the performance, with Inter register 22 shots and 12 on goal compared to Atlanta’s 8 shots with just 2 on goal.
Game 2 was much more even and the stats showed it. Although Miami had more possession Atlanta registered more chances, finishing with a well earned 2-1 victory on home turf. Atlanta basically gave Miami their goal when their keeper fell over and it was 1-1 right up until the 94th minute when a series of quick short passes gave Silva an opening and he took it. A fantastic game.
There was some shocking defending in game 3 and it was 2-1 after 24 minutes with another goal disallowed. Things calmed down as the game progressed but another two goals went in, leaving it 3-2 to Atlanta at the final whistle. Inter Miami were out.
Charlotte FC
After a middling season Charlotte were one of those teams no one was really paying attention to in the playoffs. They finished in 11th place in the overall standings and 5th in the Eastern Conference.
Orlando City trounced them 2-0 in the first game without it ever really looking too difficult. However, Charlotte fought back in game 2 and held Orlando to a 0-0 draw. The game went to penalties and Charlotte took it 3-1.
Game 3 was another hard fought draw although Orlando did look more dangerous with Facundo Torres hitting the woodwork several times. It was Charlotte FC who scored first though, albeit in the 81st minute. This lit a fire under Orlando who pushed hard and were rewarded in the nick of time, equalising with a rebound from a saved penalty at 90+12. This forced another penalty shootout, at crushingly or Charlotte FC, they lost 4-1.
FC Cincinnati
As the 5th best performing club in the regular season, Cincinnati fans must have thought they had a decent shot at the MLS Cup.
They beat New York FC in the first game of Round 1 by a goal to nil, but it could easily have been more. A ludicrous red card was given against Tayvon Gray in the dying moments of the game too, keeping him out of game 2 and leaving a hole at right back for NYFC.
Despite this set back, New York comfortably beat Cincinnati in game 2. They were 1-0 ahead after 22 minutes and 2-0 ahead after 40 minutes. To be fair to Cincinnati they got unlucky at points and looked like they might come back after scoring in the second half, but a New York penalty in injury time put the game to bed.
Game 3 ended 0-0, and the penalty shootout was something else. All in all there were 7 saves or misses, 5 of them coming in a row. It looked like the coaches would have to step up to the spot it was going on that long. In the end New York ‘won’ it 6-5. A poor display all round though.
Columbus Crew
Another giant killing shock exit. Columbus Crew finished second in the Eastern Conference and in the Supporter’s Shield standings, so going out in Round 1 to the Red Bulls was unthinkable. They were the defending champions after all.
Their last game of the season was also against the Red Bulls, and they won it, but only just. It was a sign of things to come.
They dominated possession in game 1, but the Red Bulls always knew how to make the most of the possession they had. They scored the only goal of the game in the 24th minute and denied Columbus for the rest of the game.
It would go to penalties in game 2 after a dramatic final 15 minutes. It took 55 minutes for Columbus to find the net, but only 9 minutes more for the Red Bulls to equalize courtesy of Dante Vanzeir. A shocking tackle in the box by Camacho led to a penalty in the 80th and Forsberg put it away. Columbus Crew showed their quality though and pressed until the last second, equalizing at 90+6. The shootout was dramatic, but the Red Bulls won it 5-4.
The defending champions had been knocked out by massive underdogs in a two game sweep.
Vancouver Whitecaps
No one was expecting much from the Whitecaps after a quiet season, but their thrashing of the Timbers in the wild card round raised a few eyebrows.
They couldn’t repeat that form against LAFC though. The first game was actually fairly evenly matched as far as the stats are concerned, Vancouver were unlucky. They looked dangerous and narrowly missed out on goals while displaying solid defending too. Then they conceded an unlucky penalty which was scored in the 30th minute. They lost 2-1.
They won 3-0 on home soil in game 2, albeit thanks to 2 own goals, and went into game 3 full of confidence. This was a bit of a slog for both teams. Each had their chances but only LAFC managed to find the back of the net. The game finished 1-0 and the Vancouver Whitecaps were out. They probably deserved better.
