The LA Galaxy hadn't lost points after conceding a late goal in more than three months as they dictated terms in nearly every game since summer arrived. But Sunday night played out differently, and it cost them the upper hand in the Supporters' Shield chase.
Fabian Castillo's 87th minute header lifedt FC Dallas to a 2-1 triumph in Frisco, Texas, and prevented the Galaxy (17-6-9) from grabbing the top spot heading into the season-ending, Shield-deciding, home-and-home series the next two weekends with Seattle.
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After the loss, they remain even on points with the Sounders, with 60, but Seattle's 19 wins hold the tiebreaker, and LA will need points in both games next Sunday at StubHub Center and Oct. 25 in Washington to claim the regular-season title.
“It's frustrating, because we could have made it all down to next week,” Landon Donovan told media at Toyota Stadium. “That's frustrating, but it's still completely in our hands. We're going to go in the next two games, we need to get four points, and that's as simple as it gets.”
The Galaxy had a chance to climb into the top spot for just the second time this season after the Sounders' loss Friday night to visiting Vancouver, and Stefan Ishizaki's sweet 22nd minute chip into the left-post netting had them in control until tentative defending enabled David Texeira's equalizer seven minutes into the second half. Castillo, standing alone near the penalty spot, needed only the nod the ball toward to goal to score the winner after LA goalkeeper Jaime Penedo parried a hard cross/shot from Andres Escobar on the right.
“It's a little bit fluky,” Donovan said. “A bunch of guys challenging, it falls down to Escobar, it's a decent cross, and I think if that ends up going anywhere but right to Castillo's head, it's safe. But it's one of those where it literally landed in the perfect spot.
“It's frustrating but it happens. It's part of games. We can be better, but we also were a little bit unlucky on the play. All in all, we didn't deserve to win, but I don't think we deserved to lose either.”
A draw and the Galaxy could have clinched the Shield — and the Western Conference title — with a win at home next weekend. Now they'll have to fend their way through two games to get there.
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“If we would have gotten a point out of this one,” Ishizaki noted, “we only needed two more points. [If we'd then] get two draws, we would have won the Supporters' Shield.
” Sunday's result doesn't alter things, not really. “I think we always knew it was going to come down to these last two games, so that's the way it goes,” Donovan said. “It's better to have a little bit of a wakeup call now than to lose in the playoffs. We'll learn from it, and then we'll move forward.”
