RSL was down on the strength of two Schelotto goals by the 35th minute and it appeared as if Crew would be able to get over the one goal disadvantage and advance to the quarter finals. But RSL struck back from a Javier Morales goal two minutes later. Ten minutes later, RSL were awarded a penalty by referee Baldemero Toledo, a dubious call on Frankie Hejduk as Espindola went down a bit too easily.

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Real Salt Lake finished off a huge first round upset tonight, defeating the Columbus Crew 3-2 at Crew Stadium to win their Eastern Conference Semifinal series 4-2 on aggregate.

Real Salt Lake got behind the 8-ball early in the game, surrendering two first half goals to fall behind the Crew 3-2 on aggregate.

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The first Eastern Conference finalist will be determined tonight, when the first seeded Columbus Crew play host Real Salt Lake in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series (7 p.m. CDT on ESPN2).

The Crew fell to Real Salt Lake 1-0 in the series opener last Saturday and they'll need a win to have hope of continuing their 2008 title defense.

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Real Salt Lake got a late goal from striker Robbie Findley to defeat Columbus 1-0 in the opening game of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series Saturday night.

The match looked to be headed to a scoreless draw, but that all changed in the 88th minute when Findley slotted home a Yura Movsisyan cross to give RSL the win.

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The MLS playoffs continue tonight with Columbus traveling to Sandy, Utah to take on Real Salt Lake in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series (6 p.m. Direct Kick). If Real Salt Lake is to have any chance against the regular season champion Crew they need a result tonight -- as they typically struggle mightily on the road. Click to continue reading...

I've already taken a brief look at the Fire-Revolution first round series, but haven't spent any time on the three other Conference Semifinals going on around the country in the next couple of weeks. That's about to change though. Click after the jump for a quick rundown of the 'other' first round series.

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Yesterday was a huge day for soccer fans around the world as eight more teams secured their spot in South Africa for next year's World Cup. The U.S. and Mexico each used a big-time win to ensure their qualification, with Mexico getting a goal from Fire midfielder Cuauhtemoc Blanco in their 4-1 defeat of El Salvador at Estadio Azteca and the U.

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(Apologies for the lack of a picture...the website I use for photos appears to be down -- at least for my computer) When Peter Lowry netted twice for the Fire in Sunday's 2-2 draw with Columbus, you couldn't blame the midfielder for wanting to soak it all in. After all, it's not too often that the 24-year-old Lowry gets a start, let alone scores two goals.

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The Fire had it all to fight for on Sunday afternoon against the Columbus Crew. First place in the East, a shot at the Supporter's Shield, home field advantage in the playoffs, you name it and the Fire had it in their grasp this afternoon at Toyota Park but in the end it all slipped away as the two sides played to a very controversial 2-2 draw.

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Today's another busy day in the world of soccer as there are several very high quality matches going on, even as I type this entry.Some of the more marquee matchups include Manchester United v. Manchester City (7:30 a.m. on Setanta Sports), Chelsea v. Tottenham (10 a.m. on FSC) and of course Fire v.

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With only five regular season games left in their season, every remaining match is critical for the Chicago Fire. Some matches, however, are more important than others and this Sunday's battle at Toyota Park against the defending champion Columbus Crew (2 p.m. on My50/Telefutura) certainly fits that description.

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The first place Columbus Crew won their CONCACAF Champions League group stage match against Saprissa last night, upsetting the Costa Rican side 1-0 on the road. Midfielder Eddie Gaven scored the winner for the Crew in the 5th minute of play, when forward Steven Lenhart played him in behind the Saprissa defense, giving Gaven a golden-opportunity that he made no mistake with.

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The Fire entered this weekend one point behind the Columbus Crew for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. Now, the weekend is over and the Fire has lost ground in the race for the top spot in the East, as they currently sit three points behind the league leading Crew - who pulled off an improbable 2-1 victory over the Houston Dynamo yesterday.

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Looking at the standings after the Fire's 1-0 loss to D.C. United late Saturday night, I came to the conclusion that any hopes the Fire had of taking the 2009 Supporter's Shield (the honor given to the league leaders at the end of the regular season) had burned out. The Fire had dropped another 3 points at home and the two squads in front of them - Columbus and Houston - were facing a pair of winnable games on Sunday.

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