Playoff Preview: MNUFC @ LA Galaxy, Western Semifinal

It has been three weeks since Minnesota United FC beat Real Salt Lake in two penalty shootout matches to move on to the Western Conference semifinals.

The only other time MNUFC made it to this stage of the MLS Cup Playoffs was four years ago after beating the Colorado Rapids at home. On December 3, 2020, the Loons earned their first (postseason) victory at Children’s Mercy Park. A Kevin Molino-brace and insurance goal by Bakaye Dibassy gave the Loons a 3-0 win over Sporting Kansas City and a trip to Seattle for the Western Conference finals.

For the 2024 Western Conference Semifinals, the Loons fly to Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, CA. A single match against the Los Angeles Galaxy will decide who plays in the Western Conference Final.

The Three-Week Break

LA Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney spoke about the International break: “Yeah, look, the break is not ideal for anyone, and managing it is — I think it’s been as difficult on coaches as players. It’s just — again, it’s trying to have a good rhythm. You have a healthy team; you have a lot of things in your favor. And now, over three weeks, you can’t keep a team at their peak of their concentration and all that stuff. So, now you’re trying to balance when to to get players time away, to to kind of refresh their minds, their bodies.”

MNUFC head coach Eric Ramsay echoed this: “I don’t think it’s been a particularly enjoyable two and a half weeks.”  He later added, “We were in such good rhythm: to have had it sort of taken away has been been frustrating.”

Ramsay did see a positive side to the seven Loons returning from International duty. He compared their international experience to the tension of a playoff game and added, “The monotony of the same group training together for three weeks with no change of pace, no fresh energy, that would be difficult to deal with. Whereas in our case, we again welcome seven players back on Thursday, and I think when they come back into the group. It will really feel like it’s game on, and we’ve got to try and benefit from that.”

And what about the MNUFC players who stayed in Minnesota? Kelvin Yeboah commented, “We had a long three weeks, but we trained for the game, for  ourselves, to keep ourselves fit and be able to perform on Sunday. So, I think we did very good work with the coaching staff, and everybody and all the players have been really here. Even the players [that] left, some of them already came [back], and they seem in good shape.”

Last Round Results: Western Conference Quarterfinals

LA Galaxy over Colorado Rapids

The 2nd-seed Galaxy smoothly coasted through the 7th-seed Rapids in two straight matches.

On October 26, LA dominated with braces by Dejan Joveljić and Riqui Puig, plus a upper corner banger by left fullback John Nelson. Galaxy won at home 5-0.

On November 1, after much of the first half was tied 1-1, Joseph Paintsil scored in first-half stoppage time to give the Galaxy a 2-1 lead. With Colorado’s players and attention forward to score an equalizer, Galaxy countered off turnovers. Puig added two second-half stoppage time goals. The visitors won 4-1.

MNUFC over Real Salt Lake

MNUFC’s sweep of 3rd-seed Salt Lake was hardly smooth, but the better penalty-kicking team won.

October 29: Salt Lake’s Zac MacMath and Minnesota’s Dayne St. Clair put on a goalkeeper showstopper. Tied 0-0 at the end of regulation, MNUFC would win 5-4 on penalties.

November 2: After a 0-0 first half, both Joseph Rosales scored for Minnesota and Emeka Eneli answered for Salt Lake. A 1-1 draw in regulation meant another shootout.  Dayne St. Clair & Sang-bin Jeong played their roles as heroes, and MNUFC triumphed 3-1 on penalties.

Availability

Neither team has any players Out or Questionable due to injury. Also, neither team has any suspensions from the first round of MLS Cup playoffs.

