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. On Sunday they were even more dominant, keeping the ball for more than 60 of the 90 minutes, making nearly three times as many passes as Minnesota and completing more than 93% of them.
If they aren’t the best team in MLS, they’re certainly the best team remaining. But here’s the scary part: coach Greg Vanney and his team think they can get better.
“I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a perfect game in football in my life,” Vanney said. “So there’s always some way to get better. There’s always details that you can try to tighten up. But I’m pleased with the general overall body of work. I like where the mentality of the group is. The way the guys are and locked in.”
The job, however, isn’t finished because the Galaxy need two more wins before they can hoist the MLS Cup. And that, midfielder Edwin Cerrillo said, is what the team is focused on.
“The mentality changes when it’s playoffs,” he said. “We have a great opportunity.”
The goals Sunday came from the usual suspects with Pec, Paintsil and Dejan Joveljic scoring goals in each half. Puig, Joveljic and Paintsil all had assists as well.
Galaxy’s Joseph Paintsil, right, celebrates with teammates Gabriel Pec, left, and Riqui Puig after scoring during the first half of a 6-2 win over Minnesota on Sunday.
(Etienne Laurent / Associated Press)
Pec got the rout started 27 seconds after kickoff, running on to Puig’s long, bending through ball from the center circle 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.
Minnesota got that goal back less than five minutes later when Kelvin Yeboah lifted a shot just under the crossbar to tie the game. But that was really the last Minnesota saw of the game, with the Galaxy going in front to stay in the 18th minute.
And again Pec was in the middle of things. He drew a foul outside the box that led to a free kick that Marco Reus sent into the box for Joveljic, who outjumped four Minnesota defenders to nod a shot past St. Clair for a 2-1 lead.
Pec, who led the Galaxy in scoring and was third among 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.
“He can beat you right. He can beat you left,” Vanney said of Pec. “He can play in combination. He’s a triple, quadruple threat. He becomes almost undefendable, because he always has whoever’s dealing with him guessing.
“That’s just the young man doing some stuff that not many people can do.”
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.
Yeboah halved the deficit on a penalty kick in first-half stoppage time, but Pec struck again five minutes into the second half, making a spectacular 75-yard broken-field up the right side before banking a soft shot off the bottom of the left post.
“I just saw I would be able to keep dribbling and get to towards the goal. That gave me more confidence and I believed it could happen,” Pec said through translator Camila Kawashita. “That that was one of the most beautiful goals of my career. I can’t wait to get home to watch [a replay].”
But, he warned the Sounders, “there is always a way to get better. I hope next game I can be better.”
Pec’s second goal put the game away, but it didn’t stop the Galaxy from scoring with Paintsil and Joveljic each adding goals in the final three minutes of regulation, after Minnesota’s Jefferson Diaz was given a second yellow card, leaving his team with just 10 men. The six goals were the most for the Galaxy against an MLS team since September 2019.
Which is all well and good but it isn’t enough, Vanney said. The last time the Galaxy got this far, they ended the season by winning the MLS title. After a decade-long dry spell, the team is two wins away from doing that again.
“We’re now in a position to do something special,” he said. “To put yourself in contention and give yourself the best chance to do so is the expectation of the Galaxy and the Galaxy fan base. That’s where we are at this point.
“The Galaxy are back. And that’s what people were looking for.”