Galaxy rally in second half to win
CARSON » Time is running out on the Galaxy's season and playoff hopes, but Billy Sharp and Diego Fagundez did their best to breathe some life into them.
Billy Sharp, who signed with the Galaxy in August from Sheffield United, scored a hat trick, with two goals coming in the second half and Fagundez added the winning goal in the 82nd minute to help the Galaxy to a 4-3 come-from-behind win Wednesday for a valuable three points in front of 16,120 at Dignity Health Sports Park.
The win moves the Galaxy (8-11-9) to 33 points in the Western Conference, now five points off of the ninth and final playoff spot.
After a mistake-filled first half, the Galaxy trailed 3-1 at halftime. Every mistake the Galaxy made was capitalized upon by Minnesota United.
Sharp, who opened the scoring for the Galaxy in the 16th minute, added to his account in the 63rd and 71st minute to get the Galaxy level at 3-3.
Minnesota United went down to 10 men after Ethan Bristow picked up his second yellow card in the 74th minute, leaving the Galaxy with approximately 20 minutes to find the winner.
Fagundez, another lateseason acquisition provided the winner, as he tapped in a cross from Tyler Boyd.
After opening the game on Sharp's first goal, things went bad for the Galaxy.
Minnesota's first goal came in the 19th minute after Galaxy midfielder Edwin Cerrillo failed clearance, Teemu Pukki got possession and scored into the upper corner. In the 41st minute, Bongokuhle Hlongwane took a shot from distance that deflected off of Raheem Edwards and over Galaxy goalkeeper Jonathan Bond for a 2-1 lead.
Unfortunately for the Galaxy there was still time left on the clock, and Minnesota made them pay as Hlongwane ended another counter with a goal for a 3-1 halftime lead. Throughout the night, the Galaxy's playoff hopes took a wild ride on the live standings page. At one point the Galaxy were nine points off the final the playoff spot, which would have left things dim heading into the final six games of the season.
Thanks to the comeback, the Galaxy now head into the final stretch with life. The Galaxy on Sunday will visit Austin FC, who they now trail by one point, and then return home Sept. 30 against the Portland Timbers, who are currently in eighth place.
LAFC 0, ST. LOUIS 0 » LAFC could not find the back of the net, but the defending MLS Cup champions earned a hard-fought point on the road against the first-place team in the Western Conference.
Maxime Crépeau saved four shots in his second start of the season and LAFC played St. Louis City SC to a scoreless draw in a clash of two of the best teams in the West.
St. Louis (15-10-5, 50 points) maintained its sixpoint lead over third-place LAFC (12-9-8, 44 points) heading into the final weeks of the regular season, though LAFC does have a game in hand on the leaders.
LAFC improved to 7-0-1 against expansion teams in the regular season since joining MLS in 2018, including a 3-0 victory over St. Louis earlier this season in Los Angeles.