The Los Angeles Galaxy and Minnesota United are just below the cutoff point for a playoff spot in a crowded Western Conference race.
Both teams hope to avoid falling further behind in the race Saturday night when the Galaxy visit Minnesota in St. Paul, Minn.
Los Angeles (7-10-9, 30 points) enters its final eight matches in 10th place. While it shares the same point total as ninth-place San Diego, it has one fewer win.
The Galaxy added six new players in the secondary transfer window and are winless in their past five road games (0-3-2). They are trying to avoid missing the playoffs for the second straight season after winning the MLS Cup in 2024. Los Angeles is 2-5-4 in its past 11 matches and has not scored more than two goals since a 3-0 win over Charlotte on Feb. 28.
The Galaxy are hoping to finish stronger after settling for a 1-1 tie against visiting Seattle last week. Marco Reus scored on a penalty kick in the 44th minute, but the Galaxy conceded the tying goal in the 81st.
“We have to take advantage of our chances and play clean for 90 minutes,” Los Angeles coach Greg Vanney said. “I feel like there’s a different kind of rhythm and different mobility in the group now, so now it’s just about guys getting better connected and more precise; that is going to be the key.”
Minnesota (7-10-8, 29 points) enters its final nine games one point out of a playoff spot, but it also trails the Galaxy and Real Salt Lake. The United are 0-3-1 in their past four games, having conceded 14 goals and scored 10.
Last week, Kelvin Yeboah and Tomas Chancalay scored for Minnesota in a 4-2 loss at St. Louis City SC. After Chancalay opened the scoring, Minnesota allowed three goals in a 20-minute span in the first half. It played better late, despite being down to 10 men in the final 10 minutes.
“I was just talking to my guys about intensity and moments when we’re defending our own half. I think you saw in the second half a change in intensity and when we were down a man,” Minnesota coach Cameron Knowles said. “You see the energy from the guys when they came back in today, ready to work, ready to fight, and ready to go for the weekend.”
–Field Level Media
