LOS ANGELES — The Galaxy took a ride on another emotional El Trafico rollercoaster Sunday and when the rolling and spinning stopped, they were left with just a point in the 2-2 draw.
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In their fight for a spot in the MLS Cup playoffs, a point is always good, but when it is the result after a two-goal lead, you’re not overly excited to see just one point added to your total.
The Galaxy led 2-0 on goals from Joseph Paintsil in the 34th and 51st minutes. However, things turned quickly in the second half.
LAFC responded with a goal in the 53rd minute from Denis Bouanga and in the 61st minute from Leo Walta.
The final stages were intense. LAFC actually scored a late goal just before the end of the seven-minute stoppage time period, but it was ruled offside, leaving both teams with a point.”
“It felt like we got a little lackadaisical, a little bit casual as we went up 2-0,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said. “I felt like we needed to understand that an opposition like that is going to have a reaction and we need to make sure that we make good decisions, clean decisions, especially in our half of the field. In the next couple of minutes, we put some balls behind them instead, we lose it right in front of our back line and then it becomes an issue.”
“They’re a good team with phenomenal players. I still feel a little bit like we do ourselves in with just some not clean play in key areas of the field. Once we gave away those two goals, I felt like momentum was against us and it just became a little bit of managing down the stretch.”
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The draw was enough for LAFC to clinch a playoff spot. The point leaves the Galaxy in ninth place in the Western Conference on 41 points and a lot of work to do. The Galaxy will be off midweek, while the rest of the league plays, so there is a chance they could be below the line when they return Oct. 31 against Austin FC.
“I think every point matters right now,” Vanney said. “We’ll see how everybody goes on Wednesday. We rest a little bit and regroup and we play the next home game and to be fair, even though there’s not a ton, there’s still a lot of soccer to be played over the next sort of week, week and a half. Obviously, our last game (of the season) is against RSL (Real Salt Lake), which could prove to be a massive game in the end.
“I feel like nobody should want play us as we get into the playoffs. It’s a team that’s come together a little bit late because of all the movement in the summer, but I still think if we can do the business the last couple of week, we are a very dangerous team going into the playoffs.”
The regular season concludes Nov. 7 with the Galaxy on the road against RSL.
“It’s a do-or-die situation for us,” Paintsil said of the final two games. “We have to win those two games. It’s a must for us, we don’t have any excuse.”
The Galaxy were without Hirving “Chucky” Lozano and Kyōgo Furuhashi due to hamstring injuries. They were both listed as questionable on the injury report. The Galaxy were also without midfielder Marco Reus, who, according to a team representative, woke up with “flu-like” symptoms.
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