The six Round One match-ups served us with intense football action, excitement, drama and unpredictability. The penultimate clashes are upon us.

There was 14 and now there is eight! The wait is over for both New York City FC and Los Angeles FC - respective winners of the Major League Soccer in the Eastern and Western Conferences - to be called into the ring for the semi-finals of the Audi 2019 MLS Cup Play-offs. The pair, who secured automatic progression to the penultimate stage of the competition, had their opponents determined following a weekend of thrilling football action in Round 1 of the play-offs.

Audi 2019 MLS Cup Play-offs Round 1 in review

For the Easter Conference, MLS Cup defending champions Atlanta United FC defeated New England Revolution to secure a semi-final date with Philadelphia Union who snatched a 4-3 victory against New York Red Bulls. In the final fixture, Jonathan Osorio and his Toronto FC comrades orchestrated an extra-time massacre against Wayne Rooney's DC United.

A 1-1 scoreline after 90 minutes forced the game into extra-time, and an Osorio brace and a goal apiece by Richie Laryea and Nick DeLeon were enough to send the former Manchester United star and his teammates packing out of the play-offs. A cracking Eastern Conference Semi-final encounter between Toronto FC and New York City FC was subsequently birthed.

In the Western Conference MLS Cup Play-offs, the fun was not amiss as the head to head Round 1 clash between Seattle Sounders and FC Dallas ended in a 4-3 scoreline. It was the former away as the eventual victors after almost giving up a two-goal lead against Luchi Gonzalez's men.

Jordan Morris, who was voted the MLS comeback player of the year for scoring 10 goals in the regular after missing the whole 2018 season through injury, bagged a hat-trick to take his side over the finish line. A date with Real Salt Lake was then set in motion following Freddy Juarez's side's 2-1 win over Portland. 

In the other fixture, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Cristian Pavon, Jonathan dos Santos and co marched on to the semis of the MLS Cup Play-offs by beating Minnesota United by a two goals to one. They are, as a result, set for a cracking derby with local rivals Los Angeles FC.

What are the Audi 2019 MLS Cup Play-offs semi-final fixtures? 

Below are the full Audi 2019 MLS Cup Play-offs semi-final fixtures and broadcast schedule with streaming information and TV listings:

Easter Conference

  • Atalanta United vs Philadelphia Union

 

Match details, result and original broadcast info

Atlanta United 2 - 0 Philadelphia Union

October 24, 2019 8:00pmMercedes-Benz Stadium

This match has ended. Below are the original Live broadcast details for this match.

Live TV coverage and streaming in United States

ESPN2 USA
ESPN Deportes USA
ESPN Deportes+ USA
ESPN App
MLSsoccer.com

  • New York City FC vs Toronto FC

 

Match details, result and original broadcast info

New York City 1 - 2 Toronto FC

October 23, 2019 7:00pmYankee Stadium

This match has ended. Below are the original Live broadcast details for this match.

Live TV coverage and streaming in United States

Fox Sports 1 USA
fuboTV
MLSsoccer.com
Foxsports.com

Western Conference

  •  Los Angeles FC vs La Galaxy

 

Match details, result and original broadcast info

Los Angeles FC 5 - 3 LA Galaxy

October 24, 2019 10:30pmBanc of California Stadium

This match has ended. Below are the original Live broadcast details for this match.

Live TV coverage and streaming in United States

ESPN
ESPN Deportes USA
ESPN Deportes+ USA
ESPN App
MLSsoccer.com

  • Seattle Sounders vs Real Salt Lake

 

Match details, result and original broadcast info

Seattle Sounders FC 2 - 0 Real Salt Lake

October 23, 2019 10:00pmCenturyLink Field

This match has ended. Below are the original Live broadcast details for this match.

Live TV coverage and streaming in United States

Fox Sports 1 USA
fuboTV
MLSsoccer.com
YouTube
Foxsports.com

NB: The MLS Cup 2019 (the grand final) is scheduled for November 10 and will feature the respective winners of the play-offs in the Eastern and Western Conferences. The final for the Eastern Conference MLS Cup Play-offs is slated for October 30 whereas that of the Western Conference will take place on October 29.

Stats: Top goalscorers of the Audi 2019 MLS Cup Play-offs

There were 27 goals scored in the six Round 1 matches played over the weekend. Jordan Morris' hat-trick for Seattle in the clash with FC Dallas makes him the highest scorer. He is followed by Toronto FC's Jonathan Osorio who bagged a brace against DC United.

At the moment, 22 other players have a goal apiece in the Audi 2019 MLS Cup Play-offs.

Audi 2019 MLS Cup Play-offs form guide

1. Atalanta United vs Philadelphia Union: As the defending champions, the expectations on the shoulders of Atlanta United remains unequivocally huge. The fact that it has never met Philadelphia in the postseason season complicates matters even more.

Nevertheless, their record of 3W-1L-2D all-time (2W-0L-1D at home) against the Union should increase optimism in camp.

2. New York City FC vs Toronto FC: Having failed to beat Toronto FC on two occasions in the regular season, NYCFC will hope to squash the chances of the Canadians with the conference finals being just 90 minutes away. Greg Vanney's men secured a 4-0 win at the BMO Field when the two sides met for the first time in the just ended league campaign and followed up with a 1-1 draw at the Yankee Stadium in the reverse encounter in September.

It is worth-noting that Toronto recorded a 7-0 aggregate win over NYCFC when the two sides met at the play-offs back in 2016. The former enters the upcoming clash on the back of three-game unbeaten run.

3.  Los Angeles FC vs La Galaxy: Meetings between these two is always feisty and with the stakes incredibly high this time, nothing less than an electrifying and intense clash should be expected. Despite topping the leader-board in regular season in the Western Conference, LAFC could not defeat their city rivals in El Trafico, taking their non-winning run to zero in five regular season derbies (0W-2L-3D).

La Galaxy approaches the semi-final tie as the only away team to emerge from Round One of the postseason as a result of its win over Minnesota.

4. Seattle Sounders vs Real Salt Lake:  In the regular season, both sides grabbed wins at home against each other. As far as the post season, Seattle and RSL have a win apiece in their two most recent meetings (RSL progressed in 2011 and Sounders in 2012).

The ambiguity of the clashes between the two sides makes an outright prediction impossible. Going into the fixture, both clubs will hope that their three-game winning run will be enough to fetch them the needed outcome to make it into the final.