Galaxy plays with urgency to secure top MLS record
Apparently, the players on the Galaxy roster perform better with their backs against the wall. That’s a good thing, because that’s exactly where their backs figure to be for much of the next month.
Needing to avoid a loss in its regular-season finale with FC Dallas on Sunday to clinch home-field advantage through the first two rounds of the MLS playoffs, the Galaxy played with uncommon urgency and desperation in rallying to a 2-1 victory in front of a Home Depot Center crowd announced at 24,993.
Now comes the hard part. To get back to the MLS Cup, the Galaxy must beat Seattle in a home-and-home series beginning Sunday in Seattle, then beat the winner of the Real Salt Lake-Dallas series next month.
And to do that the Galaxy is going to have to play like it did Sunday, when it got a tying goal from David Beckham late in the first half and the winning score from Juninho 35 seconds into the second half to turn back a Dallas team coming off a league-record 19-match unbeaten streak.
“We needed this game,” Coach Bruce Arena said “We haven’t been in a game where we’ve been forced to win, forced to show up and play hard and fight and scrap for everything we can get. That’s the kind of game that should give our team and players a lot of confidence.”
The Galaxy, after all, had grown complacent, losing two of its last four matches to enter Sunday’s match with little margin for error. It needed at least a point to win the Supporters’ Shield, which goes to the MLS team with the best regular-season record.
But when referee Mark Geiger established early on that he was willing to let anything short of felonious assault go unchecked, Dallas turned physical, taking a 1-0 lead in the 22nd minute when Atiba Harris headed in a cross from Eric Alexander.
Landon Donovan argued vehemently — and unsuccessfully — for an offside call. Clearly frustrated, the Galaxy captain decided to register his unhappiness with the officiating in another way, racing Jackson Goncalves to a loose ball at the touch line before shoving the Dallas defender to the turf. Donovan then spun and directed the ball to the edge of the 18-yard box, where Beckham turned the pass into a goal.
“Everyone was fighting for each other tonight,” Beckham said. “That was the difference. Everyone was looking at our character. So it was important that we had a game like this tonight.”
Juninho got what proved to be the winning goal off a Dallas mistake in the opening minute of the second half, collecting a sloppy clearing pass at the edge of the penalty box and banging it to the back of the net, earning the excited Brazilian a bearhug from Beckham, the first teammate to reach him.
“We … had to fight for our lives, basically,” Arena said. “We raised our level of play, our competitiveness, our mentality. And it’s something we’re going to have to have for the playoffs if we have any interest in trying to get back to the MLS Cup.”
kevin.baxter@latimes.com
