Daniel Steres’ goal in the 11th minute of second-half stoppage time led the Houston Dynamo to a stunning 2-1 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday night.
Gabriel Pec had equalized for the Galaxy on a penalty kick in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time before Steres scored the winner.
The Decision Day victory secured the Dynamo (15-10-9, 54 points) the fifth seed in the Western Conference playoffs. Houston won for just the second time in four matches.
The Galaxy (19-8-7, 64 points) had their three-match winning streak end. The loss, coupled with the LAFC win, saw the Galaxy bumped to second in the Western Conference. Both teams had identical win-loss-tie records, but LAFC had a plus-20 goal differential compared to the Galaxy’s plus-19.
Steres headed in a cross from Griffin Dorsey in the 101st minute to secure Houston the three points.
Los Angeles briefly thought it had secured the top seed in the Western Conference when Pec converted from the penalty spot after Houston’s Artur took down Riqui Puig in the 18-yard box.
Trailing 1-0, the Galaxy poured it on in the second half.
The Galaxy thought they had levelled the score in the 49th minute, but Joseph Paintsil’s goal was negated by a foul called on Maya Yoshida.
Los Angeles had a glorious chance in the 64th minute off a scramble in front of the Dynamo goal, but Dejan Joveljic put his strike over the bar.
At halftime, Houston held a slight edge in possession, had four shots on goal and led 1-0.
Ezequiel Ponce opened the scoring in the 44th minute, chipping in the rebound off of the Hector Herrera free kick for his fifth goal of the season.
The two teams exchanged early-first-half opportunities.
Houston had an excellent chance in the 15th minute as Amine Bassi sent a cross for Coco Carrasquilla, whose strike beat keeper John McCarthy, but Yoshida was there to head the ball away from the goal line.
In the 18th minute, Paintsil had a strike from the top of the box, but it was deflected wide by diving goalie Steve Clark to keep the game scoreless.
The Galaxy won the only other meeting between the two sides this season 2-1 on May 25 in Carson, Calif.
–Field Level Media
