Monday MLS Breakdown: The Elusive Final Playoff Spot

Gino Padula | The Argentine left back scored his first MLS goal to provide Columbus' margin of victory at New England

In a battle of weakened lineups, Columbus showed its considerable strength in depth by grinding out a 1-0 victory at Gillette Stadium. New England lacked verve in the attacking third without Steve Ralston, displayed a lack of tidiness in midfield and suffered from a stunning communication breakdown between Emmanuel Osei and Matt Reis at the back to concede Gino Padula's long-distance winner. In a match New England probably had to win to assure its final-day trip to Crew Stadium wouldn't mean a thing, it submitted a limp and ineffective performance. The silver lining: the Revs still ended the day with a two-point cushion (and a winnable home match against Chicago next weekend) because TFC couldn't take care of business either.

With all of the likely challengers fumbling around with a playoff opportunity in their grasp, is there room for a dashing late aspirant willing to seize the opportunity?

FC Dallas might just prove that there is.

Jeff Cunningham and David Ferreira have carried the Hoops from the depths of irrelevance and disorganization to the periphery of the playoff race over the past two months. A three-match winning streak has lifted FCD right into the thick of the battle despite the thin margin for error. In that do-or-die tilt in San Jose on Wednesday night, Cunningham tallied yet another goal (his MLS-leading 17th on the season and his 16th in his past 13 games won the match on 81 minutes) and an assist to keep FCD's playoff hopes burning brightly.

Momentum can make all the difference at this time of year and FCD enjoys considerably more mojo than any of its competitors. The schedule remains favorable – draw-happy Colorado (40 pts., a number that appears increasingly safe considering the chasing pack) visits Pizza Hut Park on Saturday before FCD travels to sudden home strugglers Seattle to close out the campaign – but one wonders if it's just asking too much for FCD to rip off five consecutive victories to end the season. Columbus (the likely top seed and probable opponent) probably hopes that is indeed the case, particularly if the Crew has to enter the playoffs without the injured Chad Marshall around to help cope with Cunningham and Ferreira.

In the end, one of the five teams chasing that final berth – a group that also includes a Real Salt Lake side that probably needs a result in each of its final three games to enter the reckoning because it sits a further two points behind D.C., FCD and TFC – will somehow earn the opportunity no team located outside of Texas wants to claim right now.

Given the continued nervousness displayed by most of the challengers over the past few weeks, the first team to make a positive and decisive step towards grasping the final playoff spot next weekend may just end up hauling it away.

Week 30 – Questions, Thoughts, and Answers

Monday MLS Breakdown Player of the Week – Jeff Cunningham, FW, FC Dallas

The Breakdown doesn't usually like to reach back into Wednesday's matches for the player of the week nod, but the truncated slate and Cunningham's contribution (one game-winning goal, one assist in Wednesday's 2-1 win in San Jose) merited special consideration.

MVP Tracker

Jeff Cunningham | Could FCD's in-form forward enter the MVP picture if the Hoops seal a shocking playoff berth?

1. Shalrie Joseph, New England midfielder – Joseph's candidacy would take a considerable hit if the Revs miss the playoffs.

2. Landon Donovan, Los Angeles midfielder – If international appearances counted, Donovan would have sealed the gong in June.

3. Jeff Cunningham, FC Dallas forward – If FCD somehow finds a way to make the playoffs, is Cunningham's stellar second half enough to inject his name into the discussion?

Next in Line: Omar Cummings, Colorado forward; Dwayne De Rosario, Toronto FC midfielder; Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Columbus midfielder; Chad Marshall, Columbus defender; Conor Casey, Colorado forward.

The Starting XI

1. Those of you who may have only caught a glimpse of Toronto FC's 1-1 draw against San Jose may have been taken aback by the home side's pink jerseys. The odd sight wasn't a result of a malfunctioning television feed. TFC donned the tops as part of Pink Ribbon Weekend, an initiative created by the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation to help celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness Month. If you'd like the chance to own an autographed pink jersey and support the CBCF in the process, you can bid for one of the thirteen pink TFC jerseys now up for auction.

2. The uniform switch caused referee Mark Geiger problems in the first half because both teams wore black shorts and black socks to start the match. How did Geiger solve the problem? He asked the Earthquakes to change into white socks at halftime.

3. After watching Lesly Fellinga provide width and service down the left in his first MLS start, one question comes to mind: why did it take so long for TFC to hand him the opportunity to balance out the side?

4. While both goals in Toronto were the result of horrific defending, TFC interim boss Chris Cummins will be particularly aggrieved that veteran defender Nick Garcia couldn't hack Joe Cannon's long hoof up the field clear when the ball dropped right to him. The resulting sequence of events that ended in Cornell Glen's equalizer probably caused some consternation as well, but Garcia's muff set the table for disaster when a clearance probably would have all but ended the match and sealed the victory.

