MLS: Portland Timbers solidify Western Conference top seed with 5-0 win

Carson, Calif. • Diego Valeri scored two first-half goals and the Portland Timbers cruised to a 5-0 victory over Chivas USA on Saturday night.

The win gives Portland the regular-season Western Conference title and with it home-field advantage through at least the first two rounds of the playoffs. Portland (14-5-15) will open the playoffs with an away match on Nov. 2 or 3 against either Seattle, Colorado or the LA Galaxy.

With the result, Chivas (6-20-4) became the 15th team in league history to finish a season with at least 20 losses.

Valeri scored in 16th and 29th minutes and assisted on Rodney Wallace's 34th-minute goal. Ryan Johnson and Will Johnson scored second-half goals.

Chivas played without starting goalkeeper Dan Kennedy due to an abdominal strain.

Sporting Kansas City 2, Union 1 • In Chester, Pa., Lawrence Olum scored in stoppage time to lift Kansas City to the victory and eliminate Philadelphia from playoff contention in the regular-season finale.

Graham Zusi also scored for Kansas City (17-10-7), which will claim the Supporters Shield for the best record in the MLS if New York loses or draws Sunday against Chicago.

Toronto FC 1, Montreal 0 • Toronto played spoiler on Robert Earnshaw's goal, hanging on to defeat Montreal and force the Impact to await the outcome of games Sunday to see if they make the MLS playoffs.

Montreal (14-13-7) will be out if Houston beats D.C. United, New England defeats Columbus and Chicago beats or ties New York.

Earnshaw scored his eighth goal of the season in the 16th minute for Toronto, which came into both clubs' regular-season finale trailing Montreal by 23 points. —

Standings

EASTERN CONFERENCE

W L T Pts GF GA

x-Sporting K.C. 17 10 7 58 47 30

x-New York 16 9 8 56 53 39

Montreal 14 13 7 49 50 49

Chicago 14 12 7 49 45 47

New England 13 11 9 48 48 38

Houston 13 11 9 48 39 40

Philadelphia 12 12 10 46 42 44

Columbus 12 16 5 41 42 45

Toronto FC 6 17 11 29 30 47

D.C. 3 23 7 16 21 57

WESTERN CONFERENCE

W L T Pts GF GA

x-Portland 14 5 15 57 54 33

x-Real Salt Lake 16 10 8 56 57 41

x-Los Angeles 15 11 7 52 52 37

x-Seattle 15 12 6 51 41 41

x-Colorado 14 10 9 51 45 35

San Jose 14 11 9 51 35 42

Vancouver 12 12 9 45 50 45

FC Dallas 11 12 11 44 48 52

Chivas USA 6 20 8 26 30 67

x- clinched playoff berth

Saturday's Games

Sporting K.C. 2, Philadelphia 1

Toronto FC 1, Montreal 0

San Jose 2, FC Dallas 1

Portland 5, Chivas USA 0

Sunday's Games

Houston at D.C. United, 11:30 a.m.

New England at Columbus, 2 p.m.

Chicago at New York, 3 p.m.

Colorado at Vancouver, 6 p.m.

Los Angeles at Seattle FC, 7 p.m.