2010 MLS Cup playoffs

2010 MLS Cup Playoffs
Tournament details
Country	United States; Canada
Teams	8
Defending champions	Real Salt Lake
Final positions
Champions	Colorado Rapids (1st title)
Runner-up	FC Dallas
Semifinalists	Los Angeles Galaxy; San Jose Earthquakes;
Tournament statistics
Matches played	11
Goals scored	25 (2.27 per match)
Attendance	214,885 (19,535 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)	Edson Buddle; Conor Casey; Bobby Convey; David Ferreira; (2 goals each)
	← 2009 2011 →

The 2010 MLS Cup Playoffs was the postseason tournament subsequent to Major League Soccer's 2010 season.

The playoffs began on October 30, with the Los Angeles Galaxy defeating the Seattle Sounders FC in the quarterfinal-round. Three weeks later, the Colorado Rapids defeated FC Dallas 2-1 in the Cup final at BMO Field in Toronto, Ontario. It was Colorado's first title and second MLS Cup final appearance, and it was FC Dallas's first appearance in an MLS Cup final.

Of the eight MLS clubs to earn qualification into the tournament, only four of them qualified the season before; Columbus Crew, Los Angeles Galaxy, Seattle Sounders FC, and the defending-champions, Real Salt Lake. The San Jose Earthquakes were making their first playoff appearance since 2005, Dallas' since 2007. It was Colorado's and New York Red Bulls's first time since 2008.

Format

At the 2010 season's end, the top two teams of each conference advanced to the playoffs; in addition the clubs with the next four highest point totals, regardless of conference, were also added to the playoffs for a total of eight clubs. In the first round of the knockout tournament, aggregate (total) goals over two matches would determine the winners; the Conference Championships was one match each, with the winner of each conference advancing to MLS Cup. In all rounds, the tie-breaking method would be two 15-minute periods of extra time, followed by penalty kicks if necessary. The away goals rule was not used.^[1]

Standings

Conference standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	New York Red Bulls	30	15	9	6	38	29	+9	51	MLS Cup Playoffs
2	Columbus Crew	30	14	8	8	40	34	+6	50	MLS Cup Playoffs
3	Kansas City Wizards	30	11	13	6	36	35	+1	39
4	Chicago Fire	30	9	12	9	37	38	−1	36
5	Toronto FC	30	9	13	8	33	41	−8	35
6	New England Revolution	30	9	16	5	32	50	−18	32
7	Philadelphia Union	30	8	15	7	35	49	−14	31
8	D.C. United	30	6	20	4	21	47	−26	22

Source: MLS

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	LA Galaxy	30	18	7	5	44	26	+18	59	MLS Cup Playoffs
2	Real Salt Lake	30	15	4	11	45	20	+25	56
3	FC Dallas	30	12	4	14	42	28	+14	50
4	Seattle Sounders FC	30	14	10	6	39	35	+4	48
5	Colorado Rapids	30	12	8	10	44	32	+12	46
6	San Jose Earthquakes	30	13	10	7	34	33	+1	46
7	Houston Dynamo	30	9	15	6	40	49	−9	33
8	Chivas USA	30	8	18	4	31	45	−14	28

Source: MLS

Overall standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	LA Galaxy (S)	30	18	7	5	44	26	+18	59	CONCACAF Champions League
2	Real Salt Lake	30	15	4	11	45	20	+25	56
3	New York Red Bulls	30	15	9	6	38	29	+9	51
4	FC Dallas	30	12	4	14	42	28	+14	50	CONCACAF Champions League
5	Columbus Crew	30	14	8	8	40	34	+6	50
6	Seattle Sounders FC	30	14	10	6	39	35	+4	48	CONCACAF Champions League
7	Colorado Rapids (C)	30	12	8	10	44	32	+12	46	CONCACAF Champions League
8	San Jose Earthquakes	30	13	10	7	34	33	+1	46
9	Kansas City Wizards	30	11	13	6	36	35	+1	39
10	Chicago Fire	30	9	12	9	37	38	−1	36
11	Toronto FC	30	9	13	8	33	41	−8	35	CONCACAF Champions League
12	Houston Dynamo	30	9	15	6	40	49	−9	33
13	New England Revolution	30	9	16	5	32	50	−18	32
14	Philadelphia Union	30	8	15	7	35	49	−14	31
15	Chivas USA	30	8	18	4	31	45	−14	28
16	D.C. United	30	6	20	4	21	47	−26	22

Source: MLS
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head record; 3) goal difference; 4) number of goals scored
(C) Champions; (S) Supporters' Shield

Bracket

Conference semifinals				Conference finals			MLS Cup

E1	New York	1	1

E4	San Jose	0	3
				E4	San Jose	0
Eastern Conference
				E3	Colorado	1
E2	Columbus	0	2

E3	Colorado (5–4, PSO)	1	1
							E3	Colorado	2

							W3	Dallas	1
W1	Los Angeles	1	2

W4	Seattle	0	1
				W1	Los Angeles	0
Western Conference
				W3	Dallas	3
W2	Salt Lake	1	1