Series: MNUFC v LA Galaxy (W-L-D)

2024 MLS Regular Season: 0-1-1

2019 MLS Cup (1st Round): 0-1-0

MLS Regular Season: 3-7-5

MLS Regular Season 2021-present: 3-3-3

“I think anytime you look at the history of things, I always slow that down a little bit, because any given day in MLS, you can win a game. Teams change year over year. I think this year, when we played them home, it was a very competitive game. Away from home, a little bit less so, but it was also in the period where we’re probably at our worst this season, in many ways. So, I don’t read too much into those results. It’s more about how we have been playing lately, how they’ve been playing, what stylistically or practically is going to be our game.” — Wil Trapp, MNUFC midfielder

Minnesota Thunder (USL A-League / USL First Divsion) versus LA Galaxy (MLS)

In the 2004 U.S. Open Cup fourth round, 5505 fans watched the Minnesota Thunder beat the LA Galaxy 1-0 at the Metrodome. Jeff Matteo served up a ball to Chris Brunt, who headed the ball past Galaxy GK Dan Popik. Thunder GK Joe Warren earned the clean sheet with 6 saves in the first indoor match in U.S. Open Cup history. The Thunder would lose in the quarterfinals on penalties to the San Jose Earthquakes.

In 2005, the LA Galaxy would get their revenge. The Minnesota Thunder would beat 3 MLS squads: Real Salt Lake, Colorado Rapids, and Kansas City Wizards. However, in the U.S. Open Cup semifinals, the Landon-Donovan-led Galaxy would silence the Thunder’s run with a 5-2 win in Carson.

Key Players

LA Galaxy

Greg Vanney plays a 4-3-3, and at the tip of that formation is Brazilian striker Gabriel Pec. Pec has 19 goals and 17 assists in all competitions this season.  Dynamic left midfielder Riqui Puig has 17 goals and 17 assists in all competitions. Add right wing Dejan Joveljić (17 goals) and left wing Joseph Paintsil (12 goals, 10 assists), and the Galaxy have a potent attack.

Wil Trapped summed up, “Their wingers are very dangerous. Puig running with a ball between lines is super important to mitigate. But it’s also a team that in transition when we win the ball, we can get after their center backs.”

Ramsay said, “I certainly won’t be painting it as a one sided game. I don’t feel like anyone in our camp sees it in that way, but obviously we’ve got to deal with the big names that everyone will be expecting to probably tip balance in their favor.”

The Galaxy’s big midseason signing was German attacker Marco Reus from Borussia Dortumund. He usually subs into the match around the 60+ minute and has 1 goal and 2 assists.

MNUFC

Eric Ramsay has settled into a 5-4-1 formation. Bongokuhle Hlongwane leads the Loons with 11 goals. Newcomer Kelvin Yeboah has 7 goals in 9 matches. Robin Lod has 8 goals and 16 assists in all 2024 competitions.

Second half subs Tani Oluwaseyi and Sang-bin Jeong have both contributed in the Loons’ late series of wins. However, with the potent Galaxy attack, MNUFC will need to rely on GK Dayne St. Clair the back five of Joseph Rosales (1 G, 11 A), Jefferson Díaz, Michael Boxall, Carlos Harvey, and Hlongwane.

Greg Vanney summarized, “They’re super committed 11 guys on the defensive side. They usually have a back five that is pretty consistently there. They’ll be aggressive in certain moments, but you’re gonna have to break down a line of five, which is not easy to do. And then they have five guys in front of them that are pretty active and are looking to get pressure the ball, but they’ll stay compact. So again, for us, it’s how we manage the ball, especially coming off of a break, and how we can try to create the right movements at the right times, to not just end up in front of their back five, but to get behind, to get in front of the goal, to give ourselves chances.”

Match Details

MLS Cup – Western Conference Semifinals

LA Galaxy versus Minnesota United FC
Dignity Health Sports Park, Carson, CA

5:00 pm – coverage
5:25 pm – kickoff

FS1, Fox Deportes, Apple TV – MLS Season Pass
AM 1500, Sirius XM ch. 157

After a close 2-2 draw at Allianz Field and a close 2-1 loss in Carson this season, can Minnesota United get a win against the LA Galaxy?

When asked if there is any extra motivation to win in LA’s home stadium, Wil Trapp explained, “The extra motivation is you get to play a conference final, and you get to hopefully play a [league] final. So I don’t think there’s anything, whether it’s home or away, that is less or more. This is what we do. It’s our job.”

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