MLS Cup champs Toronto out of playoff contention with loss

Los Angeles (AFP) – Reigning Major League Soccer Cup champions Toronto FC were eliminated from playoff contention Saturday with a 2-1 loss to the Vancouver Whitecaps, who kept their own post-season hopes alive.

Russell Teibert and Kei Kamara scored for Vancouver, Teibert putting the Whitecaps up in the fourth minute and Kamara grabbing the game-winner in the 78th.

Toronto had been reduced to 10 men when Gregory van der Wiel was sent off for his second yellow card before Jozy Altidore gave them a ray of hope, converting a penalty in the 73rd after a sliding Doneil Henry handled a cross from Jay Chapman.

But Kamara answered, seizing a cross from Jordon Mutch and slotting in his 14th goal of the season.

Toronto’s failure to make the playoffs follows a spectacular 2017 campaign, when their 69 points were a league record as they claimed the Supporters Shield as the team topping the MLS regular-season standings and the MLS Cup playoff crown.

In other matches, the Philadelphia Union clinched a playoff berth with a 5-1 home victory over Minnesota. Fafa Picault scored twice in the first half to five the Union a 4-0 half-time edge and while Darwin Quintero spoiled the shutout bid in the 54th minnesota for the Loons, Ilsinho added a final tally for the Union in the 79th minute.

The Montreal Impact blanked visiting Columbus 3-0, moving five points ahead of D.C. United for the final Eastern Conference playoff berth but with the US capital club holding three matches in hand.