Contents

2011 MLS Cup Playoffs

2011 MLS Cup Playoffs

Tournament details
Country	United States Canada
Teams	10
Final positions
Champions	Los Angeles Galaxy (3rd title)
Runner-up	Houston Dynamo
Semifinalists	Sporting Kansas City Real Salt Lake
Tournament statistics
Matches played	13
Goals scored	27 (2.08 per match)
Attendance	258,582 (19,891 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)	Landon Donovan Mike Magee Álvaro Saborío (3 goals each)
← 2010 2012 →

The 2011 MLS Cup Playoffs was the sixteenth post-season tournament culminating the Major League Soccer regular season. The tournament began on October 26 with the play-in round and concluded on November 20 with the championship match. It was the first playoff series to include ten clubs, two more than the traditional eight. Six of the ten teams earned a direct bye into the conference semifinals, while the four wildcard teams played a single-elimination match to earn a berth into the conference semis. These eight clubs played in a single-elimination tournament en route to playoffs championship MLS Cup 2011, which doubles as the league championship for the 2011 MLS season altogether.

The defending MLS Cup champions were the Colorado Rapids, who beat FC Dallas 2–1 in the 2010 championship.

As the preliminary round was eliminated from the CONCACAF Champions League, both finalists directly entered 2012–13 CONCACAF Champions League Group Stage, along with the Supporters' Shield winner for the regular season and the 2011 U.S. Open Cup champion. However, none of these berths were available to the league's two Canadian teams, which instead participated in the Canadian Championship for that country's single berth in the CONCACAF Champions League.

Format[edit]

The format for the tournament was announced on February 23, 2011.^[1] The top three clubs in each of the league's two conferences will earn the six automatic spots in the quarterfinals.^[1] The wild-card entrants, seeded seventh through tenth, will enter based upon their overall position in a single table of the league standings.^[1] The new format is assembled so that the weakest seed to qualify out of the wild-card rounds will have to play the Supporters' Shield winner.^[1] The other entrant will play the conference champion that did not win the Shield.^[1]

The playoffs will begin with the Play-in round, which will contain the wildcard seeds. The first and second-placed wildcard seeds (seventh and eight place, respectively) will host the third and fourth-placed wildcard seeds (ninth and tenth place, respectively). The winners of each play-in proper will earn a berth into the conference semifinals, or the quarterfinals, of the playoffs.

Following the play-in round, will be the conference semifinals, where the two play-in round winners will join the six clubs that earned a direct bye into this round. The conference semifinals, will be a two-legged, aggregate series, in which each team plays their opponent twice: once at home, and once away. The team with the most goals accumulated over the two-match series will win the series and qualify for the conference championship. In this round, the lowest seeded wildcard team to advance will play against the MLS Supporters' Shield winner (regular season champion). The other wildcard seed will play against either the Eastern or Western Conference regular season champion, depending on which conference champion wins the Supporters' Shield. Also in the conference semifinals, feature the conference runners-up and third-place finishes from both the Eastern and Western Conference.^[1]

The semifinal round, or the conference championship, will feature the winners from the conference semifinals. This round will be a one-legged affair, in which the higher seeded club will host the lower seed. The winner of these matches earn two berths (one from each conference) into the 2011 MLS Cup championship and a guaranteed berth in the 2012–13 CONCACAF Champions League.

The Eastern Conference and Western Conference bracket winners will meet in the MLS Cup final, which will be held at the pre-determined neutral venue. This year, the final will be held at the Home Depot CenterinCarson, California, home of the Los Angeles Galaxy and Chivas USA.^[1] The MLS Cup winner will be crowned league champion for the 2011 MLS season.^[1]

Qualification[edit]

The top three clubs from each conference, based on final point totals, will qualify for the playoffs. From among the remaining clubs, the top 4 qualify as wild cards, entering the play-in round to narrow the field to 8. The Los Angeles Galaxy were the first MLS club to qualify for the playoffs, qualifying with a 1–0 win over Colorado Rapids on September 9.^[2]

Conference standings[edit]

Eastern table[edit]

Western table[edit]

Overall standings[edit]

Tiebreakers[edit]

1. Head-to-Head (Points-per-match average)
2. Overall Goal Differential
3. Overall Total Goals Scored
4. Tiebreakers 1–3 applied only to matches on the road
5. Tiebreakers 1–3 applied only to matches at home
6. Fewest team disciplinary points in the League Fair Play table
7. Coin toss

If more than two clubs are tied, once a club advances through any step, the process reverts to Tiebreaker 1 among the remaining tied clubs recursively until all ties are resolved.^[3]

Bracket[edit]

Note: The LA Galaxy, as MLS Supporters Shield winners, were assured of playing the lower seeded Wild Card series winner (New York Red Bulls) in the Conference Semifinals, while Sporting Kansas City would play the higher seeded Wild Card series winner (Colorado Rapids).

