Two Round One games tonight<\/strong> Audi #MLSCupPlayoffs<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/ANX4XWL0qf<\/a><\/p>\n
The New York Red Bulls host FC Cincinnati<\/a> tonight at 7 pm ET. Then, FC Dallas take on Seattle<\/a> at 9 pm. ET. Both games are on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV. Both home teams need a win to survive and force Game 3.
Chicharito, LA Galaxy part ways after four seasons<\/strong>
Superstar striker Chicharito\u2019s LA Galaxy career is over.<\/a> The club and player announced Friday they\u2019ve parted ways. Chicharito, Mexico\u2019s all-time leading scorer, was out of contract and won\u2019t return to LA for the 2024 MLS season. He last competed in June after suffering a torn right ACL and finished his four-year Galaxy stay with 38 goals and six assists in 74 games (65 starts).
FC Cincinnati’s Hagglund out for season with hamstring injury<\/strong>
FC Cincinnati defender Nick Hagglund will miss the rest of the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs with a hamstring injury.<\/a> The 30-year-old defender signed a contract extension at the start of 2023 and made 27 appearances over 2,158 minutes this season. Pat Noonan turned to 2022 MLS SuperDraft pick Ian Murphy in Hagglund’s Game 1 absence on Sunday.
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The New York Red Bulls and FC Dallas enter tonight\u2019s Game 2s on the ropes against heavy favorites. What\u2019s it going to take to pull off the upset and stay alive?
Final tally from FC Cincinnati\u2019s 3-0 win in Game 1: A 16-9 advantage in shots for New York and a 1.0-0.6 advantage for FC Cincinnati in expected goals. That isn\u2019t quite what you envision in a three-goal blowout, is it?
Obviously, there are a few caveats there. Game state matters. Cincy went up two in the first half and didn\u2019t need to do anything but dare New York to try and score the rest of the way. Still, it\u2019s not like the Red Bulls were overrun. \u00c1lvaro Barreal started things off in the 23rd minute with an excellent finish on Cincy\u2019s second shot of the game. Twelve minutes later, a Red Bulls\u2019 disaster led to an open net for Lucho Acosta on Cincy\u2019s third shot of the game, and that was that.
The risk\/reward with Energy Drink Soccer has always been low chance volume, but high chance probability. When a team breaks through that press, they really<\/em> break through. Barreal tore New York apart with a direct off-ball run on a 1-2. Once Acosta found the ball at his feet after an attempt to head the ball back to the keeper from\u2026[checking]…the midfield line, they were doomed.
Limiting mistakes for any team is critical. It\u2019s something a little more than that for the Red Bulls, though. If they can avoid catastrophe, they have a chance. The only question then is if they\u2019ll be able to find the net. That\u2019s not a question that normally gets an affirmative answer. But maybe things will be different at home.
Alan Velasco is out. Not only for the series, but for the foreseeable future. Weeks after topping the 22 Under 22 presented by BODYARMOR list, Velasco tore his ACL in Game 1 in Seattle. That\u2019s a brutal blow to an FC Dallas side that already had a mountain to climb against the Sounders.
Still, even after Velasco\u2019s exit a couple of huge chances fell at Jes\u00fas Ferreira\u2019s feet. Chances you\u2019d expect one of the best strikers in the league to finish. Opportunities so good he ended the night with 1.03 xG worth of chances. He didn\u2019t put them on frame.
Needless to say, that\u2019s not what Dallas expect from their best player. And it\u2019s no way to pull off an upset. You come at the king, you best not miss. And miss again. And you really, really shouldn\u2019t miss a third time. Whether it\u2019s down to bad luck or bad finishing, Dallas won\u2019t survive if those opportunities come and go with no end product again.
Then again, are those opportunities going to come? They should have enough firepower between Ferreira and Paul Arriola (and maybe\/hopefully Bernard Kamungo) to at least find a few chances. That\u2019s not a given though, especially against this Seattle defense. They were the best in the conference this year and the Sounders will be well aware Dallas have to get the better of them twice. Seattle won\u2019t be anxious.
Whatever comes Dallas\u2019 way they have to make the most of it. That likely comes down to Ferreira regressing to the mean after what happened in Seattle.
Good luck out there. Make the art you want to make.
Supporters have been bringing it with their Tifo in Round One. \ud83d\udd25<\/p>\n