For long stretches Saturday night against Toronto FC, the Los Angeles Galaxy didn't play particularly good soccer. But took advantage of enough chances to walk away with a 2-1 win, and in doing so will now head into the final week of the regular season with their playoff hopes very much alive.
"It wasn't the greatest of games, but I think at this point we know that we need three points, and we got three points," said Galaxy head coach Frank Yallop. "That's all that matters, to be honest."
Gavin Glinton drew a penalty kick that Landon Donovan converted for the Galaxy's first goal just one minute after entering the game as a second half substitute. Donovan then sparked the play that led to the game-winning goal, which was scored by Edson Buddle, who was another second half sub who entered the game one minute before scoring.
Los Angeles was unable to muster much of an attack in the opening 45 minutes, thanks in large part to the fact that Toronto dropped 10 men into their own half of the field for long stretches of the half. As a result the scoring chances were limited for Los Angeles, and Toronto looked like they were willing to play the role of spoiler.
"The first half (Toronto) never looked like they cared about coming to play the game, so it was difficult," said Donovan. "It was frustrating having all the possession but not getting anywhere. (In the second half) when I went out to the left I got a little more space, we opened up, and tactically we did things a little better."
Donovan's shift to the left side of midfield came as a direct result of Yallop's first substitution. Glinton came on for Kyle Martino early in the second half, forcing Donovan out of the middle of the park. The move paid off as a minute later, Donovan found Glinton over the top of the Toronto defense to set up the first goal.
"Landon was Landon tonight," said Glinton. "He played a great ball over the top to me. That's what so dangerous about us -- you can't really focus in on one or two guys and tonight we proved that."
Buddle was another revelation off the bench. Coming on in the 77th minute, Buddle got on the end of a Chris Klein cross a minute later to give the Galaxy the win. It was another substitution that made Yallop look like a genius, although he downplayed his role after the game.
"Masterstroke," said Yallop with a cheeky smile on his face. "Sometimes they work out, sometimes they don't. Edson obviously played well when he first came in. He did a good job and scores the winning goal, which is always nice."
Donovan was a bit more willing to give his coach some of the credit for the victory, the Galaxy's fifth in a row.
"Frank, like the rest of us, is relaxed. He's able to just go on his instincts right now," said Donovan. "His instincts are good and that's when he's best. He's been allowed to do that, and we're seeing the results."
The Galaxy are riding high right now, but momentum isn't being converted to overconfidence. There is still a lot of work to do, as they still need to get results in their next two games to make the playoffs.
With just four points from next week's game, at home against New York on Thursday, then at Chicago on Sunday afternoon, the Galaxy could conceivably find themselves in the playoffs. With the bench contributing the way it has, players returning to health and Landon Donovan personally leading the charge with his play, the Galaxy are beginning to look like a dangerous team.
"Right now it's almost like two different seasons. It's a different team than we were midseason. Right now we're on a roll, we just have to keep going," said Glinton. "We're playing with a little bit of that confidence that you see in championship teams. Not to get ahead of ourselves -- we still have to get into the playoffs and we know we still have a job to do."
Greg Daurio is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
