Week four of the CONCACAF Champions League (CCL) is in the books and the Major League Soccer (MLS) clubs are still on fire.
Three out of the five MLS teams played this week in the CCL, and there were two victories and one draw on the road. However, D.C. United became the first club in the CCL to qualify to the next round, with still one game left to play.
The Red and Black defeated Club Deportivo Árabe Unido 2-0 at home on Tuesday night. D.C. dominated the match and had two youngsters score for them. Twenty-three-year-old forward Conor Doyle and 25-year-old midfielder Jared Jeffery sent D.C. to the next round.
However, the most impressive fact about the Red and Black besides going 3-0 in the group stages is not conceding a goal thus far in the tournament. United has six goals and are currently the fourth highest scoring club in the CCL. They are behind: Querétaro FC (11 goals), Los Angeles Galaxy (ten goals), Club América (eight goals) and Deportivo Saprissa (seven goals).
How group H looks like:
| Clubs | GP | PTS | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
| 1.DC United | 3 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 2.Club Deportivo Arabe Unido | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| 3.Montego Bay United FC | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | -6 |
Now D.C. United will close the group stages with a road game against Montego Bay United FC on Tuesday at the Montego Bay Sports Complex. The Red and Black will be looking to end the group 4-0 so they can finish with the highest seed possible to avoid a Mexican club off the bat.
The Vancouver Whitecaps FC also won their match on Wednesday at BC Palace. They also made history by defeating Club Deportivo Olimpia 1-0; the victory was their first in franchise history in CCL action. Kianz Froese winning goal put the Caps just 90 minutes away from clinching their spot into the quarterfinals.
How group F looks like:
| Clubs | GP | PTS | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
| 1.Seattle Sounders FC | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| 2.Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 3.Club Deportivo Olimpia | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | -1 |
Vancouver just needs to beat bitter rivals, the Seattle Sounders FC on Wednesday at CenturyLink Field to advance to the knockout stage.
As for Real Salt Lake, they went to El Salvador and managed to leave the Estadio Las Delicias with a point against Santa Tecla F.C. on Tuesday. The scoreless draw bumped RSL to first place of group G and also in prime position to win the group.
How group G looks like:
| Clubs | GP | PTS | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
| 1.Real Salt Lake | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 2.C.S.D Municipal | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| 3.Santa Tecla F.C. | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 |
RSL next match will be Thursday at Rio Tinto Stadium against the Salvadorian club again. Defeating Santa Tecla will eliminate the Central Americans from the CCL and will put RSL just one point away from qualifying to the quarterfinals.
The MLS teams have done well in the group stages with an 8-2-1 record thus far. Obviously only four out of the five can qualify to the next round, anything less than that will be a disappointment to the leagues expectations. Well let’s see how week five plays out for the MLS clubs.