What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?
Wait long enough and the immovable object will eventually bend.
At least that’s what happened Saturday when Dejan Joveljic’s goal in the 86th minute gave the Galaxy a 1-0 victory in the MLS Western Conference final before a sellout crowd of 26,327 at Dignity Health Sports Park. With the victory, the Galaxy will host the New York Red Bulls, a 1-0 winner over Orlando City in the Eastern Conference final, in next Saturday’s MLS Cup final.
None of that was certain coming into a game that offered one of the league’s most intriguing playoff matchups in years.
The Galaxy, who equaled a franchise record with 69 goals in the regular season then scored 15 more in three playoff games, were the unstoppable force. The Sounders, who gave up a league-low 35 goals in 34 regular-season games and just two more in three postseason matches, were the immovable object.
Seattle had a conference-high eight road wins this season while the Galaxy hadn’t lost at home, winning a franchise-record 13 games there. Clearly something had to give — and it finally did four minutes before the end of the regulation when a Seattle turnover near midfield launched the Galaxy on a lightning-quick counterattack.
The ball quickly found its way to Galaxy playmaker Riqui Puig, who slipped between two defenders and pushed the ball forward for Joveljic. The Galaxy forward, with another defender trailing in his wake, then beat Seattle keeper Stefan Frei from the top of the box for the only goal the Galaxy would need to return to the MLS Cup final for the first time in a decade.
It was a momentary lapse in an otherwise brilliant performance for Seattle. But it was enough.
Both teams had some tantalizing near misses in a surprisingly open, if scoreless, first half.
Seattle’s two best looks came in in the final 10 minutes, with Jordan Morris escaping defender Emiro Garces in the penalty area and then spinning to put a right-footed shot on goal that Galaxy keeper John McCarthy saved in the 35th minute — four minutes before McCarthy tipped an Albert Rusnak free kick from the edge of the box over the crossbar.
The Galaxy’s most dangerous first-half chance came in the 19th minute when Frei laid out to get a hand on a shot from Joveljic, pushing it away at the far post. The scoreless 45 minutes marked the longest the Galaxy have gone without a goal in the postseason.
The Galaxy’s goal drought continued deep into the second half, and a big reason for that was Nouhou, the Sounders’ left back who was in a Cameroonian hospital being treated for malaria a week ago. He was especially effective in neutralizing Galaxy winger Gabriel Pec, the team’s leading scorer.
But Seattle also closely — and physically — marked Puig, limiting his effectiveness and quieting two of the team’s top four offensive threats.
But if the Galaxy attack appeared to be under control for long stretches, it proved unstoppable on at least one counterattack, and that proved to be enough.
