Two Alonso Martinez penalties powered NYCFC past Charlotte on Saturday to halt their nine game win streak in its tracks.  Matt Freese stoned Wilfried Zaha on a penalty kick of his own in the 69th minute to shut down any potential comeback hopes for the visitors.  Charlotte’s final third woes finally caught up to them in this one.  Outside of their penalty kick chance, Charlotte were barely able to generate any chances in the match.  Martinez bagged his 16th and 17th of the league season as Freese locked down his eighth clean sheet.

The win moved New York City up to fourth in the Eastern Conference, and so much for me calling this a nightmare stretch for the Pigeons.  They’ve now won three on the bounce and jumped from the play-in round to a first round home field advantage spot.  They still have a game in hand on the top three teams, which they’ll play tonight against fifth place Inter Miami.  All eyes should be on this one, as the winner will have a good grasp on that coveted fourth spot.

Charlotte remained in third place with the loss but have lost control over their top four dreams.  New York City sit level on points but have played an extra game and Inter Miami sit just a point behind with three games in hand.  Oh, and don’t forget about Orlando sitting in sixth just two points behind with a game in hand as well.  This may very well be the most competitive East from first to the playoff line that we’ve seen in quite some time.  Just one win separates third from eighth at the moment with Philadelphia and Cincinnati seemingly pulling away from the crowd.  The winner of NYCFC and Miami will look to join the two, but because of Miami’s extra games down the stretch, they do have a bit more room for error.

It took until late into stoppage time, but Duncan McGuire’s 90+5 minute winner secured a huge three points for Orlando City.  Summer signing Tyrese Spicer slid a ball across the face and a clever run and fantastic finish from McGuire sent Inter&Co Stadium into pandemonium just before the final whistle.  Martín Ojeda scored goals in the 30th and 32nd minutes to jump ahead 2-0.  A stunning free kick followed by a tight angled finish marked his 15th and 16th goals of the season.  Hany Mukhtar was able to pounce on his own rebound off the post in stoppage time of the first half to cut the deficit to one heading into the break.  Dan Lovitz fizzed a cross behind the back line in the 51st minute that found the left foot of Jacob Shaffelburg in the goal mouth, and the Canadian made no mistake leveling the game.  It was an impressive comeback from Nashville and they would have been happy to leave Orlando with a point after the way the first half went, but they weren’t able see the game over the line.

Orlando City picked up their first win in over a month, jumping up to sixth place in the East.  The top four is still well within their reach with four games to play, but Orlando will have to build off the weekend result with tough matches against FC Cincinnati, Columbus, and Vancouver on the horizon.

Nashville dropped their third straight league game, ironically a streak that started after their 5-1 drubbing of Orlando nearly a month prior.  Now sitting in seventh place, Nashville will turn their sights to a home match against Houston.  They can clinch a playoff spot with a win this weekend, however their chances of missing out on the postseason are extremely low.  After that, they’ll head to Austin on the first day of October for the US Open Cup final.  It’ll be important not to look past Houston in anticipation, as a win on the weekend could be very well just what Nashville need to power into the playoffs.

In maybe the shock result of the weekend, the Chicago Fire rode into Allianz Field on Saturday night and blanked Minnesota United.  This was no East vs. West knock down, drag out road win either.  Chicago firmly controlled the tempo of the game and heavily out chanced the Loons on their home turf.  Summer signing Joel Waterman opened his Chicago Fire account in the 26th minute and Dje D’Avilla doubled the lead for the visitors heading into halftime.  Philip Zinckernagel put any comeback dreams to rest in the 70th minute to solidify the Fire’s huge road win.  Hugo Cuypers did see a late penalty saved by Dayne St. Clair, and the game would finish 3-0

Chicago’s win was a crucial one, as a Red Bulls win in Montreal would have seen the Jersey side jump ahead of the Fire for the final playoff spot.  It’s still a two point lead for Chicago, however their game in hand over New York will make them feel a little more at ease about the narrow gap.  Chicago will head home on the weekend to face a struggling Columbus Crew team, one that will determine if the Fire will be able to catch the Crew in the playoff race.  The gap there is currently five points, however if the Fire are able to get a win at home, Columbus’ margin for error becomes ever so slim to stay ahead in the table.

Minnesota dropped down to third in the Western Conference with the loss, and will feel a surging LAFC right on their heels for playoff positioning.  It feels like the top four in the West are all but set and the only question will be who finishes where.  LAFC have a rather favorable schedule down the stretch, as they face three teams who are already eliminated from playoff contention and two who are below them in the standings to finish out.  Minnesota have a pretty favorable final three games as well with Colorado, Kansas City, and Galaxy to close out the regular season.  The Loons will need to show some real dominance in the last few games to put any talk of a postseason flop out of the discussion, but there is absolutely zero cause for concern in Minnesota at the moment, even with the big loss to Chicago.

LAFC had a little home and home two leg matchup with Salt Lake over the last week, and identical scorelines with two hat tricks led to complete domination.  A 4-1 victory in Utah on Wednesday featured a Son Heung-min hat trick and a 4-1 victory back in LA on Saturday saw Denis Bouanga net a hat trick of his own.  Ironically, Bouanga scored the fourth in Salt Lake and Sonny scored the fourth in LA.  We rarely see MLS teams face off in back to back matchdays, and I’d be stunned if we’ve seen identical scorelines in any of those scenarios before.  Add in two hat tricks by two of MLS’ most popular players and that makes for a pretty interesting week if you ask me.

We’ll start with Salt Lake.  As of now, they sit twelfth in the West, which seems like they should be eliminated from playoff contention by now but that’s not the case at all.  The West has followed a much more traditional table compared to the East this year.  There’s power in the top, the middle group has contenders and pretenders, and the playoff line is EXTREMELY tight.  Colorado and Dallas currently hold onto the play-in spots, but any of the three teams just below the playoff line could just as easily occupy one come season’s end.  That’s where Salt Lake is.  Only three points separate them from the final spot at the moment, and with a game in hand on the other two that are below the playoff line, there’s absolutely no reason to count out RSL.  Home matches against Colorado and Austin precede away games in Seattle and St. Louis to finish the year, and it’s very possible that six to seven points could get it done.

LAFC is flying at the moment.  Three straight victories and 14 of a possible last 21 points have them up to fourth place in the West.  They’re only four points off of third place and seven off the top spot.  It seems like a lot to ask for this late in the season, but LAFC still have two games to make up down the stretch.  They’ve already played all their games against the top teams in either conference, and all of their next three opponents have been eliminated fro playoff contention.  Two road games to end the season in Austin and Colorado could prove to be a sticking point for their conference title dreams, but with some luck, they’re not far off the pace.  More importantly, Son has come in and dazzled on the field and it seems like he and Bouanga are meshing at exactly the right time.  It’s a scary sight for anyone who has them penciled into their schedule in these final games, and at this point they might be my bet for the best team in the West.  Their ability to hurt teams in so many different ways will give every single defense in the league problems, and if they can keep teams off the scoresheet they very well could be the team to represent the West at MLS Cup in December.