Vancouver, NYCFC earn final berths in MLS tournament round of 16; Portland wins group over LAFC

KISSIMMEEE, Fla. — Cristian Pavón’s penalty kick in second-half stoppage time helped the LA Galaxy salvage a 1-1 draw and prevent the Houston Dynamo from advancing to the knockout stage in the MLS is Back tournament on Thursday.

The Dynamo had led since Darwin Quintero's goal in the 17th minute but surrendered it after Maynor Figueroa fouled Diedie Traore in the penalty area. Pavón then drilled his penalty kick into the right side of the net after Houston goalkeeper Marko Maric went left.

Pavón's third goal of the season eliminated the Dynamo and allowed New York City FC to take the final wild-card spot in the round of 16. The Dynamo had two chances to regain the lead, but Ronaldo Peña's header just in front of the goal was high and Tomás Martínez's shot in the box went was wide right.

Houston went 0-1-2 in the tournament. It opened Group F play with a 2-2 draw against LAFC before a 2-1 loss to Portland. The Galaxy finished 0-2-1 after losses to Portland (2-1) and Houston (6-2).

Tomás Martínez (Houston Dynamo) left footed shot from the center of the box is close, but misses to the right. Tommy McNamara assisted.

Quintero put Houston in the early lead with a free kick from outside the box. The kick caught Galaxy goalkeeper David Bingham flat-footed and sailed over his head into the net.

Maric had five saves to Bingham's three.

Both teams are still in search of their first win this season. Houston has three draws in five games and LA is 0-3-2.

Jeremy Ebobisse scored his third goal of the MLS is Back tournament and the Portland Timbers played to a 2-2 draw against the Los Angeles Football Club on Thursday night in the final group stage match.

Both teams had clinched spots in the knockout round coming into the game. The draw allowed Portland to take the top spot in Group F with seven points. The Timbers came into the match with a pair of 2-1 wins over the LA Galaxy and Houston.

"Winning the group is a very important part of what we came here for," Timbers coach Giovanni Savarese said. "We knew it was going to be a very difficult group for us. We are very content to have done that against three difficult teams. I think we can continue to grow to be better."

Ebobisse came on as a substitute in the 58th minute. The striker evened the game in the 81st minute with a header into the back of the net after a corner kick by Diego Valeri.

Jaroslaw Niezgoda also scored for Portland, who will face FC Cincinnati on Tuesday in the round of 16.

Bradley Wright-Phillips and Mark-Anthony Kaye scored four minutes apart in the first half for LAFC, which gets defending league champion Seattle on Monday in a rematch of last season's Western Conference final. LAFC, which had five points to take second in the group, beat the Galaxy 6-2 and had a draw against the Dynamo.

"We started the game slow, but then we had a good response, and I thought we picked things up in most of the second half," coach Bob Bradley said. "I thought we had control. We didn't do a good enough job of finding the third goal, being sharp in the right moments and finishing the game that way."

Portland opened the scoring in the seventh minute when Sebastian Blanco found Niezgoda with a crossing pass. The Polish striker ran past LAFC midfielder Latif Blessing and beat LAFC goalkeeper Pablo Sisniega, who was playing out of position, for his first MLS goal.

Niezgoda is the third Timbers' player in the past two seasons to score in his first club start.

Wright-Phillips evened it in the 36th minute with a laser off his right foot from just outside the box. He was acquired from the New York Red Bulls during the offseason and is the first player to score in his first three LAFC games. It is Wright-Phillips' 111th MLS goal, which is eighth all time.

Kaye then put LAFC on top in the 40th minute when he scored on a header off Brian Rodríguez's corner kick. It is the midfielder's first goal of the season and his second in five games against Portland.

Yordy Reyna and Cristian Dájome scored six minutes apart in the second half, third-string goalkeeper Thomas Hasal had a clean sheet in his first Major League Soccer start and the Vancouver Whitecaps advanced to the MLS is Back Tournament’s knockout stage with a 2-0 victory over the Chicago Fire on Thursday.

The Whitecaps have clinched one of the four wild card spots while their opponent in the round of 16 has yet to be determined. Chicago also had three points in Group B but has been eliminated on goal differential.

The Whitecaps' goals were similar as Vancouver split Chicago's defense and found goalkeeper Kenneth Kronholm out of position. Reyna's first score of the season, which came in the 65th minute, happened shortly after the game resumed following a 93-minute rain delay.

Dájome put home his second of the year in the 71st minute with a shot between Kronholm's legs.

The Whitecaps were down to Hasal in goal after regular starter Maxime Crépeau broke his left thumb during the second half of Sunday's loss to Seattle. Regular backup Bryan Meredith is not with the team following the death of his mother. Jonathan Sirois was loaned by Montreal to the Whitecaps as a backup goalkeeper.

Hasal made four saves but the 21-year old also got some lucky breaks.

CJ Sapong appeared to give the Fire some hope in the 84th minute when he headed in a goal after Álvaro Medrán’s shot hit the crossbar, but it was overturned by VAR. Przemyslaw Frankowski was open inside the 6-yard box in the 47th minute, but his header hit the near post.