5. In a game where the Reds really needed to push the tempo and conjure some creative attacking movement through the middle, Dwayne De Rosario (aside from the assist on Nana Attakora's goal) and Julian de Guzman were strangely silent.

Steven Lenhart | Scrappy Columbus forward submitted another industrious performance at New England

6. Columbus forward Steven Lenhart showed again in the Crew's 1-0 win at New England that he makes defenders work for 90 minutes. What he does isn't flashy and isn't always potent, but he bruises center backs because he competes for everything in the air and wins more than his fair share. The Crew fielded a potent front pairing that caused New England problems all night with the bright Emilio Renteria providing ample strength and ingenuity beside Lenhart.

7. Then again, the Revs caused themselves plenty of issues by struggling in possession and lacking any sort of creative thrust. Without Steve Ralston in the lineup and without any viable wide play to stretch the field, the Revs couldn't carve open the Crew even when handed a man advantage for the final 25 minutes.  

8. With six regular starters unavailable, Columbus relied on its shape to hold out after Emmanuel Ekpo was rather harshly sent off for an errant forearm to Kevin Alston's nose in the 65th minute. From Lenhart and Renteria on back, the Crew toiled for the cause and remained compact. The determination paid off as the Revs never really earned a serious sniff at goal.

9. Chivas USA coach Preki handed Claudio Suarez a surprise start in central defense for Saturday night's 2-0 win over Kansas City. Suffice it to say that the gamble didn't work out as Suarez looked completely out of sorts in his 45 minutes on the field. Will that be the last time Suarez sees the field for the Red-and-White?

10. Preki wasn't pleased with his side's performance in the first half and showed his displeasure by making three changes between the end of the first half and the 55th minute. Jesse Marsch (for Jesus Padilla) and Mariano Trujillo (for Suarez) came on at the break, while Eduardo Lillingston entered ten minutes later for Michael Lahoud. The changes spurred the Goats to life by injecting some urgency. Justin Braun and Sacha Kljestan eventually converted that improvement into the goals required to ensure the Goats would seal a berth in the playoffs.

11. If Claudio Lopez's sumptuous 30-yard full volley had dropped just a couple of inches lower when it struck the crossbar in the 57th minute, the Argentine would have submitted a worthy candidate for goal of the year.

BONUS: Four refereeing decisions made this observer go hmm: (1) Waving away New England's protests that Andy Iro handled Kenny Mansally's shot after a half an hour; (2) Sending Ekpo off for the type of innocuous blow that would draw red four or five times per match if consistently deemed worthy of a dismissal; (3) Ignoring Yamith Cuesta's positioning behind the Wizards defense as Kljestan struck the free kick that led to Braun's opener; and (4) Brandishing only a yellow card for Davy Arnaud's two-footed lunge on Paulo Nagamura with the match already decided in the 90th minute.   

BONUS #2: After chiding Real Salt Lake and Toronto FC for unnecessarily harming their playoff chances in the Friday MLS Forecast, it only seems fair to point out that Houston scheduled a charity fundraiser on Sunday night – the Dynamo defeated Monterrey 2-1 – and suffered the consequences when Corey Ashe left the match with a knee injury. Add in a second-half skirmish and the Dynamo deserves to join the dubious list compiled on Friday.

BONUS #3: If you're in the D.C. area this week, check out the four films presented by Kicking and Screening at sites across the District. For more information, head over to kickingandscreening.com.

The Playoff Picture
(X – denotes clinched a playoff spot)

Eastern Conference
1. Columbus (13-5-10, 49 pts., 2 games remaining) - X
2. Chicago (10-7-11, 41 pts., 2 games remaining)
Western Conference
T1. Chivas USA (13-9-5, 44 pts., 3 games remaining) – X
T1. Houston (12-8-8, 44 pts., 2 games remaining) - X
T1. Los Angeles (11-6-11, 44 pts., 2 games remaining) – X
Wild Cards
2. Seattle (10-7-11, 41 pts., 2 games remaining)
3. Colorado (10-8-10, 40 pts., 2 games remaining)
4. New England (10-10-8, 38 pts., 2 games remaining)
==
FC Dallas (10-12-6, 36 pts., 2 games remaining)
D.C. United (8-8-12, 36 pts., 2 games remaining)
Toronto FC (9-10-9, 36 pts., 2 games remaining)
Real Salt Lake (9-11-7, 34 pts., 3 games remaining)
Kansas City (8-12-8, 32 pts., 2 games remaining)
San Jose (7-13-8, 29 pts., 2 games remaining)
New York (4-18-6, 18 pts., 2 games remaining)

Kyle McCarthy writes the Monday MLS Breakdown and frequently writes opinion pieces during the week for Goal.com. He also covers the New England Revolution for the Boston Herald and MLSnet.com. Contact him with your questions or comments at kyle.mccarthy@goal.com and follow him on Twitter by clicking here.

For more on Major League Soccer, visit Goal.com's MLS page.