Major League Soccer 2012
| Major League Soccer 2012 | |
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| master | LA Galaxy |
| Cup winners | Sporting Kansas City (USA), Toronto FC (Canada) |
| Teams | 19th |
| Games | 323 |
| Gates | 854 (ø 2.64 per game) |
| Top scorer | Chris Wondolowski (27 goals) |
| ← Major League Soccer 2011 | |
The 17th Major League Soccer season began in spring 2012 with the regular season. Then the play-offs were held in autumn 2012, which ended on December 1st with the game for the MLS Cup . As in the previous year, the LA Galaxy won the final against Houston Dynamo .
Innovations
- The Canadian franchise Montreal Impact took part in Major League Soccer from this season. You were in the Eastern Conference.
- The game plan has been adjusted. The teams from the Western Conference played against each other three times and only met the teams from the Eastern Conference once. The Eastern Conference teams played three games against seven opponents and two games against two teams. A game was played against the Western franchises.
- The wildcard and crossover rules were abolished again. The first five teams per conference qualified for the play-offs.
- The organization of the Conference Final (play-off semifinals) changed from one game to two games.
- The location of the MLS Cup was no longer neutral.
- A new TV partner was found in the television channel NBC Sports. The NBC subsidiary signed a three-year contract with Major League Soccer in August 2011. This means that no more games will be broadcast on Fox Soccer and Fox Deportes. The separate contracts with the channels ESPN , ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and Galavisión, as well as with the Canadian channels TSN, TSN2 and GolTV remained unaffected.
Participating teams in 2012
Season course
Regular season
The first games of the season took place on March 10, 2012, the last games of the regular season were played on October 28. The regular season championship, the MLS Supporters' Shield , was won by the San José Earthquakes, who were already first in the overall table after their penultimate game of the season.
Since the new BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston could only be opened on May 12, Houston Dynamo played the first seven games of the season away. The opening game in the new stadium against DC United was won 1-0. Houston has not lost a competitive game in the new stadium in the entire 2012 season, neither in the championship, nor in the cup, nor in the Champions League.
Toronto failed to score in its first nine MLS games of the season, but won the Canadian Championship on May 23, thereby playing in the CONCACAF Champions League 2012/13 . Sporting Kansas City got off to a good start to the season with seven wins from their first seven games and won the US Open Cup on August 8th . Kansas City was able to qualify as the first team for the CONCACAF Champions League 2013/14 and is at the top of the table in the Eastern Conference after the end of the regular season.
Last year's champions LA Galaxy, who were bottom of the Western Conference table after 13 games, had a weak start to the season, but improved to a playoff rank in the following weeks. The first derby at local rivals CD Chivas USA was also lost 1-0 on May 19, after defeating this team six times in a row in previous years. The other two games of the season against Chivas were then won 3-1 and 4-0. In the playoffs, LA Galaxy reached the final again and, like last year, won against Houston Dynamo.
There were eight goals each in the highest-scoring games of the season. The San José Earthquakes and DC United parted ways on May 2nd with the final score of 5-3, the Portland Timbers were defeated by LA Galaxy 3-5 on July 14th and Chivas USA lost 6--2 on August 25th against Seattle Sounders. The highest home wins were achieved by the San José Earthquakes on July 14th against Real Salt Lake and FC Dallas on July 21st against Portland with 5-0 each. Away LA Galaxy (0: 4 on August 12), Seattle (2: 6 on August 25) and Real Salt Lake (0: 4 on September 29) each recorded the highest victories at Chivas USA.
