2008 MLS Cup Playoffs

Country

United States

Teams

Champions

Columbus Crew

Runners-up

New York Red Bulls

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The 2008 MLS Cup Playoffs were the postseason to Major League Soccer's 2008 season, and culminated with MLS Cup 2008 on November 23, 2008 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, California.

Format

Main article: MLS Cup Playoffs

At the 2008 season's end, the top three teams of each conference made the playoffs; in addition the clubs with the next two highest point totals, regardless of conference, were added to the playoffs. 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, the tie-breaking method was two 15-minute periods of extra time, followed by penalty kicks if necessary. The away goals rule was not used.

Standings

Conference standings

Pos	Club	Pts	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD
Eastern Conference
1	Columbus Crew	57	30	17	7	6	50	36	+14
2	Chicago Fire	46	30	13	10	7	44	33	+11
3	New England Revolution	43	30	12	11	7	40	43	–3
4	Kansas City Wizards	42	30	11	10	9	37	39	–2
5	New York Red Bulls	39	30	10	11	9	42	48	–6
6	D.C. United	37	30	11	15	4	43	51	–8
7	Toronto FC	35	30	9	13	8	34	43	–9


	2008 MLS Cup Playoffs
	2008 MLS Cup Playoffs (Wild Card)

Pos	Club	Pts	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD
Western Conference
1	Houston Dynamo	51	30	13	5	12	45	32	+13
2	Chivas USA	43	30	12	11	7	40	41	–1
3	Real Salt Lake	40	30	10	10	10	40	39	+1
4	Colorado Rapids	38	30	11	14	5	44	45	–1
5	FC Dallas	36	30	8	10	12	45	41	+4
6	LA Galaxy	33	30	8	13	9	55	62	–7
7	San Jose Earthquakes	33	30	8	13	9	32	38	–6


	2008 MLS Cup Playoffs
	2008 MLS Cup Playoffs (Wild Card)

Overall standings


Pos	Team	Pts	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Qualification or relegation
1	Columbus Crew (SS) (E1)	57	30	17	7	6	50	36	+14	2009–10 CONCACAF Champions League Group Stage ²
2	Houston Dynamo (W1)	51	30	13	5	12	45	32	+13	2009–10 CONCACAF Champions League Group Stage ²
3	Chicago Fire	46	30	13	10	7	44	33	+11	2009 North American SuperLiga ⁴
4	New England Revolution	43	30	12	11	7	40	43	−3
5	Chivas USA	43	30	12	11	7	40	41	−1
6	Kansas City Wizards	42	30	11	10	9	37	39	−2
7	Real Salt Lake	40	30	10	10	10	40	39	+1	2008 MLS Cup Playoffs
8	New York Red Bulls	39	30	10	11	9	42	48	−6	2009–10 CONCACAF Champions League Preliminary Round ³
9	Colorado Rapids	38	30	11	14	5	44	45	−1
10	D.C. United	37	30	11	15	4	43	51	−8	2009–10 CONCACAF Champions League Preliminary Round ³
11	FC Dallas	36	30	8	10	12	45	41	+4
12	Toronto FC	35	30	9	13	8	34	43	−9
13	LA Galaxy	33	30	8	13	9	55	62	−7
14	San Jose Earthquakes	33	30	8	13	9	32	38	−6

^Note 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 not already qualified would have qualified.

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

^Note 3 - The winner of the 2008 MLS Supporters' Shield (Columbus Crew) qualified for the 2009–10 CONCACAF Champions League Group Stage. As they also won MLS 2008, the 2008 MLS Supporters' Shield runner-up (Houston Dynamo) also entered the Group Stage. The runner-up of MLS Cup 2008 (New York Red Bulls) and the winner of the 2008 U.S. Open Cup (D.C. United) qualified for the 2009–10 CONCACAF Champions League Preliminary Round.

