Your Monday Kickoff: LAFC and Philadelphia prove their pedigree

The Recap

LAFC (3) vs. Austin FC (0)

LAFC controlled the game from the jump and mollywhopped Austin FC 3-0 to win the Western Conference Final. Chicho Arango put LAFC on the board in the 29th minute and a Maxi Urruti own goal doubled their lead in the 62nd. Mahala Opoku put the final nail in the coffin in the 81st. LAFC outshot Austin 16-1 in the first half and 22-7 on the day.

Philadelphia Union (3) vs. NYCFC (1)

Maxi Moralez found the opening goal for NYCFC in the 57th minute to break the deadlock in an all out fist fight of a game. Moralez’s goal also opened up the match, and the Union were able to take advantage, breaking through a more defensive NYCFC with a quick-hitting free kick that found Julián Carranza behind the back line for a tidy finish in the 65th minute. Just two minutes later, the Union struck again with a pretty team move finished by Dániel Gazdag. Cory Burke put the game to bed with a 76th-minute goal that secured the Union’s first ever trip to MLS Cup.

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What you need to know

LAFC to host MLS Cup Final at Banc of California Stadium

MLS Cup 2022 is . Banc of California Stadium will host the championship game in this year’s Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, a scenario locked in via LAFC’s 3-0 victory Sunday over Austin FC in the Western Conference Final. They’ll face the Philadelphia Union, who conquered the Eastern half of the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs bracket, defeating last year's MLS Cup champions NYCFC, 3-1, Sunday night at Subaru Park.

The Supporters’ Shield race between LAFC (Western Conference No. 1) and the Philadelphia Union (Eastern Conference No. 1) went down to the wire, and now an MLS Cup 2022 battle awaits next Saturday between the league’s top two teams.

Assorted thoughts from the Conference Final Sunday that was

MLS Cup is set. Before we look forward though, let’s look back at what we learned from the Conference Final Sunday that was.

The talent gap was real

LAFC were the better team. A couple of times this season we saw Austin put together a performance where the sum of their parts outperformed LAFC’s outstanding individual pieces. That didn’t happen yesterday. Yesterday, we saw LAFC outperform Austin at both an individual and team level.

It’s maybe the biggest flex of muscle we’ve seen from LAFC all year. Steve Cherundolo has his team clicking at the perfect time and Austin had absolutely no answer for it. Austin rode set-piece goals to two wins in the regular season, but LAFC’s first two goals in this one flipped the script on the Verde and Black by finding the net via a couple of corners.

In most cases, that would be the storyline. But focusing on the set pieces would take away from the fact LAFC absolutely pummeled Austin. They were creating chances in as many ways as they wanted, the most impressive being LAFC’s center backs pinging 50-yard passes over the top of Austin’s back line and hitting Denis Bouanga and Carlos Vela in stride like quarterbacks throwing fly routes.

They just had more talent. They may have more talent than just about any collection of MLS players ever. Yesterday, they showed not only elite ability at every position across the field, but also cohesion as a unit. It had to be a scary sight for Austin. If LAFC play like that in their first MLS Cup in front of their home crowd, it’s hard to imagine them falling short of claiming their first title.

Austin can hold their head high. But next year will require more.

We’ve talked all year about the reasons why the numbers haven’t loved Austin in 2022. Again, we know they were a great team, but we also know the numbers eventually come good if the status quo holds. It’s totally fair for Josh Wolff's side to celebrate this incredible year two as much as they can, as long as they can. At some point though, they’ll have to start addressing needs.

Maybe needs isn’t the right word actually. Maybe it’s less addressing needs and more building on strengths. Because there weren’t necessarily a lot of needs on one of the best teams in the league. But they just don’t feel like a team that can stay stagnant and expect the same results. Teams like Columbus in 2021 and New England this year found out what can happen the year after you outrun expected goal numbers. Those teams weren’t exactly the same of course, but there is precedent here for strong teams falling off a cliff when their luck ran out and their core largely stayed the same.

It can’t be a passive offseason for this group if they want to be back here next year. And right now, with Emiliano Rigoni becoming the latest Austin signing to struggle to live up to his DP label, there are questions about whether Austin can make the right moves to find players who will raise the group’s ceiling in 2023.

The Union got their revenge and then some

I can’t say we learned too much from the Eastern Conference Final last night. The Union are who they are and NYCFC were good enough to win MLS Cup, but just not as good as last year. Everything we already knew just played out in front of us.

The Union had to appreciate the form of the win though. Last year, they went up 1-0 in the second half before surrendering a couple of big goals and falling short. This year, NYCFC went up in the second half before the Union landed two huge swings and one final knockout punch. Some demons were vanquished there. And the Union’s response to the gorgeous NYCFC opener says a lot about their mentality and ability. Both are extremely high. Which leads us to…

The best MLS Cup ever

A lot of people love Cinderella runs, but there’s a large part of me that just wants to see the two best teams go head-to-head with stakes on the line. We’re getting that in this MLS Cup matchup in a way we technically haven’t since 2003. This is the first time both No. 1 seeds will meet for the title and, frankly, the league has come a long, long way since 2003.

But even in more recent years, I’m not sure how often we can say the first seed in each conference came into the playoffs as one of the two best teams in the league. This season though, LAFC and Philly were clearly the two best teams in the league. Not only that, but there are legitimate arguments for their status among the best MLS teams of all time.

We’ve got two teams who might be among the top-10 best teams ever in the league playing outstanding soccer at the right time with styles that contrast each other in fascinating ways. We’ve got two teams who have earned more points than any other team since 2018. This is a heavyweight title fight between an undefeated champ and an undefeated challenger. I’ll take that over Cinderella every time.

And Other Things

Austin FC, Philadelphia Union make Concacaf Champions League: Since LAFC or Philadelphia will win MLS Cup and take that slot, Austin FC are guaranteed a place in next year’s Concacaf Cahmpions League. (ATX is fourth in the Supporter's Shield table - but the third USA-based club).