Tuesday 5 November 2019 13:39, UK
A quartet of dramatic MLS conference semi-finals resulted in upsets, outstanding individual performances and possibly the end for some of football's most iconic names.
Colorado Rapids have reached their second ever MLS Conference final where they will face Seattle Sounders, who will make their third appearance at this stage. In the Eastern Conference, Canada rules as Toronto FC and Montreal Impact face off against each other for the first time ever in a post-season with neither side reaching this phase of the competition before.
Ahead of the season-defining games, live on Sky Sports, we dissect some of the subplots to have come out of the play-off semi-finals, with a look ahead to what seems set to be one of the most exciting climaxes to an MLS campaign in its 20-year history.
Is Steven Gerrard's playing career over?
Gerrard has hinted that he might end his playing career at LA Galaxy, with his contract at the club expiring at the end of the season. Media reports have linked the 36-year-old with a return to Liverpool to take up a coaching role under Jurgen Klopp.
Should Gerrard retire or opt to leave Galaxy, he will depart America without an MLS Cup to his name.
Considering the Galaxy are the most decorated club in American soccer history, the 1-1 aggregate defeat on penalties at the conference semi-final stage was as a real upset.
Will Didier Drogba start in MLS again?
Montreal's 3-1 aggregate victory over New York Red Bulls would have been an important statement to Didier Drogba. The 38-year-old is no longer the club's star, Ignacio Piatti is.
The former Chelsea striker refused to feature for the Impact last month after learning he would not be starting. He has not played since with reports of an apparent back problem, missing Impact's final regular season game and then their first two play-off matches.
Drogba came off the bench for the final ten minutes on Sunday with Montreal already 2-1 up on aggregate, playing a cameo role reminiscent of his second spell at Chelsea.
Piatti's double in the second leg against the Red Bulls means he has three goals and an assist in the play-offs after three matches, while Drogba's striker replacement Matteo Mancosu has also scored three.
If a fully fit Drogba does not start against Toronto, the end of his MLS career may be in sight.
Sebastian Giovinco shining
Toronto will have thought they would be up against it when they were drawn to face a New York City team consisting of Frank Lampard, Andrea Pirlo and David Villa, but Sebastian Giovinco had other plans.
Having already dispatched Philadelphia Union 3-1 in a one-game knockout round, the first leg of their Eastern Conference semi-final clash with NYC came just four days later.
That did not faze coach Greg Vanney's side, though. Jozy Altidore and Tosaint Ricketts gave the Reds a two-goal cushion going into the away leg before Giovinco scored a hat-trick at Yankee Stadium in the 5-0 victory. The tie finished 7-0 to Toronto on aggregate, the largest play-off scoreline in league history.
In their first MLS season, New York City were competing in their first ever play-off. An achievement in itself, but questions will now be raised over the longevity of Pirlo, 37, and Lampard, 38, in Major League Soccer.
Resurgence in Seattle
The majority of Seattle's season had been difficult, only winning six league matches in the first five months of the season. But the tough decision to replace long-standing coach Sigi Schmid for his assistant Brian Schmetzer looks to have paid off.
Seattle have won their last ten home matches in a row and has been greatly spurred on by Osvaldo Alonso and forwards Jordan Morris and Nicolas Lodeiro.
So despite Clint Dempsey being ruled out for the season in August with health issues relating to an irregular heartbeat, the Sounders have stayed strong.
FC Dallas were on the hunt for the treble this season having already won the Supporters' Shield and U.S Open Cup, but Seattle have ended any chance of further success earlier than expected with a 3-0 win in the first leg carrying them over the line in the end as they lost 2-1 in the return fixture.
The Sounders have never gone past the conference championship final, but they have also never lost at home in the penultimate round before MLS Cup so plenty of reason to suggest they're a significant threat.
Underdogs Colorado out for second MLS Cup
The only team out of the four to have lifted an MLS Cup, Colorado Rapids have been this season's MLS surprise packages.
Last year, the Rapids finished bottom of the West on 37 points and have now gone on to reach the Conference finals after seeing off a star-studded LA Galaxy team on penalties.
A 40-yard strike from former Basel forward Shkelzen Gashi to send the tie to extra-time will go down as one of the great goals in MLS play-off history while Tim Howard pulled off the necessary heroics with two saves in the shoot-out.
The resilience seen in the Rapids' post-season campaign so far could see the Rapids lift their first MLS Cup since 2010. Colorado have not reached the same stage of the play-offs in the last six years, and would surely make for one of the league's great success stories should they overcome an expensively assembled Seattle side.
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