New York Red Bulls advance to MLS Cup, and drive home the randomness of these playoffs

The New York Red Bulls played 20 soccer games between June 2 and the end of the MLS regular season; they won three, including two against lowly Toronto.

They started the 2024 Major League Soccer campaign relatively strong, but by the end of the 34-match grind, they’d claimed only 11 victories.

For eight months, they epitomized mediocrity. They entered the MLS playoffs as the Eastern Conference’s No. 7 seed, with title odds of +5800, as beneficiaries of the bloated format more so than deserving contenders.

And yet here they are, 90 minutes from an MLS title.

The Red Bulls beat Orlando City 1-0 on Saturday night to advance to MLS Cup, where they’ll meet either the Seattle Sounders or Los Angeles Galaxy next weekend.

They survived a few scares, and stunned Orlando with an early-second-half set piece. John Tolkin’s delivery was superb. Andrés Reyes’ header was brave. On the day, they were worthy winners.

But their presence in the conference final alone also highlighted the randomness of the MLS playoffs — an 18-team, stop-start, partially single-elimination competition to decide a league defined by parity.

After two consecutive MLS Cups pitting relative heavyweights, the 2024 playoffs have delivered chaos. The Red Bulls beat the vaunted Columbus Crew in Round 1, first on the road, then in Game 2 at home on penalties. Atlanta, meanwhile, with all of 10 regular-season wins, upset top-seeded Inter Miami. FC Cincinnati also fell on penalties to sixth-seeded NYCFC.

The Red Bulls then beat NYCFC in the quarterfinals. They topped Orlando with a scrappy, solid performance on Saturday in the semis. They have beaten more teams in the playoffs than they did in four-plus months, and they’ll need only one more next Saturday (4 p.m. ET, Fox) to win the club’s first MLS Cup championship.