Well DC United tried their hardest to stay competitive with LAFC on Tuesday night, it simply wasn’t enough for Wayne Rooney’s men, especially once they were down to 10 men. At this point, LAFC is 9 points above us, and they only need 19 more points to eliminate us and clinch home field advantage. Even if we can beat LAFC at home on Friday August 26th, it would be a steep climb to win the Western Conference regular season and a birth in the Second Round of the playoffs.
| Team | Magic Number |
| Sporting Kansas City | ELIMINATED |
| San Jose Earthquakes | 4 |
| Houston Dynamo | 5 |
| Vancouver Whitecaps | 10 |
| Portland Timbers | 10 |
| Nashville SC | 10 |
| Colorado Rapids | 11 Clinch Playoff Birth |
| Seattle Sounders | 12 |
| LA Galaxy | 16 |
| FC Dallas (Frisco) | 16 Clinch Home Playoff Match |
| Real Salt Lake | 17 Clinch US Open Cup Bye |
| Minnesota United | 18 Clinch 2 Seed (Potential Second Home Playoff Match) |
| LAFC | Needs 19 points to eliminate us |
In Wednesday matches, FC Dallas actually held onto a 1-0 lead once again to defeat Eastern Conference leaders, Philadelphia Union. While that number doesn’t reduce Austin FC’s magic number, it does help if Austin and Philly were to play in the MLS Cup final, making it more likely that the match would be in Austin. In the nightcap, Vancouver held on to beat Colorado 2-1 to reduce the Austin FC magic number to clinch a playoff spot to 11.
Looking ahead to this weekend, a San Jose loss alone eliminates them from finishing above us. For Houston, it would take the combo of a win in Minnesota and a draw or loss for Houston up in Colorado. We’ll be back on Monday with another update.