Chris Rolfe fires DC United into semis

MLS Playoffs | Playoffs

Oct 28, 2015 at 11.30pm UK

FT(HT: 1-1)

DC United book an Eastern Conference semi-final date with New York Red Bulls after beating New England Revolution 2-1, courtesy of Chris Rolfe's 83rd-minute winner.

Published: October 29 2015 | 01:36

Last updated: October 29 2015 | 15:34

Chris Rolfe nicked an 83rd-minute winner as DC United beat New England Revolution 2-1 at the RFK Stadium on Wednesday evening to book a date with New York Red Bulls in the Eastern Conference semis.

Only 15 minutes elapsed before the visitors moved ahead, with Juan Agudelo poking home from roughly 12 yards out following a cross from Kevin Alston.

DC very nearly moved level on 21 minutes when Fabian Espindola missed from close range after Bobby Shuttleworth palmed away Rolfe's speculative effort.

United continued to threaten, and they found the breakthrough in timely fashion as Chris Pontius headed home Espindola's delivery in the second minute of first-half stoppage time.

Jermaine Jones's long-range attempt on 56 minutes was as close as the visitors came to wresting back the lead in a second half which was dominated by DC.

They could, and should, have yielded tangible reward from their dominance with 15 minutes to go, but Rolfe crashed a penalty against the crossbar after Scott Caldwell handled Alvaro Saborio's shot.

Rolfe, United's leading scorer in 2015 with 10 goals, atoned for his error, with the veteran stroking home an Espindola cross as Ben Olsen's men planted one foot in the semis.

Any hopes of a comeback were effectively dashed late on when Jones saw red following a second booking as DC marched into the last four.

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Eastern Conference

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Inter Miami Inter Miami	34	22	8	4	79	49	30	74
2	Columbus Crew	34	19	9	6	72	40	32	66
3	FC Cincinnati Cincinnati	34	18	5	11	58	48	10	59
4	Orlando City	34	15	7	12	59	50	9	52
5	Charlotte FC Charlotte FC	34	14	9	11	46	37	9	51
6	New York City FC NY City	34	14	8	12	54	49	5	50
7	New York Red Bulls NY Red Bulls	34	11	14	9	55	50	5	47
8	CF Montreal Montreal	34	11	10	13	48	64	-16	43
9	Atlanta United Atlanta	34	10	10	14	46	49	-3	40
10	DC United	34	10	10	14	52	70	-18	40
11	Philadelphia Union Philadelphia	34	9	10	15	62	55	7	37
12	Toronto	34	11	4	19	40	61	-21	37
13	Nashville SC Nashville	34	9	9	16	38	54	-16	36
14	New England Revolution New England	34	9	4	21	37	74	-37	31
15	Chicago Fire	34	7	9	18	40	62	-22	30

Western Conference

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Los Angeles FC Los Angeles	34	19	7	8	63	43	20	64
2	Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy	34	19	7	8	69	50	19	64
3	Real Salt Lake Salt Lake	34	16	11	7	65	48	17	59
4	Seattle Sounders Seattle	34	16	9	9	51	35	16	57
5	Houston Dynamo Houston	34	15	9	10	47	39	8	54
6	Minnesota United Minnesota Utd	34	15	7	12	58	49	9	52
7	Colorado Rapids Colorado	34	15	5	14	61	60	1	50
8	Portland Timbers Portland	34	12	11	11	65	56	9	47
9	Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver	34	13	8	13	52	49	3	47
10	Austin FC Austin	34	11	9	14	39	48	-9	42
11	Dallas	34	11	8	15	54	56	-2	41
12	St Louis City	34	8	13	13	50	63	-13	37
13	Sporting Kansas City Kansas	34	8	7	19	51	66	-15	31
14	San Jose Earthquakes Earthquakes	34	6	3	25	41	78	-37	21