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)

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

Main article: MLS Cup Playoffs

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

Conference standings

Eastern Conference
Club		Pts	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD
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

Western Conference
Club		Pts	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD
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

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

	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

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'

Robertson Stadium, Houston, Texas

Attendance: 30,088

Referee: Baldomero Toledo

Conference finals

November 8, 2007
7:30 EST

Chicago Fire	0–1	New England Revolution
	Report	Larentowicz  36' Twellman 38'

Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts

Attendance: 10,317

Referee: Kevin Stott

---

November 10, 2007
7:30 CST

Kansas City Wizards	0–2	Houston Dynamo
Garcia  55' Marinelli  58' Arnaud  93'		Jaqua 35' Jaqua  41' De Rosario 81'

Robertson Stadium, Houston, Texas

Attendance: 30,972

Referee: Jair Marrufo

Final

Main article: MLS Cup 2007

November 18, 2007
12:00 EST

New England Revolution	1–2	Houston Dynamo
Twellman 20' Smith  65'	Report	Barrett  57' Ngwenya 61' De Rosario 74'

RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.

Attendance: 39,859

Referee: Alex Prus

External links

• Official website of Major League Soccer
• Official website of the 2007 MLS Cup Playoffs