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CARSON, Calif. – The LA Galaxy made their way to the 2018 MLS Audi Cup playoffs when their decision by AT & T against Houston was in the 72nd minute.
A moment later – or two, as it was happening – and it was over.
Real Salt Salt won last place in the Western Conference playoffs Sunday afternoon when the Galaxy (13-12-9) failed to retain a two-goal advantage. road to a 3-2 decision that left the side of the house in ruins.
Romell Quioto reduced his deficit by half in 12 minutes in the second half, Mauro Manotas added a pair of goals and all that Los Angeles has achieved in the last five weeks has been destroyed.
"It's devastating," said striker Ola Kamara, who gave the Galaxy the advantage at the 27th and 30th minutes, in a muffled locker room. "I really thought we were going to play in the playoffs and you see it disappear. It's hard. "
The Galaxy has got a 3-0-1 record in the stretch and still needs a win to overtake RSL. Their performance in the first period was worthy of their goal. They could not support him after the break and will miss the playoffs for the second season in a row.
"We are all devastated, to say the least," said midfielder Sebastian Lletget. "We can not allow this to happen. I know we are 2-0, and we are quite mature and we have the players to kill this game. We only have to blame ourselves.
"It was a roller coaster all season, but I thought we had done such a good job of getting back into the [race]and I thought that if we had managed this game, no one would stop us. It's really a shame. "
The defeat of LAFC at Sporting Kansas City allowed the extension team to rank third and if it had progressed, it would have met its rivals crosstown in the round of 16. Acting Head Coach Dominic Kinnear said, "It makes things a little more painful."
Kinnear admitted that he was "a bit empty right now."
"We were a little complacent [in the second half]our passes sometimes became shorter and sometimes a bit negative, but we still had chances, "he said. "I think we have invested a lot [before halftime]. You would like to see the same energy coming out in the second half, but we did not do it.
"Our possession in the first period kept them away from our goal and our lack of possession in the second half brought them closer to our goal. You want to be able to take a time out from time to time and bring the players together, but obviously you can not do that in this game. "
A wild end to # DécisionDay. @LAGalaxy miss the playoffs.
The last place in the west goes to @realsaltlake. pic.twitter.com/yUpYh9sH8A
– ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) October 28, 2018
Houston was the protagonist early in the second half and Quioto's goal "kind of killed us," said captain Ashley Cole. "We lost our trust and stopped playing. We stopped doing what we had done in the first half to score both goals, then the heads were released and that's it.
LA was still in a position to advance, but in the 72nd minute, Romain Alessandrini, seeking to clear the ball from his team's penalty, broke through the foot of former Galaxy defender AJ DeLaGarza, and The referee, Kevin Stott, said the penalty spot.
Manotas converted and RSL positioned itself to move forward.
"It's a big mistake. I am very sad about it, "said Alessandrini. "After, I'm doing my best to get back into the game and make a good pass[es] and finish the game, but it's hard for me tonight. I just want to say sorry for the fans, sorry for the team. But I think that in the second half we did the wrong game and that's why we also lost that game. "
The Galaxy pushed forward and the Dynamo caught them on the counter to do it 3-2. And LA could not recover.
"We started two," said Cole, "we probably had [the thought that we were going to the playoffs] in the back of their mind, that they have nothing to play, it's already won. But you can not do that in football. The first goal hit us hard, then they played their game on the counter and punished us. We were just not good enough today.
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