MINNEAPOLIS – One win away.
The LA Galaxy are just a single victory away from returning to the postseason after earning a 3-1 win over Minnesota United on Sunday.
The win and Real Salt Lake’s defeat to the Portland Timbers mean that a Galaxy victory next week against the Houston Dynamo will send Los Angeles to the postseason.
After an impressive win in Minnesota, the Galaxy locker room is confident—but not overly so—heading into the final match of the season.
“They know it’s still not over. We accomplished a win on the road which puts us in a spot next week where we can maybe get into the playoffs,” interim head coach Dominic Kinnear said. “I think deep down inside that they’re happy; it’s been a good little run we’ve been on. I do think they do have an eye on the following week, but we’re not getting carried away that’s for sure.”
Forward Zlatan Ibrahimović, who scored a goal and notched an assist to bring his total to 22 goals and 10 assists on the season, agreed.
“I think our playoffs started five games ago because we needed to win to make it still possible to make the playoffs. If we lost any of them, we were out. To play under pressure like that is not easy,” Ibrahimović said. “The guys should have all the credit for that because we are playing under high pressure and we are handling it well. The guys are handling it very well, we are controlling it very well, and we play with confidence.
“Dom [Kinnear] he gives us a lot of confidence. He keeps the basics simple, and we just go out and try to do what we are able to do, and we are doing it well at the moment.”
Los Angeles will now turn their attention to Sunday’s must-win match with the Houston Dynamo at StubHub Center. With the team peaking at the right time, the Galaxy believe they’re up for the challenge.
“We have to keep doing what we’re doing. Dom has done a great job so far, and the group is really united at the moment," midfielder Sebastian Lletget said. "We’ll have to keep training hard. We have a full week ahead before Houston, we’ll be ready.”
