Two points, six teams, ten games
Maya Yoshida did not hide behind the table. “There’s no excuses anymore,” the Galaxy defender said. “Now we have to get results. Only we can change our situation on the pitch.”
Los Angeles sit 12th in the Western Conference on 29 points. Colorado sit seventh on 31. Between those two lines are six clubs separated by two points, with San Diego holding the last playoff place on 30. That is the arithmetic Greg Vanney’s side carry into Vancouver on Wednesday night.
Recent form is not the problem. The Galaxy have taken seven points from their last four matches and beat New England 2-1 at home on Saturday, Marco Reus converting a penalty in the 11th minute and Robert Taylor doubling the lead 22 minutes later. Carles Gil pulled one back from the spot in the 96th, which flattered nobody.
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The hardest place to go and get it
Vancouver are the reason this looks awkward. The Whitecaps lead the West on 43 points, three clear of Houston, and they have won eight of their twelve home matches. Their goal difference reads plus-28, best in the conference and second in the league behind Nashville. The Galaxy’s reads minus-six.
The Whitecaps did stumble on Saturday. After putting eight goals past Sporting Kansas City and FC Dallas across two matches without conceding once, they lost 3-1 at home to St. Louis City. Emmanuel Sabbi struck in the second minute for his fourth of the season, then watched St. Louis score three times inside 22 first-half minutes.
Sabbi expects a fight rather than a hangover. “They have very good players, they have technical players, they have fast players,” he said of the Galaxy. “We know it’s going to be a hard game, and we have to do what we do best, and not shy away from it because the last game didn’t go so well.”
What a point is worth
The two clubs met once already this season, a 1-1 draw in Carson on May 2. A repeat would serve Vancouver far better than Los Angeles, who need a sequence rather than a single result. Vanney sees the shape of it clearly enough: “We still have 10 to go. I know it’s really tight in the West. You’ve just got to get on a little bit of a run.”
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