LAFC had no margin for error heading into its regular-season finale Saturday.
To finish atop the Western Conference table, it needed to beat the San José Earthquakes, needed the Galaxy to lose in Houston and needed to overcome a two-score deficit to the Galaxy in goal differential.
It got all three, thanks to an improbable finish in Houston.
When LAFC defender Marlon came off the bench to score on a header in the first minute of stoppage time at BMO Stadium, sealing a 3-1 win over the Quakes, it left LAFC (19-8-7) and the Galaxy even on points and wins atop the conference table, but it also gave the black and gold a one-score edge in differential, the tiebreaker.