The five-game winning streak the Los Angeles Galaxy worked so hard to achieve had put them in a situation where they controlled their own playoff destiny. But Thursday's 1-1 draw with the New York Red Bulls snatched that control right out of their hands.
It was already a foregone conclusion that Los Angeles needed to go into Chicago in their season finale and get a win. Now they are going to have to sit in their hotel rooms on Saturday and watch the Colorado Rapids and Kansas City Wizards, hoping for the right results to go their way.
"We would have liked to have gotten the win. We had chances," said defender Troy Roberts. "We still have a chance though at the end of the day if a couple of other teams don't pull off wins and we win on Sunday."
The Galaxy were effectively pinned into their own half to open the game, but in the 15th minute went ahead. Yet the lead lasted just 60 seconds, as Jozy Altidore equalized for New York. Roberts, who scored the lone Galaxy goal, admitted after the game that the goal was a momentum killer.
"It's not the best thing. You're most susceptible right after you score. It was kind of a letdown," said Roberts. "I think we responded real well after that and created some chances. We had a chance to win it, at just didn't end up that way."
It was the way the Galaxy responded that had Galaxy head coach Frank Yallop at least a little positive about his team's performance. The Galaxy have had several games this season where they've conceded quick goals, and were unable to recover. Against the Red Bulls they managed to avoid a complete breakdown, and that's what kept their playoff hopes alive.
"That was us two months ago, and we did it again tonight. We would have lost that game at the beginning of the season or midseason," said Yallop. "We at least got the point. We spoke about it at halftime and said 'let's not lose the game, because we are out. Let's try to win it, but a draw and we still have a chance.' I think we played that way."
Admittedly the result wasn't the ideal way the Galaxy wanted to end the night. Regardless, the atmosphere in the locker room was even-keeled. The Galaxy know what they need to do and managed to stay positive despite the odds being stacked against them.
"Frank's done an amazing job of keeping the atmosphere really good with the guys," said Chris Klein. "If we would have lost the game I think you would have seen some down faces, but we've still got that shot. I'm going to have to make some calls to my old teammates to see if one of them can tank a game and one of them in Salt Lake can rise up and get a result."
Klein and the rest of the Galaxy will be looking for plenty of help over the weekend in order to advance. The Galaxy got themselves back into the playoff race, but have needed help all along the way to get there. It's not a new position for them to be in.
"It's the situation we're in. The run we've been on is amazing, but at the end of the day we were in a really big hole," said Landon Donovan. "We've needed help along the whole way. We've been lucky along the way with other results as well. It's not like it's just now that we've needed things to go our way. But now obviously we need some results to go our way."
The Galaxy's slogan for this season has been "The Stars Align". Within 48 hours, they will know just how true that statement is. Thursday's draw wasn't the best result, but as far as the Galaxy are concerned, it at least left them one more chance.
Greg Daurio is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
