Posted by Heath Harshman

By Heath Harshman- WFD Fan Correspondent

The week that was in the MLS was one of the more eventful weeks in recent memory. The MLS had its first team eliminated from playoff contention, there was just one draw in the eight matches and teams placed sixth through tenth all won, signaling their postseason intent.

D.C. United, sitting on 18 points at the bottom of the MLS table with a goal differential of minus-22, was officially eliminated Saturday after losing 2-1 on the road to the Los Angeles Galaxy. United took a 60th minute 1-0 lead through Honduran teenager Andy Najar, but were unable to secure what would've been a very surprising victory against the top of the league Galaxy. United States men's national team hero Landon Donovan scored a brace in the final ten minutes to grab all three points for Los Angeles. The win secured the Galaxy's spot atop the league as they kept pace with second place Real Salt Lake, who continued their impressive point-tallying stretch with a 1-0 home win over the Chicago Fire.

The Royals win set a MLS record for consecutive undefeated league home matches (23) with the win at the Rio Tinto Stadium. The defending MLS Cup champions are just three points behind the Galaxy for the top spot and hold the second place spot above now third place Columbus Crew by three points as well.

Sixth place Colorado comfortably beat the New England Revolution 3-0 at home on Saturday, pushing their point total to 37 this season, six points above ninth place Toronto FC. First half goals from the increasingly dynamic partnership of Conor Casey and Omar Cummings, each tallying a goal, put the Rapids in cruise control for the rest of the match. The Rapids will now travel to the Rio Tinto Stadium and try to break Real Salt Lake's newly attained home unbeaten record on Saturday night. The match will be aired live on FSC at 7pm PT. The match is the first time the rivals meet this season and will open the scoring for the Rocky Mountain Cup. Real Salt Lake has won the last three editions of the cup.

The San Jose Earthquakes, currently in seventh place, also won last week, defeating the Philadelphia Union 1-0 at the Buck Shaw Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Chris Wondolowski headed home a 69th minute cross to give the Earthquakes the victory. It was their fourth shutout of the season and puts them five points above ninth place Toronto, who they face at BMO Field next week. San Jose is attempting to reach the postseason for the first time since they were re-established in 2008.

In what was easily the most impressive victory of the week the eighth place Seattle Sounders defeated Eastern Conference leaders Columbus Crew by a score of 4-0 at Crew Stadium. The result equaled the Crew's worst loss ever. The last time the home side lost by four goals was May 19, 2007, away to New York. Their worst home loss was also 4-0, versus Kansas City on May 14, 2005.

The Sounders were led to victory by Swiss international Blaise Nkufo. Nkufo joined the Sounders after playing for Switzerland in the World Cup over the summer and was yet to open his account in five appearances. On his way to being named MLS Player of the Week Nkufo scored a hat-trick, his first goals as a Sounder and the first hat-trick in the history of the MLS Sounders.

The huge win gives Seattle some serious road momentum that they will carry into Toyota Park this weekend when they take on the fading Chicago Fire. The Fire trails the Sounders by ten points in the MLS playoff standings and has not won since August 18th.

Apart from the Rocky Mountain Cup between Colorado and Salt Lake on Saturday, one other MLS match will be televised nationally this week. In ESPN's MLS showcase on Friday night (ESPN2 at 8pm PT) the stars will be out as the Galaxy take on the New York Red Bulls at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles.

The new-look Red Bulls with international stars such as Mexican defender Rafael Marquez and French super-striker Thierry Henry will try to move into a tie for first place in the East with the Crew and can do so with a road win. Red Bulls leading scorer Juan Pablo Angel, who has a league second highest 12 goals on the year, will also be adding to the showcase.

In opposition for the league leaders' midfielder David Beckham, who had another appearance last week for the Galaxy as he heads towards full fitness, will be available and most MLS fans will hope to see him again alongside Landon Donovan.

These five designated players plus a matchup of two of the top five teams plus national television equal what is likely the must see game of the MLS season thus far. The names are big, the lights will be bright and both teams will come out firing and trying to prove a point. Non-MLS fans that tuned into the World Cup last summer should definitely tune into this matchup to get a taste of what the MLS has to offer.



In addition to being a weekly blogger for WFD, I write for the Washington State University student newspaper, The Daily Evergreen, where I have a weekly sports column. I am also the Washington State University men's basketball beat writer for Jim Basnight's college hoops blog on mynorthwest.com. You can find past pieces and follow my work not only for WFD but for The Daily Evergreen and mynorthwest.com by following me on twitter @heathharshman or adding me on facebook. Any feedback is welcome at heath_harshman@yahoo.com.