W3	Dallas	2	1

Conference semifinals

October 30, 2010

7:00PM PDT

New York Red Bulls	1–0	San Jose Earthquakes
Ballouchy 46' Lindpere 56' Miller 71' Coundoul 83'	Report	Wondolowski 65'

Buck Shaw Stadium
Santa Clara, California

Attendance: 10,525

Referee: Paul Ward

November 4, 2010

8:00PM EDT

San Jose Earthquakes	3–1	New York Red Bulls
Corrales 32' Convey 8', 76' Wondolowski 81' Busch 81'	Report	Ángel 78'

Red Bull Arena
Harrison, New Jersey

Attendance: 22,839

Referee: Mark Geiger

San Jose Earthquakes advance 3–2 on aggregate

October 28, 2010

7:00PM MDT

Columbus Crew	0–1	Colorado Rapids
Carroll 57'	Report	Mastroeni 23' Mastroeni 90+2'

Dick's Sporting Goods Park
Commerce City, Colorado

Attendance: 11,872

Referee: Jair Marrufo

November 6, 2010

4:00PM EDT

Colorado Rapids	1–2	Columbus Crew
Mullan 38' Casey 48' Casey 84'	Report	Gaven 22' Schelotto 31' Ekpo 52' Carroll 56' Francis 64' Rogers 70' Rogers 70'
Penalties
Casey Kandji Larentowicz Lopez Baudet	5–4	Schelotto Garey Gaven Brunner Carroll

Columbus Crew Stadium
Columbus, Ohio

Attendance: 10,322

Referee: Michael Kennedy

Colorado Rapids advance 5–4 on penalties

October 30, 2010

4:00PM CDT

Real Salt Lake	1–2	FC Dallas
Espindola 5' Williams 46' Morales 49' 69'	Report	Benitez 25' Cunningham 44' Hernandez 49' Harris 75' Avila 88'

Pizza Hut Park
Frisco, Texas

Attendance: 11,003

Referee: Kevin Stott

November 6, 2010

8:00PM MDT

FC Dallas	1–1	Real Salt Lake
McCarty 17' Chavez 27' Loyd 84'	Report	Olave 25' Grabavoy 29' Borchers 34' Findley 79'

Rio Tinto Stadium
Sandy, Utah

Attendance: 19,324

Referee: Jorge González

FC Dallas advance 3–2 on aggregate

October 31, 2010

5:00PM PDT

Los Angeles Galaxy	1–0	Seattle Sounders FC
Buddle 38' Juninho 48' Kovalenko 65' Kirovski 82'	Report	Montero 49' Nkufo 90+4'

Qwest Field
Seattle, Washington

Attendance: 35,521

Referee: Alex Prus

November 7, 2010

6:00PM PST

Seattle Sounders FC	1–2	Los Angeles Galaxy
Ianni 65' Zakuani 86'	Report	Beckham 8' Buddle 19' Gonzalez 27'

Home Depot Center
Carson, California

Attendance: 27,000

Referee: Baldomero Toledo

Los Angeles Galaxy advance 3–1 on aggregate

Conference finals

November 13, 2010

7:30PM MST

San Jose Earthquakes	0–1	Colorado Rapids
	Report	Kimura 42'

Dick's Sporting Goods Park
Commerce City, Colorado

Attendance: 17,779

Referee: Jorge González

November 14, 2010

6:00PM PST

FC Dallas	3–0	Los Angeles Galaxy
Ferreira 26' John 54' Chavez 73' Loyd 85'	Report	Kovalenko 31' Beckham 73' Birchall 82' Cazumba 84'

Home Depot Center
Carson, California

Attendance: 27,000

Referee: Jair Marrufo

MLS Cup 2010

November 21, 2010

8:30PM EST

FC Dallas	1 – 2 (a.e.t.)	Colorado Rapids
Ferreira 35' Benitez 84'	Report	Wallace 41' Smith 51' Casey 57' Casey 84' John 106' (o.g.)

BMO Field
Toronto, Ontario

Attendance: 21,700

Referee: Baldomero Toledo

External links

MLS Cup Playoffs at MLSsoccer.com

References

^ "Playoff Format & Tiebreakers | Major League Soccer". Archived from the original on October 28, 2010. Retrieved October 29, 2010.

[1] "Playoff Format & Tiebreakers | Major League Soccer". Archived from the original on October 28, 2010. Retrieved October 29, 2010.

[1]

Tournament details

Country	United States Canada
Teams	8
Defending champions	Real Salt Lake
Final positions
Champions	Colorado Rapids (1st title)
Runner-up	FC Dallas
Semifinalists	Los Angeles Galaxy San Jose Earthquakes
Tournament statistics
Matches played	11
Goals scored	25 (2.27 per match)
Attendance	214,885 (19,535 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)	Edson Buddle Conor Casey Bobby Convey David Ferreira (2 goals each)
← 2009 2011 →