Minnesota United FC 1, LA Galaxy 3 | 2018 MLS Match Recap

Jose Romero

When the LA Galaxy needed their main man most, Zlatan Ibrahimovic came through. Then the Galaxy added on and pulled away for a huge 3-1 win at Minnesota United on Sunday.

Ibrahimovic's header off a cross from Rolf Feltscher in the 30th minute got things started. The Galaxy then scored back-to-back goals in a minute of play early in the second half, with Ola Kamara and Romain Alessandrini sealing victory.

Ibrahimovic provided the assist for Alessandrini with a long ball that was on target.

The Galaxy picked up three critical points with the win to keep their postseason hopes very much alive, and after Real Salt Lake's loss to the Portland Timbers, are a single point behind RSL for the West's final playoff spot.

The Galaxy control their own destiny; RSL's regular season is over and with a win at home against the Houston Dynamo next Sunday, the Galaxy can eliminate Real Salt Lake and grab the West's No. 6 seed.

Angelo Rodriguez scored for Minnesota as the Loons and had a second goal waved off for offsides late in the game. Minnesota bid farewell to TCF Bank Stadium, their home for two seasons, in front of a record crowd of 52,242.

Goals

30' - LA - Zlatan Ibrahimovic | WATCH
50' - LA - Ola Kamara | WATCH
51' - LA - Romain Alessandrini | WATCH
54' - MIN - Angelo Rodriguez | WATCH

Three Things

THE BIG PICTURE: It's all there for the Galaxy to — after a roller coaster ride of a season thus far — somehow get into the playoffs. But they must win, as they would lose the wins tiebreaker with RSL if both teams finish with 49 points. So a draw does the Galaxy no good. It's clear the Galaxy have talent everywhere, but they had a hard time closing this game out. It all comes down to next Sunday. For the Loons, the big picture is a brand new home for next season, but in the short term, they can affect Columbus' playoff chances next week.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">We're about to be LIVE from @allianzfield<br><br>
Watch » https://t.co/tA97yN974zpic.twitter.com/L1PNcOQzGt</p>
— Minnesota United FC (@MNUFC) October 21, 2018</blockquote></li>

MOMENT OF THE MATCH: Zlatan's header was nice but too easy to be the game's best moment. Ibrahimovic's pass to Alessandrini for the Galaxy's third goal was more important, as it all but sealed the win.

MAN OF THE MATCH
: Zlatan Ibrahimovic. His 22nd goal of the season set the tone in a must-win situation, and it energized his team after Minnesota United came close to scoring first in the game.