http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/25/sports/soccer/red-bulls-edge-montreal-and-clinch-a-playoff-berth.html 2016-09-25 05:23:02 Red Bulls Edge Montreal and Clinch a Playoff Berth Daniel Royer scored his first goal in Major League Soccer in the 60th minute, and the Red Bulls earned a spot in the playoffs for the seventh straight year. === Daniel Royer scored his first goal in M.L.S. in the 60th minute, and the Red Bulls clinched a playoff berth for the seventh straight year with a 1-0 home victory over the Montreal Impact on Saturday night. Royer headed down Chris Duvall’s cross, bouncing it into the right corner. Royer, an Austrian international, joined the Red Bulls (13-9-9) on Aug. 3. Bradley Wright-Phillips’s six-game scoring streak came to an end, but the Red Bulls took a share of the top spot in the Eastern Conference, tied at 48 points with Toronto F.C. and New York City F.C., which have also both clinched postseason berths. Dax McCarty, the Red Bulls’ captain, returned to the lineup for the first time since suffering a small tibial plateau fracture in a 2-2 draw at Chicago on July 31. The Red Bulls extended its unbeaten streak to 13 games, a club record. Montreal (9-10-11) remained fifth in the East. STRONG RETURN FOR AGÜERO Raheem Sterling also scored for City, whose only negative was the sight of the playmaker Kevin De Bruyne limping off late favoring his hamstring. City has won its first 10 games under Coach Pep Guardiola and has a 4-point lead in the Premier League standings. Chelsea’s defensive frailties were exposed as Antonio Conte’s team was left with 1 point from three league games in September. Alexis Sánchez, Theo Walcott and Mesut Ozil provided goals for Arsenal in the first half that gave the Gunners their first league win over Chelsea in five years, a 3-0 home victory. Chelsea had not even conceded a league goal to Arsenal since January 2013. Liverpool was already on its way a 5-1 win over visiting Hull — its third straight league win — when Ahmed Elmohamady was given a red card in the 29th minute. James Milner scored on the resulting penalty to double the lead already established by Adam Lallana. Son Heung-min stepped up for Tottenham in the absence of the injured Harry Kane, scoring twice in the first 23 minutes at Middlesbrough, which lost, 2-1. It was the third consecutive loss for Middlesbrough, but a third league win in a row for Tottenham. Everton’s unbeaten start to the league ended as Junior Stanislas scored a on a 20-yard drive to give host Bournemouth its second win of the campaign, by 1-0. Still searching for its first win of the season, Sunderland established a 2-0 lead at home against Crystal Palace with two goals by Jermain Defoe, then threw it away. The collapse began in the 61st minute when Patrick van Aanholt deflected Joe Ledley’s shot past his own goalkeeper. James McArthur evened the score, and Christian Benteke headed in the winner in stoppage time. Stoke was denied its first win of the season in stoppage time when Salomon Rondon’s header canceled out Joe Allen’s goal for visiting West Brom. BARÇA WINS WITHOUT MESSI BAYERN EKES OUT VICTORY TOUGH WIN FOR JUVENTUS