2007 MLS Cup Playoffs

2007 MLS Cup Playoffs
Tournament details
Country	United States
Teams	8
Defending champions	Houston Dynamo
Final positions
Champions	Houston Dynamo (2nd title)
Runner-up	New England Revolution
Semifinalists	Chicago Fire; Kansas City Wizards;
Tournament statistics
Matches played	11
Goals scored	19 (1.73 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)	Taylor Twellman; (3 goals)
	← 2006 2008 →

The 2007 MLS Cup Playoffs was the postseason to Major League Soccer's 2007 season, and it concluded with MLS Cup 2007 on November 18, 2007 at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington, D.C. The Houston Dynamo were victorious for the second season in a row, defeating the New England Revolution in the Final, also for the second year in a row.

Format edit

At season's end, the top two teams of each conference made the playoffs, along with the teams with the next four highest point totals, regardless of conference. In the first round of this knockout tournament, aggregate goals over two matches determined the winners; the Conference Championships were one match each, with the winner of each conference advancing to MLS Cup. In all rounds, draws were broken with two 15-minute periods of extra time, followed by penalty kicks if necessary. The away goals rule was not used.

Standings edit

Conference standings edit

Club		Pts	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD
Eastern Conference
1	D.C. United	55	30	16	7	7	56	34	+22
2	New England Revolution	50	30	14	8	8	51	43	+8
3	New York Red Bulls	43	30	12	11	7	47	45	+2
4	Chicago Fire	40	30	10	10	10	31	36	–5
5	Kansas City Wizards	40	30	11	12	7	45	45	0
6	Columbus Crew	37	30	9	11	10	39	44	–5
7	Toronto FC^[1]	25	30	6	17	7	25	49	–24

Club		Pts	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD
Western Conference
1	Chivas USA	53	30	15	7	8	46	28	+18
2	Houston Dynamo	52	30	15	8	7	43	23	+20
3	FC Dallas	44	30	13	12	5	37	44	–7
4	Colorado Rapids	35	30	9	13	8	29	34	–5
5	Los Angeles Galaxy	34	30	9	14	7	38	48	–10
6	Real Salt Lake	27	30	6	15	9	31	45	–14


	2007 MLS Cup Playoffs, 2008 U.S. Open Cup
	2007 MLS Cup Playoffs (Wild Card)
	2007 MLS Cup Playoffs, 2008 U.S. Open Cup
	2007 MLS Cup Playoffs (Wild Card), 2008 U.S. Open Cup

^1 - Toronto FC cannot qualify for the U.S. Open Cup, as it is a Canadian-based team.
If they had qualified for an automatic berth into the U.S. Open Cup, the next highest placed team in the Eastern Conference not already qualified would have qualified.

Overall standings edit

Club		Pts	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD
1	D.C. United (E1)	55	30	16	7	7	56	34	+22
2	Chivas USA (W1)	53	30	15	7	8	46	28	+18
3	Houston Dynamo^[2] (W2)	52	30	15	8	7	43	23	+20
4	New England Revolution^[3] (E2)	50	30	14	8	8	51	43	+8
5	FC Dallas	44	30	13	12	5	37	44	–7
6	New York Red Bulls	43	30	12	11	7	47	45	+2
7	Chicago Fire	40	30	10	10	10	31	36	–5
8	Kansas City Wizards	40	30	11	12	7	45	45	0
9	Columbus Crew	37	30	9	11	10	39	44	–5
10	Colorado Rapids	35	30	9	13	8	29	34	–5
11	Los Angeles Galaxy	34	30	9	14	7	38	48	–10
12	Real Salt Lake	27	30	6	15	9	31	45	–14
13	Toronto FC^[4]	25	30	6	17	7	25	49	–24


	MLS Supporters' Shield, 2007 MLS Cup Playoffs, CONCACAF Champions' Cup 2008, SuperLiga 2008, CONCACAF Champions League 2008-09^[5]
	2007 MLS Cup Playoffs, SuperLiga 2008, CONCACAF Champions League 2008–09
	2007 MLS Cup Playoffs, SuperLiga 2008
	2007 MLS Cup Playoffs

^2 - Toronto FC cannot qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League through MLS. Rather, they can qualify through the Canadian Championship.
If they had qualified for the Champions League through MLS, then the highest placed team not already qualified would have qualified.

