ATLANTA–With the calendar switching to October, this marks a good time to spin things forward with United, as well, as the club hits the home stretch of the regular season.
Five Stripes incurred a road defeat to the New York Red Bulls on Sunday, thus cutting Atlanta's Eastern Conference lead to just one point.
Will that be enough for United to finish strong and land the conference's top seed?
Only time will tell.
HOW CRUCIAL WAS SUNDAY'S LOSS?
We'll put it this way:
A victory in New York would have created a four-point cushion for Atlanta. But since this didn't happen, United (63 seasonal points) must outperform the Red Bulls (62 points) over the final three matches of the regular season.
Why is that? By virtue of sweeping the head-to-head series (2-0), New York owns the tiebreaker for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.
WHICH EAST ELITE OWNS THE OCTOBER EDGE?
Based on the current standings, the Red Bulls have the easier path to close the regular season ... but it's a dead heat, in terms of inept opponents.
For its three-game stretch, New York draws San Jose (fewest points in MLS), Philadelphia (5th in the East) and Orlando City SC (dead-last in the East).
Atlanta, in turn, has home dates with New England (8th in the East), Chicago (10th in the East) and a roadie with Toronto (9th in the East).
HOW MIGHT THE EAST PLAYOFFS STACK UP?
A few points of interest:
a) United has already clinched a first-round bye during the playoffs, along with a home match for Round 2.
b) If Atlanta earns the No. 1 seed, it would host every postseason match ... including the MLS Cup championship on Dec. 8.
c) Some Americans (including yours truly) may be surprised to hear the following:
**For the East and West semifinals, the matchups will feature a two-game series–a notable departure from the winner-take-all playoff encounters with the NFL.
(And yes, I know that soccer and football are vastly different operations.)
**How does the MLS determine the winner, in the event of a series split?
Aggregate goals.
e) If the East playoffs began today, New York City FC and Columbus would host the first-round knockout matches.
If these clubs prevailed over Montreal and Philadelphia, respectively, United would then meet the Ohio-based Crew for the semifinal series (Nov. 4 and 11).
Should be a fun ride down the stretch.
Atlanta's seasonal record versus Columbus: 2-0
United seasonal mark versus New York City FC: 0-0-2
