LA Galaxy clinched their first playoff berth since 2019 after Javier Hernandez earned them a late penalty to secure a 1-1 draw away to Real Salt Lake on Saturday.
Douglas Costa converted the 68th-minute penalty won by Hernandez, after Riqui Puig had his 17th-minute spotkick saved by RSL goalkeeper Zac MacMath.
RSL had gone ahead in the 25th minute from Sergio Cordova's header, but were left to lament Justen Glad failing to convert two late golden opportunities from headers, denting their playoff hopes and extending their winless run to five games.
Ex-Manchester United forward Hernandez earned Galaxy's reprieve after review when bundled over by Marcelo Silva inside the box, with Costa sending MacMath the wrong way.
The draw was enough for the Galaxy, who are perched fourth in the Western Conference with 47 points from 33 games, with RSL sitting eighth, just outside the playoff spots, with 44 points from 33 games.
Derrick Etienne scored two late goals against his former side to earn Columbus Crew a 2-1 win over New York Red Bulls, who suffered their third defeat in four games.
Etienne equalized Franuel Amaya's 53rd-minute thunderbolt with an 89th-minute strike on the turn, before grabbing a 93rd-minute winner by lashing home a rebound.
Philadelphia Union handed the initiative to LAFC in the Supporters' Shield hunt after being thrashed 4-0 by Charlotte, for whom Daniel Rios netted four goals, achieving a franchise-first hat-trick.
The defeat means Philadelphia have failed to win in their past two games, leaving them on 64 points from 33 games, while LAFC have the same number of points with two games to play, starting with Portland Timbers on Sunday.
Donovan Pines scored an own goal and was red carded as DC United lost 1-0 to Montreal, who closed within two points of Eastern Conference leaders Philadelphia with one game to play.
Sergio Santos was sent off amid a late scuffle as Cincinnati missed a chance to practically clinch a playoff spot with a 3-2 home loss to Chicago Fire. Cincinnati fought back from 3-0 down after Jhon Duran's double for Chicago.
Minnesota United's winless run extended to six games after going down 2-0 to San Jose Earthquakes, leaving them in a precarious position in the race to qualify for the Western Conference playoffs.
Vancouver Whitecaps capitalized on Minnesota and RSL's results and beat Austin 2-0 to keep alive their playoff hopes with their third straight victory. The Whitecaps are ninth in the west with 43 points with one game to play, with seventh-placed Minnesota on 45 and RSL on 44.
Josef Martinez scored a spectacular scissor-kick goal but Atlanta United went down 2-1 to New England, while playoff-bound Dallas lost 1-0 at Colorado Rapids.
Tottenham claim dramatic last-gasp victory over nine-man Liverpool
Tottenham celebrated another jaw-dropping 2-1 stoppage-time victory as Joel Matip’s own goal finally broke nine-man Liverpool’s resistance.
Saturday evening’s box office battle pitted together exciting, resurgent sides that had both begun the new Premier League season unbeaten having bounced back from chastening campaigns last term.
Jurgen Klopp’s men were seconds away from leaving north London with a fantastic point after Cody Gakpo cancelled out Son Heung-min’s opener in a match which saw the visitors have two players sent off.
Curtis Jones and half-time introduction Diogo Jota were sent off at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where Spurs finally beat Liverpool at the fifth time of asking.
Just like in their last home game against Sheffield United a fortnight ago, Ange Postecoglou’s men triumphed thanks to a stunning stoppage-time conclusion.
This time it was Liverpool defender Matip providing the key touch, inadvertently turning home Pedro Porro’s cross to spark wild celebrations in the sixth minute of added time.
AC Milan see off Lazio with stylish second-half performance
AC Milan turned on the second-half style to record an impressive 2-0 Serie A victory over Lazio.
Christian Pulisic and Noah Okafor were on target to finally end stubborn Lazio resistance at the San Siro, but Rafael Leao was the star attraction in a commanding performance.
