That was the scenario facing the Los Angeles Galaxy entering Sunday afternoon’s last regular-season game and a playoff berth seemed all but inevitable when the team took a 2-0 halftime lead, but the Houston Dynamo rallied for three goals to stun the Galaxy and a sellout crowd at StubHub Center in Carson.
The 3-2 loss was all the more shocking given that the Galaxy had not lost at home since May while Houston had gone 2-2-10 in its previous 14 games and had won only once on the road all season.
Star forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic promised that the Galaxy would be "fired up” and sure enough they applied pressure from the opening kickoff, earning six corner kicks in the first 27 minutes and scoring off the last when Ola Kamara headed a cross from Romain Alessandrini.