Tables
Eastern Conference
| franchise | Games | S. | U | N | T + | T- | TD | Points | Total space | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sporting Kansas City | 34 | 18th | 9 | 7th | 42 | 27 | +15 | 63 | 2 |
| 2 | DC United | 34 | 17th | 7th | 10 | 53 | 43 | +10 | 58 | 3 |
| 3 | New York Red Bulls | 34 | 16 | 9 | 9 | 57 | 46 | +11 | 57 | 4th |
| 4th | Chicago Fire | 34 | 17th | 6th | 11 | 46 | 41 | +5 | 57 | 6th |
| 5 | Houston Dynamo | 34 | 14th | 11 | 9 | 48 | 41 | +7 | 53 | 9 |
| 6th | Columbus crew | 34 | 15th | 7th | 12 | 44 | 44 | ± 0 | 52 | 10 |
| 7th | Montreal Impact 1 | 34 | 12 | 6th | 16 | 45 | 51 | −6 | 42 | 12 |
| 8th | Philadelphia Union | 34 | 10 | 6th | 18th | 37 | 45 | −8 | 36 | 15th |
| 9 | New England Revolution | 34 | 9 | 8th | 17th | 39 | 44 | −5 | 35 | 16 |
| 10 | Toronto FC 1 (CC) | 34 | 5 | 8th | 21st | 36 | 62 | −26 | 23 | 19th |
Western Conference
| franchise | Games | S. | U | N | T + | T- | TD | Points | Total space | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Jose Earthquakes | 34 | 19th | 9 | 6th | 72 | 43 | +29 | 66 | 1 |
| 2 | Real Salt Lake | 34 | 17th | 6th | 11 | 46 | 35 | +11 | 57 | 5 |
| 3 | Seattle Sounders (OC) | 34 | 15th | 11 | 8th | 51 | 33 | +18 | 56 | 7th |
| 4th | LA Galaxy (M, Sup) | 34 | 16 | 6th | 12 | 59 | 47 | +12 | 54 | 8th |
| 5 | Vancouver Whitecaps 1 | 34 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 35 | 41 | −6 | 43 | 11 |
| 6th | FC Dallas | 34 | 9 | 12 | 13 | 42 | 47 | −5 | 39 | 13 |
| 7th | Colorado Rapids | 34 | 11 | 4th | 19th | 44 | 50 | −6 | 37 | 14th |
| 8th | Portland Timbers | 34 | 8th | 10 | 16 | 34 | 56 | −22 | 34 | 17th |
| 9 | CD Chivas USA | 34 | 7th | 9 | 18th | 24 | 58 | −34 | 30th | 18th |
| MLS Cup Playoffs 2012 |
| MLS Supporters' Shield 2012 |
(M) = Champion 2011, (Sup) = MLS Supporters' Shield 2011, (CC) = Canadian Cup Winner 2011, (OC) = US Cup Winner 2011
1 Toronto FC, Vancouver Whitecaps and Montreal Impact cannot qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League via Major League Soccer because the three teams come from Canada and the starting places are allocated by state. If the teams finish the season on a qualifying place for the Champions League, these starting places are automatically assigned to the next lower team. The three Canadian teams can only qualify for this competition through the Canadian Championship .
Regulation in the event of a tie
If two or more teams are tied in the table, the following comparison rules will be applied in order to determine the ranking of the teams. The comparison is decided as soon as one of the rules can determine a ranking of the teams concerned. Unlike in the Bundesliga, for example, it is not the goal difference that decides first.
- Average of the points per game played in a direct comparison of teams with equal points
- Total goal difference
- Total number of goals scored
- Rules 1 to 3 (in that order) applied to away games
- Rules 1 to 3 (in that order) applied to the home games
- lowest number of penalty points in the fair play table
- coin toss
If more than two teams are tied, as soon as one team is placed, the remaining teams with the same number of points will start again with rule 1.
Crosstab
The cross table shows the results of all games this season. The home team is listed in the left column and the visiting team in the top and bottom rows. Due to the unbalanced schedule, some games take place twice a season, while other theoretically possible matches are not played.
