The question is, did Osorio have time to pull out of his challenge? It’s one of those situations that’s actually muddied by the use of instant replay. By slowing it down in replay, it looks as if Osorio has more time to pull out of the challenge than he actually did — and the play looks more malicious in nature when it slows down.

The result now leaves TFC with 23 points with five games left to play. With Houston’s win over Philadelphia Saturday night, the Reds are officially (as in, mathematically) eliminated from playoff contention. If somehow lightning struck five times in a row, and the Reds won their last five, they’d get to 38 points. The Philadelphia Union, which held fifth place at the time of this article, have 39 points.

A 2-1 triumph over the Red Bulls was more than just three points for Vancouver; it was a statement to the fans back in British Columbia that this team wasn’t going to roll over.

With the MLS season moved up to its earliest start ever, forgive us if we don’t feel 100 per cent totally prepared for First Kick. Judging by the way many MLS teams finished preseason, with tentative matches and still looking at trialists with a week to go before the games count in the standings, a lot of coaches aren’t quite ready for the early start, either.

“They’re a good team, but the problem they had is that Champions League killed them. It’s a very tough thing to do in a salary cap league even with three designated players. It’s extremely tough to travel down to Mexico and then up to Montreal. It’s difficult. You are so focused on this championship that you are so close to winning, and then all the sudden you’ve got to refocus on the league and you’re 10 points behind.”

The scene: The 2009 MLS Superdraft. With the second pick, Toronto FC chose midfielder Sam Cronin, passing up on University of Maryland defender Omar Gonzalez, who the Los Angeles Galaxy took with the third pick. On Wednesday, Gonzalez became the youngest player, at 23, to ever be named MLS Defender of the Year.

Hainault, who was not invited to the Canadian national team camp for next week’s two upcoming World Cup qualifiers against St. Kitts and Nevis, scored the opening goal as the Dynamo beat Sporting Kansas City 2-0 in the Eastern Conference Final.

And if there is a group of Canadian fans who want to see Real Salt Lake return to the form it showed in the early part of the season — when it looked two steps better than anyone else in the league, including the Los Angeles Galaxy — they would have been overjoyed by Saturday night’s performance.

TFC offered very little resistance up in the first half. RSL owned the midfield, and outside of a few counterattacking chances, Toronto lacked any real possession. On the night, the Reds garnered less than 30 per cent possession — which is seldom seen by any club.

Real Salt Lake finally lost a home game, the first since 2009. With a 1-0 win in the second leg, thanks to a goal from Chilean national-teamer Humberto Suazo, Monterrey took the CONCACAF Champions League title.