A-League Finals > MLS Playoffs

The A-League finals (or playoffs, if you prefer) continue to produce some great football. There was Reinaldo’s excellent winning goal for Queensland Roar in the Minor Semifinal on Saturday, and then on Sunday the Central Coast Mariners went into the Major Semifinal Second Leg trailing the Newcastle Jets 2-0.

Second half goals A first half goal from Adam Kwasnik (check that nutmeg) and a second half goal from Sasho Petrovski leveled things up, before Petrovski struck again in extra time. The Mariners go the the Grand Final, while a demoralized Jets will now play a buoyant Queensland Roar in the Preliminary Final.

I mentioned earlier that the Australian play-off system is wacky, but once you wrap your brain around it the whole thing makes a lot of sense. It’s designed to favour the teams who finish higher in the regular season, so that they can lose a playoff game (as Newcastle Jets have here) and still get a second bite at the Grand Final cherry.

It’s still sort of wacky, and the whole concept of playoffs is always up for debate. But just ask DC United if they prefer the A-League second chance system or the MLS lose-and-you’re-out-we-don’t-care-if-you-won-the-damn-Supporters-Shield system (as I believe it’s called) and we all know what the answer would be.

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Category: Australia