LA Galaxy 2, Houston Dynamo 3 | 2018 MLS Match Recap

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TheLA Galaxy's tumultuous season of drama – and underachievement – ended in fitting fashion at StubHub Center on Sunday, as the home side blew a 2-0 first-half lead and lost 3-2 to theHouston Dynamo in a game they needed to win to qualify for theAudi 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs.

Things were looking rosy for the Galaxy after half an hour, asOla Kamara bagged a quickfire brace. The Norwegian beatJoe Willis with a glancing header off an inswinging cross byRomain Alessandrini in the 27th minute, and almost exactly three minutes later metAshley Cole's teasing low delivery with a thumping one-time finish to give LA a dream start.

ButRomell Quioto sparked jitters around the stadium early in the second half when he bamboozledRolf Feltscher with a series of cuts in the Galaxy penalty box before rolling a low strike inside the near post to cut the lead in half. Then Alessandrini rashly kicked former LA heroAJ DeLaGarza to gift the Dynamo a penalty kick, dispatched byMauro Manotas to level matters at 2-2.

With LA in shock, Manotas gleefully struck again six minutes later with a point-blank tap-in ofAlberth Elis' low cross to put the visitors – who were playing only for pride – ahead. Both sides saw late goals waved off by offside decisions as the Galaxy made a final, desperate push all the way through nine minutes of added time, but it was no use.

The result eliminates LA from the postseason picture and allowsReal Salt Lake to claim the Western Conference's sixth and final playoff berth.

Goals

27' – LA – Ola Kamara |WATCH
30' – LA – Ola Kamara | WATCH
57' – HOU – Romell Quioto | WATCH
73' – HOU – Mauro Manotas (PK) | WATCH
79' – HOU – Mauro Manotas |WATCH

Three Things

THE BIG PICTURE: The Galaxy just needed to beat a slumping team 13 points and three places below them in the standings to complete their long, late climb towards the playoffs, and got the job one-third done before losing the plot completely. It feels safe to call this one of the most epic collapses in recent MLS history.
MOMENT OF THE MATCH: Alessandrini's jaw-dropping loss of awareness to give up the PK and let Houston get level turned this match on its head, and was all the more stunning given that the Frenchman is usually one of LA's most dependable performers.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Elis and Quioto deserve strong consideration for this nod; yet Manotas' name is on the two decisive goals, so the young Colombian takes the prize.