New York Red Bulls vs. Portland Timbers: Watch All the Goals and Highlights

It was a battle for a spot in the playoff race on Saturday at Red Bull Arena, as the New York Red Bulls hosted the Portland Timbers, with both sides closely eyeing the postseason as the end of Major League Soccer's regular season looms in sight.Prior to the match, Portland was holding on to the final MLS wild-card position, which goes automatically to the fourth-best club in the league that doesn't already hold a Top Three spot in their respective division.New York was chasing closely behind and hoped to overtake Portland in their hunt for playoff action when the West Coast side visited for an exciting weekend fixture.New York midfielder Dane Richards opened the scoring in the 21st minute, rounding Portland's Diego Chara to carry the ball all on his own into the box, and slipping the shot past the keeper from a difficult angle.Portland came heart-wrenchingly close to scoring the equalizer in the 57th minute, when Kalif Alhassan took a long shot that bounced off the bar and fell to Kenny Cooper, who hit the woodwork for Portland for the second time in a matter of seconds.The equalizing goal would never come for the Timbers, as Alhassan was ruled just ...

MLS: Late Drama Gives Seattle Sounders the Edge over Sporting Kansas City

How long has it been since the Seattle Sounders struck first in an MLS match? It's impossible to say really (actually, it's been six matches, dating back to June 21 against the New York Red Bulls), but one thing has been made clear over the past couple of months: The Sounders are as good as it gets when it comes to battling adversity and overcoming deficits to secure victory.Saturday night's match against Sporting Kansas City was no exception.Earlier in the week, Seattle was forced to overcome a three-match losing streak (consisting of one MLS match, one CONCACAF match and a Manchester United friendly) in order to advance to the group stages of the Champions League tournament. It took 120 minutes, but the Sounders secured the advancement and looked to get back on track to another long and impressive unbeaten run.Kansas City, who came into the match riding a 14-game unbeaten streak of their own, had other plans. KC scored in the 20th minute and carried the lead through much of the match, as Seattle once again faced agonizing problems in their finishing ability.It seemed obvious, as the two clubs approached the 90 minute mark, that Kansas City would take the ...

MLS Week 20 Roundup: Salt Lake Falls, 9-Match Unbeaten Streak Broken and More

It's been a long week for American soccer fans.With MLS friendlies taking their toll, CONCACAF Champions League finally starting up again and league play taking a break for absolutely none of it, there's a lot to take in.Let's not even start on the head coach drama at the international level.This week, some of your favorite teams faced some of the world's best. Conference leaders fell from the top. Streaks were broken. And amidst it all, one MLS squad travelled overseas and will be taking home a trophy for their troubles.Can the LA Galaxy maintain their spot at the top as they seek a second consecutive Supporters' Shield while Dallas continues to sneak up behind them? Will Seattle ever get over that 7-0 defeat to Manchester United and return to winning form? Who is looking to win the MLS East? And just when will Portland remember how to win at home?These are the stats, the results, the top stories and everything you need to know from week 20 in Major League Soccer. Enjoy.Begin Slideshow

New York Red Bulls Win Emirates Cup, Do U.S. Soccer Proud

It's been a rough stretch for soccer in the United States, with the national squad losing a heartbreaking Gold Cup Final to Mexico, the majority of MLS teams performing poorly in friendly matches with the eyes of the world watching, and even one club in particularly falling 7-0 to the defending EPL champions, Manchester United.Honestly though, it's all to be expected. The U.S. is supposed to be bad at world football. Our teams are supposed to lose.The problem? Nobody told that to the New York Red Bulls.While the Emirates Cup, an annual tournament hosted by Arsenal FC in London as part of their preseason training program, might be just for fun (with a few elements of skill-honing and providing valuable minutes on the pitch for young players who wouldn't get them otherwise), it's still a tournament hosting some of the most impressive clubs throughout the world.Winning it, especially for a team in a league that gets so much criticism for underachieving, is an accomplishment, no matter how small or meaningless the tournament itself might be.This year, Arsenal hosted three other top teams from around the world, including the New York side, Paris Saint-Germain from French Ligue 1 and Boca Juniors ...

MLS: Seattle Sounders Fall in Houston, Ending 9-Match Unbeaten Streak

On the road in Houston, the Seattle Sounders suffered their first MLS loss in nine matches on Saturday, falling to the Houston Dynamo 3-1 and ending their longest unbeaten streak of the 2011 season.The Seattle side has been one of the hottest teams in Major League Soccer in recent weeks, strongly contending with the L.A. Galaxy for the Supporters Shield title and rising in the standings. But those hopes have diminished as the Sounders fall seven points behind the Galaxy and struggle to find a foothold in recent matches.The worries began when the Sounders suffered an embarrassing non-MLS 7-0 defeat to the English Champions, Manchester United in front of over 67,000 home fans.While the majority of the struggle against the powerhouse squad came as the Sounders' reserve players proved to be no match against Wayne Rooney's attacking game (the first-team Sounders actually fared pretty well), it still caused a certain level of damage to Seattle's pride as one of the best teams in American soccer.That shock carried on into a CONCACAF Champions League match in Panama on Tuesday, as the Sounders failed to find the back of the net, and ultimately fell behind in the home-and-away series by one goal.The ...