Houston Dynamo
It was a misty day when Houston Dynamo met Seattle Sounders for the first game of Round 1, perhaps hat’s why no-one managed to score. Although both teams looked fairly evenly matched, it was the Seattle Sounders who looked more lively on the day registering far more shots than their opponents. Apart from a 10 man brawl in the second half which saw Carrasquilla sent off, the most exciting part of the game was the penalty shootout, which Seattle won 5-4.
It only took one more game for Houston’s playoff journey to end, and it was remarkably similar. Again the teams were evenly matched, although Houston looked a lot more threatening this time around. A terrible challenge by Herrarra recieved a yellow card, after which he spat on the ground towards the referee. This disgusting behaviour was rewarded with a red, and Herrarra was off, and in the exact same minute as Carrasquilla the game before.
The Sounders finally managed to score in the 87th minute but an own goal in injury time sent the match to penalties. The Sounders walked away victorious with a 7-6 score line, and to be honest, I don’t think anyone was sad to see the back of the Dynamo after their antics.
Real Salt Lake
Minnesota were the underdogs going into this match up and were probably slightly outplayed in game 1. They managed to hold Real Salt Lake to a 0-0 draw though, with Dayne St Clair deserving much of the credit. and won the penalty shoot out 5-4. The America First Stadium looked half empty, but the noise from the crowd was immense.
Game two would end in penalties too, but not before two goals were scored. Minnesota drew first blood thanks to Rosales, but Real Salt Lake had a goal narrowly disallowed for offside a little earlier. They were certainly dangerous around the box, and that paid of in the 71st minute when Emeka Eneli threaded his way through the defence to put one in. They had another goal disallowed for offside in the death, and the final whistle blew with the score 1-1.
Real Salt Like had a nightmare penalty shootout. One miss and two saves by St Clair saw them sailing out of the playoffs.
Colorado Rapids
Colorado suffered the most decisive defeat of Round 1.
LA Galaxy absolutely destroyed them, making the Rapids suffer through an embarrassing 5-0 mauling in Los Angeles. They only had one shot all game and it wasn’t even on goal.
They didn’t do much better in game 2, losing 4-1. They went 1-0 down after 8 minutes, and although they managed to pull one back and equalize in the 18th, the Galaxy ran away with the game scoring again just before half time and twice more during injury time.
Colorado Rapids did give a better account of themselves in the second fixture, but they never looked like progressing.
Knocked Out in Conference Semi Finals
The Conference Semi-Finals took place on the 23rd and 24th of November. There were no major surprises here – many of the biggest teams had already been unexpectedly knocked out in Round 1.
Atlanta United FC
It had been quite the post season for Atlanta United, but it would end here.
Orlando should have gone ahead in the 5th minute, how the ball stayed out of the net I will never understand. They kept punishing Atlanta though and put one past the keeper shortly before half time. It was the only goal of the game but they probably should have scored at least one more.
Atlanta had a go but most o the action took place towards their goal. It would have been a miracle if they pulled it back. Still, as the lowest ranked team in the playoffs this year they did themselves proud against some tough opposition.
New York City FC
The battle of New York.
This game might have been played at the Yankee Stadium but from the noise the Red Bulls fans were making you’d have thought they were at their own ground. They knew they were underdogs and they didn’t care.
The Red Bulls opened the scoring early in the 16th minute with an absolute screamer from Felipe Carballo. He hit it from well outside the box and it sailed into top of the net. They got a much messier second goal in the 24th minute and against all odds the Red Bulls were 2-0 up.
The score line remained unchanged for the rest of the match despite NYFC absolutely throwing shots at the Red Bulls keeper, but Carlos Coronel was like a brick wall. Nothing was getting past him. New York FC had 25 shots and 71% possession but could not recover from those early goals.
LAFC
They might have ranked 3rd in the Supporter’s Shield regular season standings, but LAFC would not make it past the Conference Semi Finals.
Their game against the Seattle Sounders was relatively quiet in the first half. A goal line scramble almost put them a goal behind but was eventually cleared off the line by Chanot. LA broke the deadlock early in the second half, but then Chanot undid his earlier good work by scoring a completely unnecessary own goal ten minutes later.
This was the only semi final game to go to extra time, and it’s fair to say that LAFC were fighting hardest. It was the Sounders who found the net though. It wasn’t pretty but it went in, and LA just couldn’t equalize however hard they tried.
