🏆 Vancouver beats LAFC to stay alive; Red Bulls knock out Columbus; The echo sounders move on

The first round of the MLS Cup Playoffs continues on Sunday evening, with another trio of games from across the league.

Here's what happened.

Vancouver Whitecaps 3-0 LAFC

Goalscorers: Gauld 10', Hollingshead (OG) 13', Segura (OG) 68'

The Vancouver Whitecaps made their mark north of the border with a resounding 3-0 win over LAFC, forcing a third game in Los Angeles.

The 'Caps were strong from the first whistle and took a two-goal lead thanks to two goals within three minutes. The second of these was the first of two LAFC own goals on the night.

Ryan Gauld was in charge for the home team all evening and perhaps should have put Vancouver ahead by more than two goals at halftime.

While the visitors created a flurry of chances to come back from behind and change the outcome of the affair, an Eddie Segura own goal after the hour left Vancouver three points ahead and paved the way to the third and deciding game of the series.

Houston Dynamo 1-1 Seattle Sounders (Seattle advances on penalties)

Goalscorers: Roldan 86'; Roldan (OG) 90+3'

The Seattle Sounders knocked Houston out of the MLS Cup playoffs after winning their second straight penalty shootout against the Dynamo.

Just like Game 1 of the series, good offensive moves were rare to see Sunday night in Houston.

The first drama came after an hour, when veteran Houston midfielder Héctor Herrera was sent off for apparently spitting on the referee.

Thanks to the numerical superiority, Seattle took control and finally found what he thought was a dramatic winning goal through Cristian Roldan, who shot the ball into the goal from the penalty area after a well-drilled team down the left flank.

But the drama didn't stop there. The 10-man Dynamo side pushed to find an equalizer and they did so in stoppage time when Cristian Roldan played from top to bottom and fired the ball into his own net after a dangerous cross. And with that the game went to penalties.

The two teams were ice-cold with their penalties and it took until the seventh round of the shootout for Stefan Frei to make a huge save from Tate Schmidt, sending Seattle to the next round.

New York Red Bulls 2-2 Columbus Crew (NYRB advances on penalties)

Goalscorers: Vanzeir 64', Forsberg 80' (P); Arfsten 55', Ramirez 90+7'

The team seemed keen to get back into the series from the start and pushed hard for the lead in the first half, but luck was not on their side. The reigning champions saw two shots hit the post in the final minutes of the half within a few seconds.

However, after the break, super substitute Max Arfsten made a big impression when he scored a goal just a few minutes into the game to give the visitors the lead. However, that lead didn't last long as the Red Bulls hit back through Dante Vanzeir less than 10 minutes later.

The Red Bull Arena was once again in trouble in the final 15 minutes when a Red Bull player was brought down in the penalty area by veteran defender Rudy Camacho. With just over ten minutes remaining, Emil Forsberg was active and converted the penalty to give the hosts the lead and push the champions into a corner.

The Crew pushed for an equalizer deep into stoppage time and were rewarded for their efforts when Christian Ramirez stunned the home crowd with a header in the 7th minute of stoppage time, sending the game to penalties.

There was more drama in the shooting. Both John Toljin and Yevhen Cheberko had their efforts saved for their respective teams, but misses from Max Arftsen and Alexandru Mățan deep into the penalty shootout saw the champions eliminated.

The Red Bulls' victory represents the first real upset of this season's MLS Cup playoffs.