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 record-breaking 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.

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 as the Supporters Shield runner-up since the Seattle Sounders won both the U.S. Open Cup and the Supporters Shield while New England could only do so by winning the Cup. 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. 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.

Both the Revolution and the Galaxy are original MLS clubs, beginning play in 1996. The teams had faced off in MLS Cup 2002 and MLS Cup 2005, with the Galaxy winning both finals in overtime. The Galaxy had also defeated the Revolution 2–1 in overtime in the final of the 2001 U.S. Open Cup. 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.

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. 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. 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.

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 RevolutionRoundLA GalaxyEastern ConferenceTeamD.C. United3417985237+1559New England Revolution34171345146+555Columbus Crew341410105242+1052New York Red Bulls341310115550+550Sporting Kansas City34141374841+749Regular seasonWestern ConferenceTeamSeattle Sounders FC34201046550+1564LA Galaxy34177106937+3261Real Salt Lake34158115439+1556FC Dallas34151274242054Vancouver Whitecaps FC34141194538+750OpponentResultLegsPlayoffsOpponentResultLegsColumbus Crew7–34–2 away; 3–1 homeConf. SemifinalsReal Salt Lake5–00–0 away; 5–0 homeNew York Red Bulls4–32–1 away; 2–2 homeConference FinalsSeattle Sounders FC2–2 (a)1–0 home; 1–2 away

Tournament Bracket

Broadcasting Commentary

Broadcaster Language Commentators 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 SiriusXM English Joe Tolleson John Harkes Tony Meola ESPN Deportes Radio Spanish Kenneth Garay Elmer Polanco Diego Cora

Match

GK 18 Jaime PenedoRB 20 A. J. DeLaGarzaCB 4 Omar GonzalezCB 22 LeonardoLB 14 Robbie Rogers RM 24 Stefan Ishizaki CM 8 Marcelo Sarvas CM 19 Juninho LM 10 Landon Donovan  CF 7 Robbie Keane (c)  CF 11 Gyasi ZardesSubstitutes:GK 12 Brian RoweDF 2 Todd DunivantDF 21 Tommy MeyerDF 33 Dan Gargan MF 6 Baggio Husidić MF 34 Kenney WalkerFW 9 Alan Gordon Manager: Bruce Arena GK 22 Bobby ShuttleworthRB 2 Andrew Farrell CB 5 A. J. SoaresCB 23 José Gonçalves (c)LB 8 Chris TierneyCM 6 Scott Caldwell CM 13 Jermaine Jones RW 10 Teal BunburyAM 24 Lee Nguyen LW 11 Kelyn RoweCF 9 Charlie Davies Substitutes:GK 18 Brad KnightonDF 25 Darrius BarnesDF 30 Kevin AlstonMF 12 Andy Dorman MF 16 Daigo Kobayashi FW 7 Patrick Mullins FW 14 Diego FagúndezManager: Jay Heaps

MLS Cup MVP: Robbie Keane (LA Galaxy)

Assistant referees: Peter Manikowski Joe Fletcher Fourth official: Armando VillarrealMatch rules 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level. Seven named substitutes. Maximum of three substitutions.

Statistics +Overall LA Galaxy New England RevolutionGoals scored 2 1Total shots 16 16Shots on target 6 6Saves 6 4Corner kicks 3 3Fouls committed 20 14Offsides 4 1Yellow cards 5 2Red cards 0 0

Post-match The Galaxy set the record for most MLS Cup wins, with five, and qualified for the 2015–16 CONCACAF Champions League as USA #1 spot. They won their group, which included Central Football Club and Comunicaciones F.C., but lost 3-1 over a two-legged match against Querétaro F.C. The Galaxy next appeared in the 2024 MLS Cup final, ten years to the day from the 2014 final. They won 2-1 against the New York Red Bulls.

References