MLS / Liga MX Report: Landon Donovan Looks to End Career with MLS Cup Title, Club America Advances to Liguilla Semifinals

By Edwin Molina Dec 02 2014, 15:30 PM EST

MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER (MLS)

The finals for the MLS Cup are set with Landon Donovan, looking for his sixth league championship, and the L.A. Galaxy hosting the New England Revolution next Sunday -- who have been to four title games and never won the trophy.

Clinton Dempsey put the Seattle Sounders on his back after going down 1-0 in the first leg of their playoff series against their conference rival, first by giving the assist to Brad Evans, who scored in the 26th minute after Dempsey found him open in the box and later blasting a shot that ricocheted off Galaxy keeper Jaime Pinedo for the 2-0 lead six minutes later.

But Juninho would not allow for Donovan's career to end in Seattle, rocketing a shot past Sounders keeper Stefan Frei from outside the box in the 54th minute that gave the Galaxy a 2-2 draw on aggregate. With the away-goal rule in play, the Galaxy move on to the MLS Cup championship game, allowing for Donovan, who announced he was retiring earlier in the season, to end his career with a Hollywood storybook ending.

"It seems perfect, yeah," said the former U.S. national team captain. "But we've got to win it. That's our challenge. We're playing a team that I think is the best team in the league the last 10 or 12 games, so it's going to be a challenge."

For the latest sports news, follow @LatinPostSports on Twitter

The Galaxy face a New England team that went 6-1-1 in the last two months of the Major League Soccer (MLS) season and has been steamrolling through the competition during the playoffs. New England had a huge advantage going into the second leg at home after beating the New York Red Bulls 2-1 at Red Bull Arena last week. Tim Cahill got the ball past Revolution keeper Bobby Shuttleworth after a beautiful assist from Thierry Henry in the 26th minute.

But New England forward Charlie Davies' goal off of Chris Tierney's cross in the 41st minute helped the Revolution put more pressure on New York. Péguy Luyindula's goal in the 52nd minute gave New York a glimmer of hope, giving the Red Bulls a 2-1 lead in the game (tying it 3-3 on aggregate) but Davies buried another Tierney cross with a header past Red Bulls keeper Luis Robles to tie the game up 1-1 and give the Revolution a 4-3 aggregate victory over New York to advance to the MLS Cup final.

The Red Bulls' loss possibly ended Henry's storied career as the French striker -- who won championships with AS Monaco (a Ligue 1 title), Arsenal (two English Premier League titles), Barcelona (two La Liga titles and UEFA Champions League trophy) and the French national team (a World Cup) -- contemplates what is next in his career with his contract up with New York.

"One thing is certain: I will stay in football, as a coach, a consultant or executive. We will see," said Henry. "The second certainty is that I would love to see Arsenal win the Champions League. Whether that is from near or far does not depend on me, but it is sure I'd like to help. This is my club and, as a player, I was not able to give them the Champions League."

LIGA MX

The semifinals of the Liga MX Liguilla are set with America, Toluca, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (UANL) and Monterrey all advancing into the next round.

America, the number one seed in the tournament, went down 1-0 to Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico (UNAM) before bouncing back in the second leg thanks to a header by Paolo Goltz in the 75th minute off of Gonzalo Díaz's corner kick that tied the series 1-1 in the aggregate score. America advanced on the basis of being the higher seed despite the draw in the aggregate score.

America will play sixth-ranked Monterrey, who upset No.3 seed Atlas, to advance to the next round. Monterrey went down 1-0 in the first leg playing at home, but came back strong in the second leg, defeating Atlas 2-0. Dorlan Pabon converted a penalty kick in the 32nd minute before Monterrey midfielder Candido Ramirez Montes sealed Atlas' fate by getting the ball past Atlas keeper Edgar Eduardo Castillo, Montes scoring off a weird angle that caught Castillo by surprise to give Los Rayados the 2-1 aggregate win.

Tigres of UANL, who finished second in the standings after ending both legs with 1-1 draws with seventh-seeded Pachuca and advancing to the semifinals on the basis of being the higher seed, will face fourth-seeded Toluca on Thursday. Toluca also took advantage of the higher seed rule finishing both legs with 1-1 ties against Chiapas to end the Jaguares' season and advance to the semis of the Liguilla playoffs.