Los Angeles all but clinched the Western Conference’s No. 1 seed when the Brazilian forward converted a penalty in the 96th minute to tie the game against Houston Dynamo FC. Despite Marlon’s late header giving the Black & Gold a 3-1 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes, a 1-1 tie was within reach and kept LAFC at bay.
However, the drama of Decision Day has only just begun.
Former Galaxy defender Daniel Steles beat John McCarthy for the go-ahead goal in the 101st minute to make it 2-1, giving Houston all three points and leaving the Galaxy heartbroken.
LAFC and LA both finished Saturday night with 64 points. However, El Traffico’s arch-rival won against the West on goal difference, resulting in a third tie-break.
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“Let’s learn from this.”
Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said after the game, “It’s one play at the end of the season out of a lot of plays in the season, but the last play of the season is really painful for everyone.” “I told the group that we need to learn from this. Today it hurt us and cost us first place. If it happens next time, it could cost us our season. It will be.”
“I was trying to get a message across to the group,” Vanney added. “With some calculation, you’d want to get a goal back and try to get a tie…But obviously we had a goal. That happened to LAFC and we were like, ‘Okay, we’ve got to try.’ And we should probably try to throw caution to the wind. ”
Los Angeles is currently the No. 2 seed in the West and will face the No. 7 Colorado Rapids in the first round of the Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs best-of-three series. They’ll enter as the favorites, but the West team’s road to the MLS Cup, hosted by Audi on Dec. 7, runs through LAFC’s BMO Stadium.
Meanwhile, Houston’s victory placed them in 5th place in the West Division, and a matchup with 4th place Seattle Sounders FC was decided.
“It felt really good. There’s a lot of reasons behind it,” Steles said. “But it feels good to score a goal like that and contribute to the team’s victory here, just to give us the winning momentum heading into the playoffs.” 1. “
The last-minute drama didn’t play out like the five-time MLS Cup champions, but it was a warning shot. They know that simple mistakes can damage their campaign, especially in the single knockout rounds after the opening series.
“Even if you’re a very competitive, mature group with a lot of positives, if you don’t do what you’re supposed to do right throughout the game, you can forget that there’s a dark side. Yes,” Vanney said. . “Tonight was a tough memory.”
move forward
Although the Galaxy do not have the advantage of a top seed in the West, they are still expected to make a difference in the postseason. And for Maya Yoshida, who boasts a career in many big games, this will only add fuel to the fire.
“He probably won’t be able to sleep tonight, but I can promise you that he will repay the favor to the fans of the club, to the team and through the playoffs. He is undergoing tests now,” the veterinarian said.
“Sometimes in life one wonders why this happens to me. We think and think and think, but these kinds of difficult moments always test… I’ll see how I react. I’ll make a contribution and get to the finals and win the title. That’s my goal from now on.”
