CARSON, Calif. — FC Dallas took care of business -- finally -- on Decision Day in the MLS, beating the LA Galaxy 4-1 in Los Angeles.
Bernard Kamungo scored twice in the first half, Ema Twumasi scored the first goal of his career and FC Dallas earned a spot in the postseason with a 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday night.
With the win, Dallas (11-10-13) is unbeaten at 2-0-7 in its last nine matches. The victory also snaps a streak of playing to five straight draws. (Four clubs played to five ties in a row this season, but none of them reached six. The 2014 Chicago Fire were the last club to finish tied in six straight matches.)
Most important, the result guarantees FC Dallas a spot in the MLS playoffs.
And it didn't take long for things to feel like they'd shake out this way.
Kamungo scored in just the 4th minute off an assist from Nkosi Tafari to give Dallas an early lead.
Twumasi, a defender, then found the net for the first time, scoring unassisted in the 13th minute for a 2-0 advantage. It was his 84th appearance and 64th start for Dallas. He made just one of the starts and seven appearances with the club from 2018-2020.
Raheem Edwards later cut the deficit in half for the Galaxy (8-14-12) when he used assists from Tyler Boyd and Diego Fagundez in the 24th minute to score for a second time this season.
Then Kamungo scored again in the 30th minute to put Dallas up 3-1. Jesús Ferreira and Paxton Pomykal notched assists on Kamungo's sixth goal this season.
Jáder Obrian also notched his sixth goal of the year, off an assist from Paul Arriola, to give FC Dallas a 4-1 they'd hold into until the final whistle.
Novak Micovic saved two shots for the Galaxy in the second start of his career. Maarten Paes totaled four saves for Dallas.
The Toros had multiple opportunities to clinch the playoffs in their past few matches, but the five straight draws they'd earned in the lead-up to this game brought things down to the wire.
Saturday's win finally clinched FC Dallas their long-time-coming playoff berth -- their second straight under new head coach Nico Estevez.
FC Dallas will now be the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference playoff picture. They'll face the No. 2-seed Seattle Sounders in the a best-of-three first-round series.
Who qualifies for the MLS playoffs?
Eighteen teams qualify for the MLS playoffs, including the top nine teams each from the Eastern and Western Conferences.
The bottom two seeds, No. 8 and No. 9 in each conference, qualify for Wild Card matches.
Seeds No. 1 through No. 7 will automatically qualify for the Round One Best-of-3 series.
When do the playoffs take place?
Four rounds will be played throughout the playoffs, ending with the MLS Cup match.
- Wild Card matches: Oct. 25-26
- Round One Best-of-3 series matches: Oct. 28 through Nov. 12
- Conference Semifinals and Conference Finals: Nov. 25 through Dec. 3
- MLS Cup: Dec. 9
Wild Card matches
The No. 8 and No. 9 seed in each conference will play a single match in the round. The higher seed will host the match.
If the score remains tied at the end of regulation, no extra time will be played and instead go to a penalty kick shootout.
The winner will advance to Round One to face the No. 1 seed.
Round One Best-of-3 series
Round One will be a best-of-3 series, the first team to win two matches will advance.
Every game will have a winner; no ties. If a match is tied at the end of regulation, no extra time will be played. The teams will participate in kicks from the penalty spot to get a winner.
The higher seed will host matches one and three, if necessary. The lower seed will host match two.
Matchups will be:
- No. 1 vs. No. 8 or 9
- No. 2 vs. No. 7
- No. 3 vs. No. 6
- No. 4 vs. No. 5
Conference Semifinals
The semifinals will be single-elimination matches that will be hosted by the higher seeds.
In this match, if the score remains tied at the end of regulation, two 15-minute extra time periods will be played in their entirety. If the score remains tied, teams will determine the winner via a penalty kick shootout.
Matchups will be:
- Winner of No. 1 vs. No. 8/9 series vs. winner of No. 4 vs. No. 5 series
- Winner of No. 3 vs. No. 6 series vs. winner of No. 2 vs. No. 7 series
Conference Finals
The Conference Finals will also be single-elimination matches, hosted by the higher seed.
If the match remains tied after regulation, the rules will remain the same as the semifinals.
The winner of each match will advance to the MLS Cup.
MLS Cup
The MLS Cup will be a single match on Dec. 9, hosted by the higher seed.
The match will have the same rules as the conference semifinals and finals if the score remains tied at the end of regulation.
St. Louis has not announced when tickets will go on sale for the Round One Best-of-3 Series as of Oct. 4. The regular season will conclude on Oct. 21 for all MLS teams.
Find more information on the 2023 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs here.
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