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| Chicago Fire | 2: 1 2: 1 |
1: 1 | 2: 1 | 1: 1 3: 1 |
0: 2 | 3: 1 | 2: 1 | 3: 1 | 1: 0 1: 3 |
0-0 | 1: 2 | 2: 1 | 2: 1 | 1-0 | |||||
| CD Chivas USA | 1: 2 | 0: 2 | 1: 1 | 0: 1 | 1-0 0-4 |
2: 1 | 0: 1 | 1-0 | 0: 3 0: 4 |
0: 2 | 1: 1 2: 6 |
0: 1 | 0: 1 0: 0 |
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| Colorado Rapids | 2-0 | 4: 0 1: 1 |
2-0 | 1: 2 | 2-0 | 1: 2 1: 1 |
3: 2 | 3-0 3-0 |
1-0 | 1: 2 1: 4 |
1: 2 | 2: 2 | 0: 1 | ||||||
| Columbus crew | 2: 1 | 1-0 | 1-0 | 2: 1 | 2: 2 | 1: 1 | 2-0 2-1 |
4: 3 | 1: 4 | 3: 2 | 2-0 | 0: 2 1: 1 |
2: 1 2: 1 |
0: 1 | |||||
| DC United | 4: 2 | 1-0 | 2-0 | 1-0 3-2 |
4: 1 | 3: 2 | 1: 1 3: 0 |
3: 2 2: 1 |
4: 1 2: 2 |
1: 1 | 0-0 | 0: 1 | 3: 1 | ||||||
| FC Dallas | 0-0 2-2 |
0: 2 3: 2 |
0: 1 | 2: 1 | 1-0 | 2: 1 | 1: 1 | 1: 1 5: 0 |
1: 1 | 0-0 | 0: 2 1: 1 |
1: 1 | 1-0 | ||||||
| Houston Dynamo | 0-0 | 2: 2 | 1: 0 4: 0 |
2: 1 | 2: 1 | 3: 0 1: 1 |
2-0 | 2-0 | 2: 1 3: 1 |
0-0 | 1-0 | 2: 1 | 3: 3 1: 1 |
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| LA Galaxy | 3: 1 | 2-0 | 3: 1 | 1: 1 2: 0 |
1: 3 | 0: 1 | 1: 2 | 3: 1 1: 0 |
1: 3 1: 2 |
2: 3 | 1-0 | 4: 2 | 3-0 2-0 |
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| Montreal Impact | 1: 1 | 2: 1 | 3-0 | 4: 2 | 1: 1 | 2: 1 0: 1 |
1: 2 3: 1 |
2-0 | 2-0 | 3: 1 | 4: 1 | 1: 3 0: 0 |
2: 1 0: 3 |
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| New England Revolution | 2-0 1-0 |
3: 3 | 2: 1 | 0-0 2-0 |
1: 2 | 2: 2 | 0: 1 | 2: 0 1: 1 |
0-0 | 1-0 | 2: 2 | 0: 1 | 0: 1 | 4: 1 | |||||
| New York Red Bulls | 1-0 0-2 |
1: 1 | 4: 1 | 3: 1 | 3: 2 | 1: 0 2: 0 |
5: 2 | 1-0 | 2-0 | 3: 2 | 2: 2 | 2: 2 | 0: 2 0: 0 |
4: 1 | |||||
| Philadelphia Union | 1: 3 | 1: 2 | 1: 0 1: 2 |
0: 1 0: 1 |
3: 1 | 2: 1 | 2: 1 1: 0 |
2: 3 0: 3 |
0-0 | 1: 2 | 4-0 | 3-0 | 0-0 | ||||||
| Portland Timbers | 2: 1 | 1: 2 0: 1 |
0-0 1-0 |
1: 1 | 1: 1 | 3: 5 | 3: 1 | 2: 3 | 2: 1 1: 1 |
2: 1 1: 1 |
1-0 | 1: 1 2: 1 |
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| Real Salt Lake | 0: 1 | 2-0 2-0 |
1-0 | 3: 2 1: 2 |
2: 3 | 1-0 | 2: 1 | 2-0 | 3-0 2-1 |
1: 2 | 0-0 | 3: 2 | 2: 1 0: 0 |
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| San Jose Earthquakes | 1: 1 | 1: 1 4: 0 |
4: 1 | 1: 1 | 5: 3 | 2: 1 3: 3 |
0: 1 | 4: 3 2: 2 |
1-0 | 2: 2 | 3: 1 5: 0 |
2: 1 | 3: 1 | ||||||
| Seattle Sounders | 2: 1 | 1: 0 2: 1 |
0: 2 | 3: 1 | 2-0 | 2-0 4-0 |
1-0 | 3-0 | 0: 1 0: 0 |
0: 1 1: 2 |
1: 1 | 3: 1 | 2-0 | ||||||
| Sporting Kansas City | 0: 1 2: 0 |
1: 2 | 2: 1 | 2: 1 | 0: 0 1: 1 |
1-0 | 0: 2 | 3-0 0-0 |
1: 1 | 2: 1 | 1-0 | 2: 1 | 2-0 2-1 |
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| Toronto FC | 2: 3 1: 2 |
0: 1 | 2: 1 | 0: 1 | 0: 2 0: 1 |
0: 2 | 0-0 | 2: 2 | 1: 1 | 1: 0 1: 1 |
2: 2 | 0: 3 | 0: 1 | 3: 2 | |||||
| Vancouver Whitecaps | 4-0 | 1-0 2-2 |
0-0 | 1-0 0-2 |
3: 1 | 2: 2 | 2-0 | 1: 1 | 0: 1 | 2: 1 | 2: 1 2: 1 |
2: 2 0: 0 |
1: 3 | ||||||
| 2012 |
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Goal scorers
The list of goalscorers for the regular season is listed up to 20th place.
