The path to a Western Conference championship runs through L.A., making Saturday’s El Tráfico rivalry game much more than just a battle for bragging rights.
LAFC’s hopes of gaining ground in the race for home-field advantage were dashed as they lost 4-2 to the Galaxy in Carson.
The game was a must-win for both teams, but even more so for the Galaxy, as LAFC still has two games in hand. A loss would have allowed LAFC to close the gap in the standings, making a run at the top spot in the standings and invaluable home-field advantage in the playoffs.
Now, the Galaxy (16-6-7, 55 points) comfortably sit atop the Western Conference standings and, even better, clinched a playoff berth thanks to an earlier loss by Austin FC.
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For much of the first half, it seemed LAFC would play spoiler, jumping out to an early 2-0 lead. In the fourth minute, LAFC Mateusz Bogusz opened the scoring with a header.
Denis Bouanga added a strike of his own in the 15th minute, capitalizing on a Riqui Puig turnover, extending LAFC’s lead.
“We got ourselves into a hole, and our setup wasn’t right,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said. “We were expecting one thing and saw another. … In the first half, Bouanga getting a lot of open space and running at Jalen [Neal] was not a great matchup, and we didn’t want to be in that.”
After a scoreless first half, the Galaxy came out in the second with a sense of urgency, netting two quick goals thanks to Dejan Joveljic and Edwin Cerrillo.
“In the second half, we just came out with a lot of more energy,” Cerrillo said. “’Intention’ and ‘intensity’ were two words that Greg brought up, and we knew we were down 2-0, but anything’s possible here at home.”
Joveljic struck first, sending a shot over the outstretched arms of LAFC’s Hugo Lloris in the 53rd minute. Two minutes later, Cerrillo tied the game with a powerful shot from distance — his first in MLS.
“The first goal coming relatively early in the second half was huge because it sparked us again,” Vanney said. “It was another layer of that belief that if you keep it up, it’s going to come. I’m proud of the guys because they got…