^3 - Additional Champions League berths were awarded to the winner (Houston) and runner-up (New England) of MLS Cup 2007.
The winner of the 2007 U.S. Open Cup (New England) also qualified.
Because New England qualified twice, an additional berth was awarded to the 2007 MLS Supporters' Shield runner-up (Chivas USA).

Bracket edit

Conference semifinals				Conference finals			MLS Cup

E1	D.C.	0	2

WC	Chicago	1	2
				WC	Chicago	0
Eastern Conference
				E2	New England	1
WC	New York	0	0

E2	New England	0	1
							E2	New England	1

							W2	Houston	2
W1	Chivas USA	0	0

WC	Kansas City¹	1	0
				WC	Kansas City	0
Western Conference
				W2	Houston	2
WC	Dallas	1	1

W2	Houston (aet)	0	4

¹ The Kansas City Wizards earned the eighth and final playoff berth, despite finishing fifth in the Eastern Conference. They represent the fourth seed in the Western Conference playoff bracket, as only three teams in the Western Conference qualified for the playoffs.

Conference semifinals edit

October 25, 2007
7:30 CDT

D.C. United	0–1	Chicago Fire
Carroll 22' Moreno 86'	Report	Gutierrez 12' Rolfe 14' Brown 51'

Toyota Park, Bridgeview, Illinois

Attendance: 17,834

Referee: Baldomero Toledo

November 1, 2007
7:30 EDT

Chicago Fire	2–2	D.C. United
Barrett 31' Rolfe 33' Segares 54' Pickens 90+3'	Report	McTavish 61' Perkins 63' Simms 69' Gomez 74' Dyachenko 90+4'

RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.

Attendance: 19,438

Referee: Jair Marrufo

October 27, 2007
7:30 EDT

New England Revolution	0–0	New York Red Bulls
Parkhurst 73' John 85'	Report	Parke 83'

Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey

Attendance: 14,165

Referee: Jair Marrufo

November 3, 2007
7:30 EDT

New York Red Bulls	0–1	New England Revolution
Vide 34'	Report	Joseph 31' Thompson 50' Twellman 64' Smith 73' Twellman 80'

Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts

Attendance: 10,116

Referee: Abiodun Okulaja

October 27, 2007
7:00 CDT

Chivas USA	0–1	Kansas City Wizards
Zotinca 45+1'	Report	Arnaud 35' Harrington 44' Garcia 54' Zavagnin 88'

Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri

Attendance: 12,442

Referee: Alex Prus

November 3, 2007
7:30 PDT

Kansas City Wizards	0–0	Chivas USA
Johnson 65'	Report	Marsch 19' Mendoza 53' Núñez 62' Bornstein 89'

Home Depot Center, Carson, California

Attendance: 19,711

Referee: Mark Geiger

October 27, 2007
7:00 CDT

Houston Dynamo	0–1	FC Dallas
Cochrane 26'	Report	Ruíz 19' Goodson 23' Ricchetti 58' Oduro 79'

Pizza Hut Park, Frisco, Texas

Attendance: 12,537

Referee: Kevin Stott

November 2, 2007
7:30 CDT

FC Dallas	1–4 (A.E.T.)	Houston Dynamo
Ruíz 14' Sala 24' Denílson 39' C Gbandi 44' Alvarez 47' Serioux 78' Moor 99' Moor 119' Ricchetti 120'	Report	Mulrooney 28' Robinson 40' Holden 67' Ching 72' Ching 97' Onstad 98' Davis 100' De Rosario 109'