| space | player | society | Gates | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris Wondolowski | San Jose Earthquakes | 27 | 7th |
| 2 | Kenny Cooper | New York Red Bulls | 18th | 3 |
| 3 | Álvaro Saborío | Real Salt Lake | 17th | 3 |
| 4th | Robbie Keane | LA Galaxy | 16 | 9 |
| 5 | Thierry Henry | New York Red Bulls | 15th | 12 |
| 6th | Eddie Johnson | Seattle Sounders | 14th | 3 |
| 7th | Fredy Montero | Seattle Sounders | 13 | 8th |
| Alan Gordon | San Jose Earthquakes | 13 | 7th | |
| 9 | Chris Pontius | DC United | 12 | 4th |
| Will Bruin | Houston Dynamo | 12 | 4th | |
| 11 | Kei Kamara | Sporting Kansas City | 11 | 8th |
| Saër Sène | New England Revolution | 11 | 3 | |
| 13 | Steven Lenhart | San Jose Earthquakes | 10 | 2 |
| 14th | Landon Donovan | LA Galaxy | 9 | 14th |
| Patrice Bernier | Montreal Impact | 9 | 8th | |
| Fabian Espindola | Real Salt Lake | 9 | 7th | |
| Jairo Arrieta | Columbus crew | 9 | 4th | |
| Blow Pérez | FC Dallas | 9 | 4th | |
| Danny Koevermans | Toronto FC | 9 | 2 | |
| Eddie Gaven | Columbus crew | 9 | 2 | |
| CJ Sapong | Sporting Kansas City | 9 | 2 |
Playoffs
After the 34 game days of the regular season, the playoffs will be played out in several rounds, some with different modes. Except for the final, all games take place within the respective conference.
Knockout Round
The knockout round only applies to the teams in conference places 4 and 5. The team in place 4 plays a home game against the team from the same conference in place 5. There is no return game, but the game is played in the event of a tie after the regular playing time decided by extra time and, if necessary, penalty shoot-outs. The winner of that game progresses to the next round. The teams in places 1 to 3 in the respective conference skip this first round and move directly to the conference semifinals. The first round match of the Eastern Conference took place on October 31, that of the Western Conference on November 1.
Conference semifinals and finals
The conference semifinals are played with a home and away leg, whereby the away goals rule applies in addition to the total number of goals, which is also used in European cup competitions. The conference table leader plays against the winner of the first playoff round and the second in the conference table against the third. The first leg takes place in the stadium of the team ranked lower in the conference table, the second leg in the stadium of the other team. The winners who have been determined after both games reach the conference finals, which are played in the same mode with a return game. The first legs of the semi-finals took place from November 2nd to 4th, the second legs on November 7th and 8th. On 10/11 or 17./18. November the conference finals were played.
MLS Cup Final
The MLS Cup final was played on December 1, 2012 between the two winners of the conference finals in the stadium of the team placed higher in the overall table and without a second leg.
West winner LA Galaxy met Houston Dynamo, who had won the final of the Eastern Conference, and won 3-1. Houston had taken a 1-0 lead just before half-time. LA was able to equalize in the second half and shortly afterwards increased to 2-1 with a hand penalty. In stoppage time, Robbie Keane converted a penalty kick to make it 3-1.
