MLS Cup 2014
MLS Cup 2014 was the 19th edition of the MLS Cup, the match that determined the champion of Major League Soccer's 2014 season. The LA Galaxy of the Western Conference hosted the New England Revolution of the Eastern Conference. The soccer match was held at StubHub Center in Carson, California, as the Galaxy were awarded home advantage by finishing the regular season with more points than the Revolution. The Galaxy won 2–1 after extra time, winning their fifth MLS Cup title and also sending all-time U.S. national team goal scoring leader Landon Donovan into retirement with his sixth MLS Cup crown.[1]
| Event | MLS Cup | ||||||
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| After extra time | |||||||
| Date | December 7, 2014 | ||||||
| Venue | StubHub Center, Carson, California, US | ||||||
| Most Valuable Player | Robbie Keane (LA Galaxy) | ||||||
| Referee | Mark Geiger | ||||||
| Attendance | 27,000 | ||||||
| Weather | Cloudy, 73 °F (23 °C) | ||||||
It was a record sixth time that the MLS Cup was held at the StubHub Center, and the first time in two years that the venue has hosted the MLS Cup. The Galaxy returned to the MLS Cup for the first time since 2012, when they became the third club to win the championship in back-to-back seasons. It was the first time since 2007 that the Revolution reached the MLS Cup final. The two clubs had met twice before in the MLS Cup final: in 2002 and in 2005; the Galaxy defeated New England 1–0 after extra time in both finals. New England Revolution became the first club to lose five MLS Cups.
Going into the match, the Galaxy had earned a berth into the 2015–16 CONCACAF Champions League regardless of the result; New England could only do so by winning the Cup. Since the Seattle Sounders won both the U.S. Open Cup and the Supporters Shield, the Galaxy had secured a berth into the Champions League as the Supporters Shield runner-up. Had New England won the match, they would have entered as the MLS Cup champion representative. Instead, Real Salt Lake went to the Champions League.
Road to the final
The MLS Cup is the post-season championship of Major League Soccer (MLS), a professional club soccer league in the United States and Canada. The 2014 season was the 19th in MLS history and was contested by 19 teams organized into the Eastern and Western conferences. Each club played 34 matches during the regular season from early March to late October, facing each team in their conference two or three times and those in the other conference once.[2][3] The playoffs, which ran from October to early December, were contested over four rounds by the top five clubs in each conference. The first round and final were both single-elimination matches; the other two rounds were decided through aggregate score over a two-legged tie with the away goals rule in effect.[4]
Both the Revolution and the Galaxy are original MLS clubs, beginning play in 1996.[5] The teams had faced off in MLS Cup 2002 and MLS Cup 2005, with the Galaxy winning both finals in overtime.[6] The Galaxy had also defeated the Revolution 2–1 in overtime in the final of the 2001 U.S. Open Cup.[7] The two teams had faced each other once before in the 2014 season, with the Galaxy hosting and defeating the Revolution in a 5–1 game that saw both teams reduced to 10 men.[8]
LA Galaxy
The Galaxy convincingly defeated Real Salt Lake in the Western Conference semifinals by an aggregate score of 5–0. They then advanced past Seattle Sounders FC and to MLS Cup 2–2 on aggregate due to the away goals tiebreaker, as the Galaxy had 1 away goal to Seattle's 0.
New England Revolution
The Revolution's last MLS cup final was in 2007, where they lost to the Houston Dynamo in their third MLS Cup loss in a row. Since then, the club had hired defender Jay Heaps to manage the club.[9] The team had missed playoffs in the 2012 season, and suffered a 4–3 defeat on aggregate to Sporting Kansas City in the conference semifinals of the 2013 MLS Cup Playoffs.[10] In advance of the 2014 season, the club acquired José Gonçalves on a permanent deal, after a loan deal which saw him win MLS Defender of the Year. Goalkeeper Matt Reis retired from the team after tearing his quad tendons in the 2013 playoffs.[11]
New England knocked out the Columbus Crew 7–3 on aggregate after dominating both legs of the Eastern Conference semifinals before narrowly besting the New York 4–3 over the two legs to reach MLS Cup.
