Galaxy eliminated from playoff race, lose to Minnesota
Teemu Pukki scored three of his four goals in the second half to propel Minnesota United to a 5-2 victory over the Galaxy on Saturday night.
The loss eliminated the Galaxy from playoff contention.
Pukki set a club record with his effort for Minnesota (10-12-11), helping the team keep its playoff hopes alive.
Pukki scored in the 45th minute to give Minnesota a 2-1 lead at halftime. He added goals in the 60th, 67th and 76th minutes, giving him 10 goals in just 12 starts and 13 appearances for the club this season.
Hassani Dotson tallied Minnesota's other goal, giving United a 1-0 lead in the 33rd minute.
Tyler Boyd scored for a seventh time this season to pull the Galaxy (8-13-11) even at 1-1. Dejan Joveljic scored his fifth goal of the season, unassisted in the 82nd minute to complete the scoring.
Dayne St. Clair tallied six saves for Minnesota United. Jonathan Bond stopped eight shots for L.A. LAFC 4, AUSTIN FC 2 » Dénis Bouanga scored twice to extend his MLS lead to 19 goals this season and LAFC eliminated Austin from playoff contention with the victory.
Bouanga recorded his fifth multi-score game of the season, the secondmost in a single season in club history behind Carlos Vela's seven in 2019.
LAFC (14-10-9) has won six of the eight all-time meetings with Austin (1015-8).
THE SCORES MINNESOTA 5, GALAXY 2 LAFC 4, AUSTIN 2
Up next: Real Salt Lake at Galaxy, Saturday, 7:30p.m., Apple TV+; LAFC at Vancouver, Oct. 21, 6p.m., Apple TV+
Timothy Tillman opened the scoring in the 13th minute, and Bouanga hammered in a penalty kick just before halftime.
Bouanga made it 3-0 in the 54th and Cristian Olivera gave LAFC a four-goal lead in the 68th.
Leo Väisänen scored his first MLS goal for Austin in the 75th and they benefited from Giorgio Chiellini's own goal in secondhalf stoppage time.
LAFC has totaled nine goals in two games this week after a 5-1 victory over Minnesota on Wednesday.
ROONEY OUT AS COACH » D.C. United beat NYCFC on Saturday but still failed to make the playoffs, leading to the departure of coach Wayne Rooney.
D.C. United (10-1410) announced a mutual agreement with Rooney to part ways after the match.
“We have spoken with Wayne and agreed it is best for us to part ways at this time,” said Jason Levien CEO and co-chairman of D.C. United. “This decision creates the avenue for our next general manager to have the full opportunity to impart a new philosophy and structure onto our sporting operations, which begins with the critical identification of a head coach who will best align with this,”