Results
In the conference semifinals between DC United and the New York Red Bulls, the first and second leg had to be swapped, because in New York, where the first leg was supposed to take place, the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy did not allow any game to play.
| Knockout Round | Conference semifinals | Conference finals | MLS Cup 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||
| E4 | Chicago Fire | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| E5 | Houston Dynamo | 2 | E5 | Houston Dynamo | 2 | 0 | 2 | |||||||||||||||
| E1 | Sporting Kansas City | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| E5 | Houston Dynamo | 3 | 1 | 4th | ||||||||||||||||||
| E2 | DC United | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| E2 | DC United | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| E3 | New York Red Bulls | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| W4 | LA Galaxy | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| E5 | Houston Dynamo | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| W3 | Seattle Sounders | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| W2 | Real Salt Lake | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||
| W4 | LA Galaxy | 3 | 1 | 4th | ||||||||||||||||||
| W3 | Seattle Sounders | 0 | 2 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| W4 | LA Galaxy | 0 | 3 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| W4 | LA Galaxy | 2 | W1 | San Jose Earthquakes | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||||||||
| W5 | Vancouver Whitecaps | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
National cup competitions
→ Main article: Lamar Hunt US Open Cup 2012
→ Main article: Canadian Championship 2012
The 16 US teams of the MLS compete in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, while the three Canadian MLS teams contest the Canadian Championship. The two tournaments are the cup rounds of the USA and Canada, which are played in the knockout system. The winners qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League . Since the Canadian competition will end in May, the Canadian cup winner can still compete in the Champions League season that starts in the same year, while the US cup winner does not compete until the following year, as the Champions League season comes before the US -Open Cup Final begins. In 2012, Toronto FC and Sporting Kansas City won the cup competitions in Canada and the United States, respectively.
International competitions
→ Main article: CONCACAF Champions League 2011/12
→ Main article: CONCACAF Champions League 2012/13
Unlike the MLS season, the Champions League is played in a season that begins in June and ends in May of the following year. The US teams of the MLS 2012 season can therefore qualify for the Champions League season 2013/14, while the Canadian team (Toronto FC), which qualified via the Canadian Championship 2012, which ended in May, are already in the Champions -League season 2012/13 starts.
In addition to the cup winners of the two countries, the winner of the MLS Supporters' Shield and the two finalists of the MLS finals also qualify for the 2013/14 Champions League season, provided they come from the USA. If one of the Canadian teams wins the MLS Supporters 'Shield or reaches the MLS Cup Final, or the Supporters' Shield winner moves into the final of the finals, the next US team moves up to the Champions League starting place. In principle, the Canadian Association only has one starting place in the Champions League, which is filled with the winner of the Canadian Championship.
Other competitions
- MLS Rivalry Cups
In Major League Soccer, various teams host different trophies within a regular season. The winner is whoever was able to win the direct comparisons in the end. This regulation changes depending on the cup, sometimes playoff games and games in the US Open Cup are also included.
- Atlantic Cup - DC United and New York Red Bulls (direct comparison in all competitive games)
- Brimstone Cup - Chicago Fire and FC Dallas (direct comparison in all competitive games)
- California Clasico - LA Galaxy and San José Earthquakes (direct comparison in the regular season)
- Cascadia Cup - Seattle Sounders, Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps (direct-season comparison)
- Heritage Cup - San José Earthquakes, Seattle Sounders, Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps (direct comparison of the last two regular season matches)
- Honda SuperClasico - CD Chivas USA and LA Galaxy (direct comparison in all competitive games)
- Lamar Hunt Pioneer Cup - Dallas FC and Columbus Crew (direct comparison in the regular season)
- Rocky Mountain Cup - Colorado Rapids and Real Salt Lake (direct comparison in the regular season)
- Texas Derby - FC Dallas and Houston Dynamo (direct comparison in the regular season)
- Trillium Cup - Columbus Crew and Toronto FC (direct comparison in the regular season)
- MLS Supporters' Shield
In addition to the cup competitions, the overall table leader of the MLS wins the MLS Supporters' Shield at the end of the regular season .
Individual evidence
- ^ "MLS, NBC announce three-year broadcast deal," from MLSSoccer.com, Oct. 8, 2011
- ↑ Match report on mlssoccer.com (English)
- ↑ Match report on mlssoccer.com (English)
- ↑ Results table
- ↑ Rules page of the MLS
- ↑ Statistics on mlssoccer.com (English)
- ↑ Video summary of the game
- ↑ News article from October 31, 2012 (accessed November 4, 2012)