Schedule[edit]

Major League Soccer released the schedule for its playoffs on August 9, 2011.^[4]

Key

• SS = MLS Supporters' Shield winner
• E1/W1 = EasternorWestern Conference winner
• E2/W2 = Eastern or Western Conference runner-up
• E3/W3 = Eastern or Western Conference third place
• WC1 = Top wildcard seed (7th place overall)
• WC2 = Second wildcard seed (8th place overall)
• WC3 = Third wildcard seed (9th place overall)
• WC4 = Fourth wildcard seed (10th place overall)

Play-in round[edit]

FC Dallas	0–2	New York Red Bulls
	Report	Lindpere 61' Henry 90+8'

Attendance: 10,017

Referee: Ricardo Salazar

Colorado Rapids	1–0	Columbus Crew
Cummings 45+1'	Report

Attendance: 7,803

Referee: Jorge Gonzalez

Conference Semifinals[edit]

Eastern Conference[edit]

Colorado Rapids	0–2	Sporting Kansas City
	Report	Bunbury 49', 59' (pen.)

Attendance: 8,601

Referee: Baldomero Toledo

Sporting Kansas City	2–0	Colorado Rapids
Collin 28' Sapong 76'	Report

Attendance: 18,565

Referee: Kevin Stott

Sporting advances 4–0 on aggregate.

Philadelphia Union	1–2	Houston Dynamo
Le Toux 7'	Report	Hainault 6' Carr 30'

Attendance: 18,539 (SO)

Referee: Jair Marrufo

Houston Dynamo	1–0	Philadelphia Union
Ching 45+3'	Report

Attendance: 24,749

Referee: Ricardo Salazar

Houston advances 3–1 on aggregate.

Western Conference[edit]

New York Red Bulls	0–1	Los Angeles Galaxy
	Report	Magee 15'

Attendance: 22,663

Referee: Alex Prus

Los Angeles Galaxy	2–1	New York Red Bulls
Magee 42' Donovan 75' (pen.)	Report	Rodgers 4'

Attendance: 20,000

Referee: Hilario Grajeda

Los Angeles advances 3–1 on aggregate.

Real Salt Lake	3–0	Seattle Sounders FC
Saborío 41', 53' Grabavoy 88'	Report

Attendance: 17,067

Referee: Mark Geiger

Seattle Sounders FC	2–0	Real Salt Lake
Alonso 56' (pen.) Neagle 61'	Report

Attendance: 36,021

Referee: Jair Marrufo

Real Salt Lake advances 3–2 on aggregate.

Conference Finals[edit]

Host will depend on the higher seeded team. Single elimination match.^[4]

Los Angeles Galaxy	3–1	Real Salt Lake
Donovan 23' (pen.) Magee 58' Keane 68'	Report	Saborío 25'

Attendance: 23,437

Referee: Jorge Gonzalez

Sporting Kansas City	0–2	Houston Dynamo
	Report	Hainault 53' Costly 87'

Attendance: 20,839

Referee: Mark Geiger

Final[edit]

Los Angeles Galaxy	1–0	Houston Dynamo
Donovan 72'	Report

Attendance: 30,281

Referee: Ricardo Salazar

Post-season statistical leaders[edit]

Note: Statistics only for post-season games.^[5]

Top scorers[edit] Rank Scorer Club Goals 1 Landon Donovan Los Angeles Galaxy 3 Mike Magee Los Angeles Galaxy 3 Álvaro Saborío Real Salt Lake 3 4 Teal Bunbury Sporting Kansas City 2 André Hainault Houston Dynamo 2 6 Osvaldo Alonso Seattle Sounders FC 1 Calen Carr Houston Dynamo 1 Aurélien Collin Sporting Kansas City 1 Carlos Costly Houston Dynamo 1 Omar Cummings Colorado Rapids 1 Ned Grabavoy Real Salt Lake 1 Thierry Henry New York Red Bulls 1 Robbie Keane Los Angeles Galaxy 1 Sébastien Le Toux Philadelphia Union 1 Joel Lindpere New York Red Bulls 1 Lamar Neagle Seattle Sounders FC 1 Luke Rodgers New York Red Bulls 1 C. J. Sapong Sporting Kansas City 1

Most assists[edit] Rank Player Club Assists 1 David Beckham Los Angeles Galaxy 3 2 Graham Zusi Sporting Kansas City 2 3 Mehdi Ballouchy New York Red Bulls 1 Luiz Camargo Houston Dynamo 1 Júlio César Sporting Kansas City 1 Brian Ching Houston Dynamo 1 Brad Davis Houston Dynamo 1 Landon Donovan Los Angeles Galaxy 1 Michael Farfan Philadelphia Union 1 Thierry Henry New York Red Bulls 1 Robbie Keane Los Angeles Galaxy 1 Kosuke Kimura Colorado Rapids 1 Fredy Montero Seattle Sounders FC 1 Javier Morales Real Salt Lake 1 Jamison Olave Real Salt Lake 1 Chris Wingert Real Salt Lake 1

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Major League Soccer: MLS Cup Playoffs