CARSON, Calif. -- The LA Galaxy clinched a playoff berth and caught up to the Seattle Sounders with a dramatic victory Saturday night over FC Dallas, and while that's nice and all, they're hardly satisfied.
The 2-1 triumph at StubHub Center, with Robbie Keane scoring a 62nd-minute equalizer and setting up Alan Gordon's 84th-minute winner, left LA (15-5-9) with 54 points, the same total as Seattle (17-8-3). The Sounders, who were pounded, 4-1, at New York earlier Saturday, remain atop the Western Conference and Supporters' Shield standings because they have one more game to play than LA, which comes on Wednesday at FC Dallas (9 pm ET; MLS LIVE).
“Even on points, but they have a game in hand. They're playing Dallas on Wednesday, so that should be another tough game for them. We'll just wait and see,” defender Omar Gonzalez said after the Galaxy victory. “Hopefully, Dallas can get a win at home, and then we'll be in first.”
Even with a loss on Wednesday, Seattle would keep the first tiebreaker (wins), but no matter the result, the race will likely come down to the final two weekends of the regular season, when the Galaxy and Sounders meet Oct. 19 in Carson and Oct. 25 in Seattle. Having missed a chance to go ahead of Seattle 11 days ago at Montreal, the Galaxy got a psychological boost of sorts by catching Seattle in the standings, whatever that's worth.
“That's huge, that's great, but there's a lot to play for, a lot of games left, and we've got to take them one at a time,” Gordon said. “Nothing's been won yet.”
Nothing except that postseason berth, which was just a matter of time.
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“I think we anticipated being in the playoffs,” head coach Bruce Arena noted, “but it's nice to get that out of the way, and now we need to jockey for a favorable position and certainly use the [last] five games to do that. I think [clinching] gives us a little confidence and a little bit of relief that we don't need to concern ourselves with that anymore.”
While the next goal is to officially avoid the Western Conference Knockout Round, LA hope to "take aim at Seattle,” Landon Donovan said. “We know our destiny is still in our hands, so we've got to keep putting points on the board.”
The Galaxy have won four Supporters' Shields, tied with D.C. United for the most in league history, and last won the regular-season championship in 2011, when they became the sixth club to win the Shield/MLS Cup double. San Jose won in 2012, when LA repeated as cup champs, and New York captured the Shield last year.
Keane has been in the US long enough to know, however, that MLS Cup remains priority No. 1.
“Listen, it's great to win the Supporters' Shield, there's no question about it, but I can't remember the last two years who won the Supporters' Shield; I remember who won the [MLS Cup] championship,” the Galaxy captain said. “Even though it's very, very important and we want to do it, obviously the main one is to win the [Cup] championship."
