The last time the Galaxy played in the MLS Western Conference final, Gabriel Pec was in elementary school, Joseph Paintsil was in junior high and Riqui Puig had just entered Barcelona’s academy system.
It’s been a while.
But with all three players contributing to the scoring Sunday, the Galaxy found their way back to the conference championship game for the first time in a decade with a 6-2 win over Minnesota United before a sellout crowd of 26,192 at Dignity Health Sports Park. They will meet the Seattle Sounders on Saturday in Carson, where the Galaxy is unbeaten in 18 MLS games. The winner of that game will host the MLS Cup final Dec. 7.
The Galaxy haven’t just returned to the playoff final four, though. They’ve pillaged and rampaged their way there, destroying everyone in their path while scoring 15 times in three playoff wins in which they’ve never trailed. The goals Sunday came from the usual suspects with Pec, Paintsil and Dejan Joveljic all scoring goals in each half.
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If they aren’t the best team in MLS, they’re certainly the best team remaining.
Pec got the rout started 27 seconds after kickoff, running on to Puig’s long, bending-through ball from the center circle, battling defender Jefferson Diaz for control in the penalty area, then beating Minnesota keeper Dayne St. Clair with a left-footed shot to the far post.
It was the quickest playoff goal in franchise history.
Diaz helped get that back less than five minutes later, threading a pass through four Galaxy defenders to Kelvin Yeboah just outside the box. Yeboah then dribbled into the area before lifting a left-footed shot around Maya Yoshida and under the crossbar to tie the game.
The Galaxy went in front to stay in the 18th minute, and Pec was again in the middle of things, drawing a foul outside the box on the right wing. That led to a free kick that Marco Reus bent into the box for Joveljic, who outjumped four Minnesota defenders to nod the ball past St. Clair for a 2-1 lead.
Pec, who led the Galaxy in scoring and led outfield players in minutes played during the regular season, has taken his game to another level in the playoffs. He was so active Sunday, pushing ahead in the attack then sprinting back on defense, that his white Galaxy kit was covered in green stains midway through the first half, partly obscuring the No. 11 on his back.
The Galaxy added to their lead just before the intermission when Miki Yamane’s cross from the right side missed Joveljic in front of the goal but found Paintsil on the left side of the six-yard box. He one-timed in a left-footed shot to make it 3-1.
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Yeboah halved the deficit on a penalty kick in first-half stoppage time. Galaxy keeper John McCarthy smothered Yeboah’s first try but referee Rosendo Mendoza ruled McCarthy had left his line early and gave Yeboah a second chance, which he buried.
The two goals matched the most the Galaxy have allowed in seven games and the most they’ve allowed at home since April. But Minnesota would get no closer with Pec doubling the lead in the 50th minute, making a 75-yard broken-field up the right side before banking a soft shot off the bottom of the left post and in while being shoved to the turf by Minnesota defender Michael Boxall.
With the outcome already decided, Paintsil and Joveljic closed the scoring with goals in the 87th and 89th minutes. And the Galaxy could have had more with St. Clair’s save on a 78th-minute penalty kick denying Pec a hat trick. As it was, the six goals were the most for the Galaxy against an MLS team since September 2019.
But the domination was far more complete on the field than it was on the scoreboard, with the Galaxy controlling the ball for more than an hour of the 90 minutes, taking nearly three times as many passes as Minnesota and completing more than 92% of them.
Minnesota finished its season with just 10 men on the field after Diaz drew his second yellow of the night for a foul on Pec and was sent off in the 82nd minute.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
