There might not be much to play for this season, but the LA Galaxy certainly did not show it on Saturday night.
The Galaxy looked good early on in its role as spoiler against Real Salt Lake, as first half goals from Dejan Joveljic and Douglas Costa gave the Galaxy and early two-goal lead. However, as has been the case in a lot of matches this season, the Galaxy once again allowed its opponent to get back in the match, as a goal by Anderson Julio just before halftime gave Salt Lake a huge lift, and Diego Luna capped off the comeback with an equalizer, and the Galaxy were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw at Dignity Health Sports Park.
“Two nil up, two nil up and again the same things happen in last minutes of the first half,” Galaxy defender Maya Yoshida said. “I think they are very obviously just crossing and in the first couple of minutes we are struggling a little bit but after that it was okay. Again nothing special happened and we just couldn’t clear the ball and then deflection and we are 2-1. Second half I think today we managed the game okay but then again from nothing to concede again. It’s the same things just nothing special they didn’t make you go wow but we conceded again.”
The draw was a mixed bag of emotions for Salt Lake, as the result eliminates them from competing for the second seed in the Western Conference heading into the final weekend of the regular season. RSL however still has a chance to have home field advantage in the first round of the upcoming MLS Cup Playoffs, as a win against Colorado combined with a Seattle loss and a Houston loss or draw could see them finish as high as third in the conference.
The Galaxy scored just seven minutes into the match. Costa played a ball forward to Daniel Aguirre, who turned, touched into the penalty area and played a short cross to Joveljic and he slotted the shot past keeper Zac MacMath near post. The Galaxy doubled its advantage in the 34th minute, as Billy Sharp played a long ball to Joveljic, who then touched a ball to Costa, and he sent the shot past MacMath far post.
“I thought, generally, in the first half we were pretty solid,” Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney said. “We got the 2-0 lead. It’s just the moments in the first half that are exciting, because we were counter attacking and we were going at top speed across the field. Sometimes at 60, 70 yards in these counter attacks. And they looked good. Sometimes we get chances, sometimes we don’t.”
Real Salt Lake however got an important score just before halftime. Andrew Brody crossed into the penalty area, Galaxy defender Tony Alfaro cut off the cross, but RSL’s Maikel Chang kept the ball in play, then passed back to Damir Kreilach, who turned into shooting position, then took a shot that was blocked by Maya Yoshida, but Nelson Palacio kept the play alive for Salt Lake, Palacio played a ball to Julio, and he shot a ball that took a deflection and got past keeper Novak Micovic for a stoppage time goal that cut RSL’s deficit to a single goal. RSL caught the Galaxy in the 76th minute, as Julio sent a ball into the penalty area, Alfaro cut off the cross, but the ball fell to Luna, who bided his time before finally seeing a sightline, and he sent the shot past Micovic far post for the equalizer.