Summary of results
- Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).
| New England Revolution | Round | LA Galaxy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Regular season |
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| Opponent | Result | Legs | Playoffs | Opponent | Result | Legs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Columbus Crew | 7–3 | 4–2 away; 3–1 home | Conf. Semifinals | Real Salt Lake | 5–0 | 0–0 away; 5–0 home | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New York Red Bulls | 4–3 | 2–1 away; 2–2 home | Conference Finals | Seattle Sounders FC | 2–2 (a) | 1–0 home; 1–2 away | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tournament Bracket
| Knockout | Conference semifinals | Conference finals | MLS Cup | ||||||||||||||||||||
| E1 | D.C. United | 0 | 2 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||
| E4 | New York Red Bulls | 2 | E4 | New York Red Bulls | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| E5 | Sporting Kansas City | 1 | Eastern Conference | E4 | New York Red Bulls | 1 | 2 | 3 | |||||||||||||||
| E2 | New England Revolution | 2 | 2 | 4 | |||||||||||||||||||
| E2 | New England Revolution | 4 | 3 | 7 | |||||||||||||||||||
| E3 | Columbus Crew | 2 | 1 | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||
| E2 | New England Revolution | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| W2 | LA Galaxy (a.e.t.) | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| W1 | Seattle Sounders FC (a) | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||
| W4 | FC Dallas | 2 | W4 | FC Dallas | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| W5 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 1 | Western Conference | W1 | Seattle Sounders FC | 0 | 2 | 2 | |||||||||||||||
| W2 | LA Galaxy (a) | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||
| W2 | LA Galaxy | 0 | 5 | 5 | |||||||||||||||||||
| W3 | Real Salt Lake | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||
Broadcasting
Commentary
| Broadcaster | Language | Commentators[12] | Other staff | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Play-by-play | Color | |||
| Television | ||||
| ESPN, WatchESPN (online) | English | Adrian Healey | Taylor Twellman | Monica Gonzalez, Max Bretos,Alexi Lalas, Kasey Keller |
| UniMás | Spanish | |||
| TSN | English | |||
| RDS | French | Claudine Douville | Jean Gounelle | François-Etienne Corbin, Patrick Leduc, Patrice Bernier |
| Radio | ||||
| Sirius XM | English | Joe Tolleson | John Harkes | Tony Meola |
| ESPN Deportes Radio | Spanish | Kenneth Garay | Elmer Polanco | Diego Cora |
Match
LA Galaxy
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New England Revolution
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MLS Cup MVP:
Assistant referees:
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Match rules
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Statistics
| LA Galaxy | New England Revolution | |
|---|---|---|
| Goals scored | 2 | 1 |
| Total shots | 16 | 16 |
| Shots on target | 6 | 6 |
| Saves | 6 | 4 |
| Corner kicks | 3 | 3 |
| Fouls committed | 20 | 14 |
| Offsides | 4 | 1 |
| Yellow cards | 5 | 2 |
| Red cards | 0 | 0 |
References
- Carlisle, Jeff (December 7, 2014). "Three Points: Los Angeles vs. New England". ESPN FC. Retrieved December 7, 2014.
- Bell, Jack (November 25, 2013). "M.L.S. and Red Bulls Release 2014 Schedule". The New York Times. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
- O'Bannon, Whitney (November 26, 2013). "Real Salt Lake: RSL to start 2014 season with back-to-back LA Galaxy games". Deseret News. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
- Ames, Nick (November 29, 2014). "Breathless in Seattle: the Sounders in full cry for first MLS Cup final". The Guardian. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
- Gorostieta, Diego (May 18, 2023). "Every expansion team in MLS history: LAFC, Inter Miami, Seattle Sounders, NYCFC, San Diego..." as. Retrieved May 26, 2024.
- Powers, John (December 8, 2014). "Not this time". The Boston Globe. p. C1. Retrieved May 26, 2024.
- "Galaxy claims US Open Cup". The Signal. October 28, 2001. Retrieved May 26, 2024.
- Powers, John (December 5, 2014). "Revolution not the same". The Boston Globe. p. D4. Retrieved May 26, 2024.
- CBS Boston (November 16, 2011). "Revolution Introduce Jay Heaps As Head Coach". CBS News. Archived from the original on April 7, 2024. Retrieved April 10, 2024.
- "It's an abrupt ending for the Revolution". The Boston Globe. November 7, 2013. p. C2. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
- Ironside, Nick (January 25, 2014). "Revolution set to kick off training". The Boston Globe. p. C3. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
- MLSsoccer staff (December 7, 2014). "Watch MLS Cup 2014 from most anywhere in the world: Here are the global TV listings for the big game". MLS. Retrieved May 26, 2024.
- "Boxscore – Player statistics". Major League Soccer. Retrieved December 8, 2014.