LA Galaxy's 4-3 comeback win over Minnesota United keeps playoff aspirations alive a bit longer
Wednesday night provided the most important result in LA's quest for playoff soccer
This game versus Minnesota and the LA Galaxy season can be summed up with one phrase: A roller coaster of emotions.
Billy Sharp scored in the 16th minute to make it back-to-back starts with a goal. The Englishman finished a rebounded shot in the box for his fourth goal with the Galaxy. The lead didn’t last long as Temmu Puki scored a volley inside the box following Edwin Cerrillo’s lackluster clearance.
In the 41st minute of the game, Bongokuhle Hlongwane's shot was deflected off the back of Raheem Edwards and looped over goalkeeper Jonathan Bond. He doubled his tally late in first-half stoppage time as he finished a ball inside the six-yard box.
The second half saw Sharp dial in and play the role of hero. He scored twice to level the game and record his first LA Galaxy hat trick. Substitute Diego Fagundez scored the game-winning goal in the 82nd minute to electrify the crowd in Carson.
“Picking up the three points obviously was massive. Maybe it was a difference in us having a chance in this thing. The second half probably does keep us into a fighting chance in the season,” expressed after the game.
Here is a look at the MLS standings following the midweek round of games:
Major League Sharp
It’s been some time since Sharp scored a hat trick, 1685 days in fact. He scored all three of Sheffield United's goals in a 3-3 draw against Aston Villa in Birmingham. Four years later, he’s put three in the back of the net to keep the LA Galaxy’s playoff hopes alive.
When it looked like LA’s chances were about to be blown out like a candle, Sharp’s second-half brace kept the flame burning. During the game, the live standings had the LA Galaxy nine points from the final playoff spot but in 45 minutes, the gap shrunk to five.
“I'm 37 but I still got a lot of life left in me and a lot of goals so to get the goals tonight was brilliant,” Sharp told reporters postgame. During his presser, Sharp brought out the match ball that he said he promised his kids he would get during his time in LA.
“[Sharp] has a nose for being in the right place at the right time. And that's what a couple of those goals were,” noted Vanney after the match.
The Galaxy’s main struggle this season is their extremely underwhelming production for their strikers. With his hattrick tonight, Sharp’s recorded six goals in six games for the G’z. He is currently averaging 2.2 goals per 90 minutes played.
“He’s a goalscorer, we see it in training, we see it all the time, he's been scoring and that's what's nice. When you have a number nine that gives confidence in the box and is scoring goals, it's amazing,” said Fagundez about Sharp.
“Sometimes we wish we could get those goals, the easy ones, but when you're in the right spot, he deserved it.” - Diego Fagundez
While this a great moment for Sharp, his focus now shifts to Sunday night’s match in Austin. “I probably should have had four or five but to get the three and the three points was huge to build momentum to go to Austin on on the weekend,” he said.
Form at the right time
Speaking of Austin, Fagundez is hitting his stride with the Galaxy just in time for their visit to his former home in Central Texas. After two seasons with the Texas side where he became a fan favorite, he was traded to LA this summer in a move that shocked many.
In his last three games with LA, Fagundez has one goal and three assists - the one goal being the game-winner on Wednesday night.
“[Tyler Boyd] goes down the line and of course, he finds the cutback and I see Mark [Delgado] about to touch the ball and I yell at him ‘Leave it, leave it’ and he does and I just had to do my part and just try to touch it in and I'm very glad that the ball went in,” described Fagundez.
With Douglas Costa out, it was surprising not to see him in the starting XI as he was on Saturday’s match against LAFC. Sharp praised Fagundez for not nagging about starting the game on the beach and called his goal “his just rewards”.
Fagundez is just one goal away from reaching the 70/70 club. He’s heating up just in time for his return to Texas. While Costa remains out, he’s got the responsibility of being a threat outwide.
‘Most important win of the season’
The pressure was on at the start of the game given the opponent and standings in the West. It tripled even more at the end of the first half with a two-goal deficit and knowing three draws at home isn’t going to cut it.
“Was a lot of wise words said in [the dressing room]. And then I remember Kelvin [Leerdam] saying as we going out; ‘They think they've already won the game‘ which that really got me going” - Billy Sharp
Vanney said postgame that the halftime talk was more emotional than tactical. The Galaxy needed to play clean soccer and not commit self-inflicted wounds and take advantage of their chances.
“The 3-1 was tough to take,” said Raheem Edwards who brought his son to the postgame press conference. “Obviously it’s typical goals that we give up, just shooting ourselves in our foot. The talk [at halftime] was just more of a mentally thing. Being through and down, we weren’t necessarily playing bad. Just having bad moments.”
Vanney’s team showed resiliency and their ability to create danger, create chaos for the opposition in the second half. “I think it was the most important win of the season. For sure. Obviously, for the reasons. Because of the timing of it, the way we came back and battled and got the points,” Vanney told reporters after the game.
“I think it was vital. For the table. When you even look at the table, it’s going to feel a lot better. Because we have games in hand. And we’re still staying in that, or we picked up a point or two tonight, so, it certainly feels better,” he added.
The Galaxy extends their unbeaten run at home to seven games following the win. You must pick up points at home and LA is not going to go down without a fight in front of their home crowd. Vanney’s side just needs to eliminate these self-inflicted wounds and not make getting into deep deficits a regular occurrence.
“At the end of the day, we need to step up for 90 minutes not just 45,” noted Fagundez. “I think in the first half we had chances but we can't be giving away goals like that and in the second half we kept going and once you get the rhythm and the energy to go forward the game definitely showed up for us."
The flame is still burning, LA can’t allow another scare like this to blow away their playoff hopes.