Minnesota United FC
LA Galaxy continued on their goal fest with a 6-2 annihilation of Minnesota United, but it was one hell of a game. The best game of the playoffs for my money.
To be fair the the Loons they fought back as hard as they could, but the Galaxy dominated possession and were finishing their chances with clinical precision. They had seventeen shots overall, ten on target, and six of them went in. Minnesota on the other hand, had 12 shots and 6 on target, plus, one of their goals was a penalty.
LA opened the scoring in the first minute of the game thanks to a fantastic ball from Riqui Puig. Yeboah came back for Minnesota with a great goal in the top corner in the 6th minute and it looked like the Galaxy had a game on their hands. In the dying minutes of the first half though it was 3-1, when Galaxy conceded a penalty which was scored on the second time of asking.
Starting the second half 3-2 down Minnesota were certainly not out of the game, but a second from Pec after a glorious run made it 4-2. Then Minnesota conceded a penalty but it was saved by Dayne St Clair and there was a slither of hope for Minnesota. Until Diaz committed a silly tackle and got himself sent off. This was the end for MUFC. Galaxy slotted two more past them before the final whistle and the Loons were out.
Conference Finals
The first opportunity for silverware makes the Conference Finals doubly important, and the Red Bulls were what everyone was talking about in 2024. La Galaxy were expected to walk through to the MLS Cup Final via the Western Conference Final, but the Eastern Conference Final was a different matter.
Orlando City SC
For the first time in Orlando SC’s history, they had made it to the Eastern Conference Final. Alright, they lost to the underdog, but the Red Bulls were on a remarkable streak of finishing off stronger opponents. Orlando did themselves proud to make it this far.
The Red Bulls did what they had been doing all post season so far: let the other team have possession but took their chances when they came. Coronel had another good game too.
Orlando had some good chances they weren’t able to complete, which was a common theme from previous games too. The Red Bulls had fewer chances but when Andres Reyes got his head on the end of a free kick he scored the goal that eliminated Orlando SC.
Seattle Sounders SC
The Sounders had needed penalties or extra time to get this far in the competition, while LA Galaxy had been scoring goals for fun. No surprise then that everyone expected it to be a walkover.
The Galaxy would indeed be the team to proceed, but they only managed to win 1-0 and that solitary goal came in the last 5 minutes of the game.
Both teams were playing well. It was a very physical game with lots of rough tackles, and Seattle forcing some excellent saves from McCarthy in goal for Galaxy. LA had their own chances of course, but neither team was putting anything away.
Then the Sounders lost possession through a mistake before some poor defending allowed Dejan Joveljić through on goal. He did not miss.
The Sounders looked like defeated men for what remained of the game, and did not manage to equalize.
MLS Cup Final – LA Galaxy vs New York Red Bulls
Against all the odds, the New York Red Bulls had made it to the MLS Cup Final for the first time since 2008. It was 10 years since LA Galaxy had made it this far too, so both teams had something to prove.
If you put them side by side though, you would be a brave man to have bet on the Red Bulls, not withstanding their recent run of form and good fortune. Galaxy were the 4th strongest team in the regular season, the Red Bulls were 16th. Galaxy had scored 16 goals in their last 3 matches, the Red Bulls had scored 5. Galaxy consistently took 70%+ possession, the Red Bulls consistently took around 30% or less.
As it turned out, the MLS Cup Final would be much less clear cut.
The Galaxy came out of the stalls hot, scoring in the 9th minute with some absolutely spectacular football. A beautiful pass found Paintsil who easily slotted home. Paintsil held up Riqui Puig’s shirt in celebration of the young man who did so much to get his club to this point, before suffering an ACL injury in the previous game.
Four minutes later Galaxy scored again. Joveljić recieved the ball close to the half way line then ran it all the way to the box and putting it past Coronel. It looked like the game was going to be a rout.
The Red Bulls fired back in the 28th minute and got themselves back in the game. It was a messy goal resulting from a corner, but it went in.
At this point I was thinking the game was going to being full of goals, but for the next 50 minutes or so the teams traded blows without scoring. The ball was going from one end of the pitch to the other, but the shots were always wide or saved.
The hunger from each club was clear to see, but the score line never changed. After the final whistle blew, LA Galaxy won a record 6th MLS Cup, and the Red Bulls trophy cabinet remained mostly empty.