MLS: Union advance to Eastern final, Real Salt Lake to Western final

A goal from Bobby Wood in stoppage time sent Real Salt Lake to the Western final with a 2-1 win over Sporting Kansas City on Sunday.

The surprising course of the RSL therefore continues in the playoffs. After defeating the Seattle Sounders on penalties, the seventh seed in the West closed behind Sporting to meet the Portland Timbers in the next round.

Johnny Russell opened the scoring with a shot from a penalty that beat David Ochoa in the 24th minute. Aaron Herrera offered the penalty to his rivals by tripping Gadi Kinda in the box.

Real Salt Lake interim coach Pablo Mastroeni made three timely changes in the second half with the arrival of Anderson Julio, Justin Meram and Wood. Julio leveled the score with a header redirection in the 72nd minute of play. From the first minute of stoppage time, Meram served a perfect ball to Wood which he pushed into the back of the goal.

Philly finds itself in the eastern final

The Philadelphia Union clinched their ticket to the MLS Eastern Conference playoff final on Sunday with a shootout win over Nashville SC after a 1-1 tie in the outcome the first 120 minutes of play.

The two clubs traded goals in the first half, as Hany Mukhtar broke the ice for Nashville, and Daniel Gazdag allowed the Union to retreat to the locker room with a tie.

That score lasted until the end of extra time, until Philadelphia won 2-0 on penalties. Nashville missed each of its four attempts, two of which were stopped by goaltender Andre Blake.