MLS Playoffs: What you might have missed in the first Knockout Round games

It took nine years for Toronto FC to reach Major League Soccer’s playoffs, in spite of deep pools of cash splashed on players every year. And it took another year for TFC to score a playoff goal and win a playoff game. But on Wednesday, in the club’s first-ever postseason home game, Toronto finally got there by beating the Philadelphia Union 3-1 in the first game of the Knockout Round.

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Certainly, it was against the Union, a team three games under .500 (11-14-9) that was somehow allowed to sneak into the postseason – moving some to argue that this is the worst playoff team in MLS history.

But the catharsis for TFC was nevertheless enormous.

In a flat first half, the Torontonians scraped and clawed and got a scrappy first goal. Jozy Altidore pressured a defender after a broken attack and capitalized on a poor clearance with a volley across the goal. Sebastian Giovinco then volleyed that offering off the underside of the crossbar.

A stellar save from Union goalkeeper Andre Blake on Drew Moor’s point-blank header prevented further damage early on, underscoring that the Jamaican may well be the best young goalkeeper in the CONCACAF region.

But just after halftime, a corner kick fell inexcusably freely for Jonathan Osorio, who smashed it home to double the Reds’ lead.

With enough time to spare to stage a rally, the Union got on the scoreboard. They were allowed to keep a corner in play with a series of headers before Alejandro Bedoya got a wide-open volley, which he finished deftly.

It was Toronto’s night, though. As most of them are when Giovinco is allowed to do Giovinco things.

And the tiny Italian was sprung by Altidore in the 85th minute. He held the ball up long enough for the industrious Altidore to catch up to his cross. His header was blocked by a defender, but the U.S. striker won the ball back and worked it into the net.

And so TFC’s decade-long run of futility has finally come to an end. It will face New York City FC in the Eastern Conference Semifinals on Sunday. And let us be the first to say: yay for that matchup.

GALAXY ROUT RSL AT STUBHUB

The first, and really only, thing to know is that the LA Galaxy have been here before. For almost a decade now, this has been the premier franchise in MLS. It has won a record five championships. It has reached a record nine MLS Cup Finals. It has claimed a record 40 playoff victories, 11 more than any other team.

So when the Galaxy are put on the spot in a winner-take-all Knockout Round game, even after a totally underwhelming 12-6-16 regular season in which it kept losing regulars to injury – and is still without Steven Gerrard and Gyasi Zardes, while Robbie Keane isn’t fully fit either – what happened during the rest of the year kind of doesn’t matter.

Because the Galaxy know how and when to turn it on.

Goals seemed guaranteed in their home tie with Real Salt Lake, because in their two other meetings this season, the Galaxy won 5-2 and the sides tied 3-3 in Salt Lake. And they were on the front foot from the first whistle against RSL, largely cruising to a 3-1 victory.

Within a quarter of an hour, Robbie Rogers played the un-retired Landon Donovan in on the right flank, and Donovan’s cross was headed on by Giovani Dos Santos. Alan Gordon, the surprise starter up front, tapped the ball into an empty net.

Gordon, something of a talisman for the Galaxy, was playing with a ripped jersey from an earlier tussle.

Within five minutes, however, RSL would equalize. Javier Morales earned a very soft penalty when he sought contact with Emmanuel Boateng in the Galaxy box, sticking out his leg and then tumbling down, fooling referee Alan Kelly.

Joao Plata converted from the spot to make it 1-1.

But Boateng would avenge this injustice. In the 26th minute, just after Gordon had nodded a header just wide, the Ghanaian scored a splendid goal, cutting through four defenders before beating Nick Rimando.

Then, in the 34th, Boateng picked up the ball way out on the right – a tad offside, as the replay showed – cut inside, beat Demar Phillips and finished by tucking the ball in by the far post. For the second time, Gordon gave the assist.

That goal seemed to break RSL’s spirit. A team that hadn’t won in its last seven regular season games, losing four of those and getting shut out four times, knew it stood little chance of turning this around in the Galaxy’s StubHub Center where, in spite of its forgettable season, it had lost just once all year.

Late on, RSL captain Kyle Beckerman, who had threatened a few times before, dinked a header off the post.

But his team would get no closer to making this a game. The Galaxy would advance at a canter.

They will face the Colorado Rapids in the conference semifinals. And for those counting, the Galaxy now have 41 all-time playoff wins, a dozen more than any other franchise.

Leander Schaerlaeckens is a soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @LeanderAlphabet.