Leao set up both Pulisic and Okafor – and the Portugal winger now has 72 goal contributions since joining Milan in 2019.
Felipe Anderson and Valentin Castellanos had half-chances for Lazio during a first period that took some time to burst into life.
But Lazio, who kept Ciro Immobile until the final 15 minutes, were largely toothless up front.
Milan lost Ruben Loftus-Cheek – who had scored his first goal for the Rossoneri against Cagliari in midweek – to an early injury but gained momentum as the contest moved past the half-hour mark.
Leao saw his near-post effort from a tight angle saved by Ivan Provedel in the Lazio goal.
The deadlock was almost broken on the stroke of half-time after Olivier Giroud brought Provedel into action again.
Provedel could not hold the shot and the loose ball fell to Tijjani Reijnders, who took it around the goalkeeper but, off balance, back-heeled it against the outside of a post.
Milan really upped the tempo after the break and took a deserved lead after an hour.
Leao surged down the left and his cut-back found Pulisic unmarked on the penalty spot.
The American’s shot had enough to get past Provedel for his third goal of the season, although the goalkeeper got a hand to the effort.
Provedel distinguished himself by saving from Yunus Musah after the American had brought the ball down and fired goalwards in one sharp movement.
Reijnders fired into the side netting before Milan put the issue beyond doubt two minutes from time.
Leao was again the instigator with another excellent run and cross which allowed Okafor to convert with a simple tap-in.
It was Okafor’s second Milan goal after his first for the club in the 3-1 win at Cagliari.
Lazio were denied a spectacular consolation in the fourth minute of stoppage time when Spanish substitute Pedro sent a 25-yard shot into the top corner of Mike Maignan’s net.
The officials had spotted an offside in the build-up and there was to be no joy for Lazio after a VAR check.
This was Milan’s third successive league win, while Lazio’s season has yet to get going after this fourth defeat in seven games.
Man City failed to execute their ‘process’ in defeat at Wolves – Pep Guardiola
Pep Guardiola said Manchester City failed to properly execute their “process” and was keen to praise Wolves after his side’s 100 per cent start to their Premier League title defence ended with a 2-1 loss at Molineux.
City went into the contest looking to make it seven league victories at the start of a campaign for the first time.
But the treble-winners were condemned to defeat by Hwang Hee-chan’s 66th-minute finish, eight minutes after an early Ruben Dias own goal had been cancelled out by Julian Alvarez’s free-kick.
City boss Guardiola, who watched from the stands as he served a one-match ban for picking up three yellow cards, said: “Congratulations Wolves, they defended really well.
“We had our moments. We didn’t do properly our process, to attack (with) a little bit more fluidity and that’s why we struggled a little bit.
“And the transitions – (Pedro) Neto (who was key for the first goal) was better than us, so they beat us in that situation.
“When they defend that well, (Mateo) Kovacic or Ruben has to attack central defenders of the opponents and we didn’t do it, that was why it was more difficult.
“The opponent played really good, defended really well, and after, when they contact with the players up front, they had the ability to keep it and drive and dribble and drop you. They are so strong.
“Today some details didn’t happen, because it’s football, because the players, it happens, maybe I apply bad some decisions, I don’t know.”
City’s starting line-up included Matheus Nunes, signed from Wolves last month, with it reported that he had stopped training with the midlands outfit ahead of the move.
The Portuguese was the subject of boos and chants from the crowd during the first half before being brought off at the interval for Oscar Bobb.
Guardiola said, when asked why he had made the change: “I needed more dynamic. Oscar is really good to find in small spaces, the creativity he has.
“That was the reason why – not because he wasn’t playing not good at all. It’s just because I thought Oscar could give us something different.”
On having to watch from the stands, Guardiola said: “The view is perfect. The problem is when you are banned and you are in the hotel. But they allow you to be here…in the Champions League it cannot happen.
“I spoke before the game, half-time and after the game. During the game you can be involved in something, but not much.”
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