Last day of MLS: Playoff matchups set, Wondolowski retires

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) – Damir Kreilach scored in stoppage time to put Real Salt Lake over Sporting Kansas City 1-0 on Sunday night and clinch a berth in the playoffs on the final day of the MLS regular season. Real Salt Lake (14-14-6), the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference, will play second-seeded Seattle in the first round. Sporting KC (17-10-7) went into the day with a chance to clinch the No. 1 seed, but fell to No. 3 and will play sixth-seeded Vancouver. Kreilach put away a volley off a bicycle kick by Justin Meram from point-blank range to make it 1-0 in the fifth minute of stoppage time to keep Real Salt Lake’s season alive. David Ochoa had four saves for RSL. The 20-year-old goalkeeper in his third MLS season has four career shutouts, all in 2021. EARTHQUAKES 1, FC DALLAS 1 SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) – Chris Wondolowski scored his 171st and final career goal to help San Jose tie with FC Dallas. The all-time MLS goals leader retired after the game, finishing a 17-year career. Wondolowski, 38, put away a one-touch shot from near the penalty spot off a low cross played by Marcos López to give San Jose (10-13-10) a 1-0 lead in the 34th minute. He scored five goals in his final season. Neither team is playoff-bound. San Jose had 59.6% possession and outshot Dallas (7-15-11) 26-7. MINNESOTA UNITED 3, GALAXY 3 CARSON, Calif. (AP) – Adrien Hunou and Robin Lob scored early for Minnesota, which played to a draw with Los Angeles to make the playoffs. The Galaxy, on the other hand, were eliminated because of the dramatic win by Real Salt Lake. Minnesota or Los Angeles would have secured a playoff spot with a win, but a tie was would have been good enough as long as Real Salt Lake didn’t win. But RSL scored in the fifth minute of stoppage time for a 1-0 win over Sporting KC, and forced the Galaxy into a must-win situation. The Galaxy had three shots – two on goal – in the seven minutes of stoppage time. Instead, Minnesota (13-11-10) goes into the playoffs as the No. 5 seed and will play at fourth-seeded Portland. Real Salt Lake secured the seventh and final spot with 48 points, the same as the Galaxy (12-13-19), but RSL had the goal differential tiebreaker. TIMBERS 3, AUSTIN FC 0 PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – A goal by Sebastian Blanco in the 53rd minute was the final tally for playoff-bound Portland in its win over Austin. The Timbers’ playoff spot wasn’t in doubt – they clinched the fourth spot in the standings with a 3-1 victory over Real Salt Lake on Wednesday. As a result, Portland will open the playoffs at home against Minnesota, which played to a 3-3 draw with the LA Galaxy on Sunday. Portland (17-13-4) set a club record for most wins in a season. The Timbers have advanced to the playoffs in each of the last five seasons. Austin (9-21-5) was eliminated before Sunday’s game. Playing its first season, the expansion team won just two road matches this season. But the team had beaten in the Timbers twice at home. ATLANTA UNITED 2, FC CINCINNATI 1 CINCINNATI (AP) – Miles Robinson and Josef Martínez scored for Atlanta United, which overcame an early deficit Sunday to beat FC Cincinnati 2-1 and clinch a playoff berth on the last day of the regular season. Atlanta (13-9-12) earned the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference. It will play fourth-seeded New York City FC in the first round. Robinson scored in the 70th minute and Martínez gave Atlanta United its first lead in the 79th at 2-1. Robinson, a 24-year old in his fifth MLS season, flicked a header off a corner kick by Ezequiel Barco that slipped under the crossbar for his first career goal to make it 1-1 and Martínez side-netted a volley, off a clearance attempt that sailed high in the air before the finish from corner of the 6-yard box.