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After 33 games and 90 minutes, LAFC and the Galaxy were no further apart than they were when the MLS season began in February: Same number of points, same number of wins, same goal differential.
They were as even as a carpenter’s level.
Then during 11 minutes of stoppage time Saturday that symmetry dissolved into confusion, with the teams trading places atop the standings three times before LAFC claimed the Western Conference title in the wildest finish to an MLS schedule either team has ever been a part of.
When the dust finally settled the teams were separated, appropriately enough, by a tiebreaker — one that gave LAFC the home-field advantage through the first three rounds of the playoffs and assures the road to the MLS Cup final will run through BMO Stadium.
“Unbelievable, unbelievable,” LAFC defender Ryan Hollingshead repeated after his team rallied to beat the San Jose Earthquakes 3-1. “For it to happen in that manner, we think it’s over, then they come back. What a story.”
Not so much for the Galaxy, who entered the day with a chance to set a modern-era franchise record for wins, tie the franchise record for points and clinch their first regular-season conference title in 13 years. But they came away with nothing after a 2-1 loss in Houston.
And it was Houston defender Daniel Steres, a player Galaxy coach Greg Vanney traded away, who gave LAFC their title, outjumping Maya Yoshida to nod home the deciding goal on the final meaningful touch of the MLS season.
“I probably won’t be able to sleep tonight,” Yoshida, the Galaxy captain, said afterward.
“It felt really good,” answered Steres, whose spot was eventually filled by Yoshida. “A lot of reasons behind that.”
Vanney, meanwhile, tried to use the disappointment as motivation.
“It’s one play at the end of the season when there’s a ton of plays. But the one play being the last play of the season just really hurts for everybody,” he said. “I told the group that we need to let this be a lesson.
“This one today hurt us and it cost us first place. The next one like that will cost us our season.”
Read more: For Galaxy assistant coach, Olympic medal-winning grandmother was his inspiration
To finish first in the standings, LAFC kicked off Saturday needing a difficult trifecta: a victory over San Jose, a Galaxy loss in Houston and enough of a difference in the scorelines to make up a two-goal deficit in goal differential. After 90 minutes it was on the verge of claiming two of those things, entering injury time leading the Quakes 2-1 while the Galaxy trailed the Dynamo 1-0.
But that left the teams even in the differential, meaning the Galaxy would claim the top spot in the conference table unless LAFC scored another goal or the Galaxy conceded one.
During the next 12 minutes, both things would happen.
First Brazilian defender Marlon, who watched the first 80 minutes from the bench, scored on a header a minute into stoppage time, padding LAFC’s lead and more important giving it the edge in goal differential it needed. But when the final whistle sounded in L.A., there were still at least two minutes to play in Houston; nothing had been decided yet.
Some LAFC players, still on the field at BMO Stadium, crowded around cellphones to watch Gabriel Pec convert a penalty kick in Houston, tying the Dynamo and pushing the Galaxy a point ahead of LAFC with just seconds to play.
It wasn’t over … but it was over. Even LAFC coach Steve Cherundolo, who had also been following the game in Houston, turned his phone off.
“I thought it was kind of done and dusted,” he said.
However the LAFC fans who remained in the stands at BMO Stadium kept watching. And after Houston charged down the field on the restart, allowing Griffin Dorsey to curl a desperate cross in the penalty area for an airborne Steres, the hopeful murmurs turned to cheers.
“All of a sudden you start to hear strange noises,” Cherundolo said. “And then you start to believe.”
Hollingshead believed too.
“I just heard the stands go crazy,” he said. “And you knew that was the moment.”
Finishing atop the conference table brings with it home-field advantage through the first three rounds of the playoffs. LAFC (19-8-7), owner of the best home record in MLS during the last seven seasons, will begin the postseason next weekend when it plays the winner of a wild-card game between the Vancouver Whitecaps and Portland Timbers.
The second-place Galaxy (19-8-7) will play host to Colorado in the first round, which is decided by a best-of-three series.
But LAFC didn’t win that edge on Saturday alone. After a five-game winless streak in August and September threatened to derail its title hopes, the team closed the season with five straight wins. Then after trailing for more than an hour Saturday, it came back on second-half goals from Denis Bouanga, his 20th of the season, and two scores from second-half substitutes Eduard Atuesta and Marlon, who started the night with three goals between them.
“The bench made the difference,” goalkeeper Hugo Lloris said. “The players who came on showed a lot of personality. They changed the game.”
Now LAFC, bidding to become the first team in 17 years to play in three straight MLS Cup finals, starts over again, entering the postseason even once again with every playoff team, including the Galaxy.
“It’s just the end of the regular season,” Lloris said. “Now there’s a new competition that’s going to start.”
MLS playoff matchups
(Seeding in parentheses)
Eastern Conference
Wild-card round
Tuesday
(8) Montreal vs. (9) Atlanta United
First round (Best of 3)
Oct. 25-Nov. 10
(1) Inter Miami vs. Montreal-Atlanta United winner
(2) Columbus vs. (7) New York Red Bulls
(3) Cincinnati vs. (6) New York City
(4) Orlando vs. (5) Charlotte FC
Western Conference
Wild-card round
Wednesday
(8) Vancouver at (9) Portland
First round (Best of 3)
Oct. 25-Nov. 10
(1) LAFC vs. Portland-Vancouver winner
(2) Galaxy vs. (7) Colorado
(3) Real Salt Lake vs. (6) Minnesota United
(4) Seattle vs. (5) Houston
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.