Bracket

Conference Semifinals				Conference Finals			MLS Cup 2008

E1	Columbus Crew	1	2
E4	Kansas City Wizards	1	0
				E1	Columbus Crew	2
Eastern Conference
				E2	Chicago Fire	1
E3	New England Revolution	0	0

E2	Chicago Fire	0	3
							E1	Columbus Crew	3

							W4	New York Red Bulls	1
W1	Houston Dynamo	1	0

W4	New York Red Bulls	1	3
				W4	New York Red Bulls	1
Western Conference
				W3	Real Salt Lake	0
W3	Real Salt Lake	1	2

W2	Chivas USA	0	2

¹ The New York Red Bulls 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

Columbus Crew v Kansas City Wizards

November 1, 2008
7:00 PM CDT

Columbus Crew	1 – 1	Kansas City Wizards
Padula 84' Lenhart 90+2' Carroll 90+3'		Jewsbury 40' Arnaud 53' Gomez 75'

Community America Ballpark, Kansas City, Kansas
Attendance: 10,385
Referee: Jorge Gonzalez

Kansas City Wizards v Columbus Crew

November 8, 2008
7:30 PM EST

Kansas City Wizards	0 – 2	Columbus Crew
Arnaud 39' Wahl 49'		Evans 7' 63' Rogers 57' 66' Hejduk 87' Ekpo 90'

Columbus Crew Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Attendance: 11,153
Referee: Ricardo Salazar

Chicago Fire v New England Revolution

October 30, 2008
7:30 PM EDT

Chicago Fire	0 – 0	New England Revolution
Soumare 16' Pause 59' Blanco 69'		Mansally 42' Castro 73'

Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts
Attendance: 5,221
Referee: Alex Prus

New England Revolution v Chicago Fire

November 6, 2008
7:30 PM CST

New England Revolution	0 – 3	Chicago Fire
Albright 7' 83' Igwe 45+2' Joseph 53'		Thorrington 36' Rolfe 45+2' Conde 47' Busch 62' Segares 74'

Toyota Park, Bridgeview, Illinois
Attendance: 17,312
Referee: Jair Marrufo

Houston Dynamo v New York Red Bulls

November 1, 2008
4:00 PM EDT

Houston Dynamo	1 – 1	New York Red Bulls
Mullan 53' Kamara 85'		Richards 29' Angel 37' 48'

Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey
Attendance: 11,578
Referee: Kevin Stott

New York Red Bulls v Houston Dynamo

November 9, 2008
2:00 PM CST

New York Red Bulls	3 – 0	Houston Dynamo
van den Bergh 5' Richards 25' Goldthwaite 28' Angel 36' (pen.) Sassano 45+2' Wolyniec 81'		Robinson 62' Onstad 69' Mullan 73'

Robertson Stadium, Houston, Texas
Attendance: 30,053
Referee: Baldomero Toledo

Chivas USA v Real Salt Lake

November 1, 2008
4:00 PM MDT

Chivas USA	0 – 1	Real Salt Lake
Razov 66' Thomas 75'		Williams 29' Beckerman 42' Movsisyan 90'

Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy, Utah
Attendance: 14,719
Referee: Ricardo Salazar

Real Salt Lake v Chivas USA

November 8, 2008
7:30 PM PST

Real Salt Lake	2 – 2	Chivas USA
Mathis 10' Borchers 30' Kovalenko 39' 42' Morales 77'		Nagamura 22' Kljestan 30' (pen.) Bornstein 60' Braun 83' Razov 86' Thomas 90+1'

Home Depot Center, Carson, California
Attendance: 19,256
Referee: Michael Kennedy

Conference finals

Chicago Fire v Columbus Crew

November 13, 2008
7:30PM EST

Chicago Fire	1–2	Columbus Crew
Soumare 22' McBride 29' Segares 48' Prideaux 67'		Marshall 49' Gaven 55' O'Rourke 57' Hesmer 90+2'

Columbus Crew Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Attendance: 14,688
Referee: Terry Vaughn

New York Red Bulls v Real Salt Lake

November 15, 2008
7:30PM MST

New York Red Bulls	1–0	Real Salt Lake
van den Bergh 28' Goldthwaite 45' Rojas 64' Leitch 90+4'

Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy, Utah
Attendance: 20,008
Referee: Jair Marrufo