A heroic series of late saves by Charlotte FC’s Kristijan Kahlina against Lionel Messi and Inter Miami preserved his team’s spot in the playoffs by the thinnest of margins in the first half of MLS Decision Day on Saturday night.
It wasn’t the only late action that impacted the playoff picture. CF Montréal was knocked out of contention for the MLS Playoffs at just about the last possible moment on Saturday, as a late New York Red Bulls penalty against Nashville SC led the Red Bulls to a 1-0 win, leapfrogging Montréal and sending them to No. 8 in the Eastern Conference on tiebreakers. Effectively, the Red Bulls went from being out of the playoffs to hosting a postseason game with a single kick.
Elsewhere, a 1-0 win for NYCFC over Chicago Fire was not enough with other results to see the New York side into the postseason, while Chicago was also eliminated. Columbus Crew wrapped up the No. 3 seed with a win over Montreal, and Atlanta United lost Thiago Almada to a red card, which will see him suspended for the first leg of its first-round series against Columbus next week.
In the Western Conference, St. Louis City finished atop the table in their first season despite losing to second-place Seattle on Saturday night. Sporting KC and San Jose claimed the eighth and ninth spots, respectively — Sporting with a a 3-1 win over Minnesota and the Earthquakes with a 1-1 draw against Austin as Portland’s 3-1 home loss to Houston cost them a playoff spot.
Relive Decision Day through The Athletic’s live blog.
MLS Eastern Conference playoff matchups:
Play-in:
(8) NY Red Bulls vs. (9) Charlotte FC
First round:
(1) FC Cincinnati vs. Red Bulls/Charlotte winner
(2) Orlando City vs. (7) Nashville SC
(3) Columbus Crew vs. (6) Atlanta United
(4) Philadelphia Union vs. (5) New England Revolution
MLS Western Conference playoff matchups:
Play-in:
(8) Sporting Kansas City vs. (9) San Jose Earthquakes
First round:
(1) St. Louis City vs. SKC/SJE winner
(2) Seattle Sounders vs. (7) FC Dallas
(3) LAFC vs. (6) Vancouver Whitecaps
(4) Houston Dynamo vs. (5) Real Salt Lake
(Photo: Matthew Maxey/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)