Galaxy faces Salt Lake in MLS playoffs, and payback is NOT on its mind
Give the Galaxy players and coaches this much: they don’t hold grudges.
A year ago they traveled to Sandy, Utah, for a Western Conference playoff semifinal, needing only a draw to keep alive their hopes for a fifth Major League Soccer championship. Instead, the Galaxy came home empty-handed when Real Salt Lake ended the L.A. season on a Chris Schuler goal 12 minutes into overtime.
So clearly there are old scores to settle Saturday in the playoff rematch in suburban Salt Lake City, right?
“We don’t play those little games of payback,” Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena said. “We play to try to win a championship.”
Captain Robbie Keane agreed.
“I don’t think about revenge and stuff like that,” he said. “I never think of what happened in the past. For me it’s just a completely different game.”
This is a two-leg series — with the second game scheduled at the StubHub Center in Carson on Nov. 9 — and it will be decided by aggregate goals. But if the teams are even after 180 minutes, the winner will be decided on away goals, a new wrinkle that brings the MLS playoffs into line with CONCACAF and FIFA practices. Should that fail to break the tie, the teams will play two 15-minute overtime periods followed by penalty kicks, if necessary.
If the Galaxy is going to make another title run it will need a good start against a Real Salt Lake team that hasn’t lost in nearly a month — and has allowed just one goal in its last 462 minutes.
The Galaxy, meanwhile, let a one-goal lead get away in a loss to FC Dallas, let a two-goal lead get away in a draw with Seattle, then didn’t score at all in a 2-0 loss to the Sounders in the regular-season finale, marking the first time it had been shut out in 25 games.
However, the Galaxy played two of those games without MVP candidate Keane, who is in the top three in the league with career-high totals for goals (19) and assists (14). The Galaxy captain said the strained hamstring that kept him out of the second Seattle game won’t sideline him Saturday.
“I trained the last couple of days so it seems OK,” he said this week.
The Galaxy-Real Salt Lake rivalry has been as close as possible; each club has won 11 times and there have been six draws. They traded 1-0 wins this season and played to a tie in a third game.
The Galaxy is making a sixth consecutive playoff appearance while Real Salt Lake is in for a seventh straight year. The Western Conference foes have met in the postseason three times in the last four years with Salt Lake winning twice, including in the 2009 MLS Cup final, which came down to penalty kicks.
“In my opinion we’re the best teams over the last five, six, seven years,” the Galaxy’s Landon Donovan said. “We know how to play at this time of the year and so do they. So it always makes for good games, exciting games.
“I expect the same this weekend.”
Twitter: @kbaxter11
