The Galaxy haven’t played a game this late in the calendar in nearly a decade but they had little trouble making the adjustment Saturday, blowing out the Colorado Rapids 5-0 in a first-round MLS Western Conference playoff game played before an announced crowd of 24,537 at Dignity Health Sports Park.
The game was far more one-sided than the score, with the Galaxy getting two goals from Dejan Joveljic, two from Riqui Puig and another from John Nelson. Four of those scores against U.S. national team goalkeeper Zack Steffen came in the second half.
Galaxy keeper John McCarthy, meanwhile, had a quiet night in goal, posting a shutout without having to make a save.
The win was the most one-sided result in an MLS playoff game since November 2014 when the Galaxy beat Real Salt Lake 5-0 in a first-round match en route to winning the MLS Cup.
With the win, the Galaxy go to suburban Denver on Friday for the second game of the best-of-three series, needing another win to advance to the conference semifinals. A loss would force a third game at Dignity Health Sports Park on Nov. 9.
Neither outcome is ideal for the Galaxy, given the bizarre MLS playoff schedule.
Sweeping the first two games of the series would send the Galaxy on to the conference semifinals, but with the playoffs pausing for the November international break, the team’s next game wouldn’t be until Nov. 23 at the earliest, a 22-day pause that threatens to rob the team of its rhythm.
A loss, meanwhile, would force a winner-take-all game at home with the Galaxy’s season on the line.
Either way, the Galaxy will make history since they haven’t played a game in November since 2016, when they lost the second game of a two-leg conference semifinal to the Rapids on penalty kicks in Bruce Arena’s final game as coach.
The Galaxy were on the front foot from the start Saturday — they had the ball for nearly an hour of the 90 minutes — though they weren’t crisp and had trouble stringing passes together in the early going. They were finally rewarded for their aggression in the 32nd minute when Joveljic got his forehead on Puig’s outswinging corner kick and looped a soft header by Steffen at the right post.
The goal was the 70th of the season for the Galaxy, but just the third off a corner while for Joveljic it was his 16th of the season, matching him with Gabriel Pec for the team high. Puig had taken just nine corners during the regular season and none of them led to scores; the assist Saturday was his team-high 16th.
And the score was a good omen since the Galaxy are nearly unbeatable when they score first, losing just once in 18 games. They are unbeaten at Dignity Health Sports Park, with Saturday’s win upping their record in Carson to 14-1-3 this season. Neither of those streaks were ever in danger of a game the Galaxy dominated from the start.
Outside backs Miki Yamane and Nelson teamed to double the lead seven minutes into the second half, with Yamane threading a ball through the box to a wide-open Nelson, who settled it with one foot then sent a right-footed shot into the top right corner for the first goal of his six-year MLS career.
Two minutes later Puig, who was all over the field, made it 3-0 after Joveljic deflected a Nelson pass in front of him at the top of the box, setting up an easy right-footed finish.
Joveljic and Puig then closed out the scoring with Joveljic running on to the rebound of a Pec shot, then dribbling across the top of the box to create space before beating Steffen cleanly with his left foot in the 75th minute and Puig bagging his second goal 12 minutes later.
For McCarthy, the clean sheet was his seventh of the season, but his first in two months.
