Galaxy overcoming season of injuries and adversity to stay in playoff hunt

It’s been a tale of two seasons for the Galaxy.

Through the first 12 weeks of the MLS schedule, the team won just twice in 14 games, falling to the bottom of the Western Conference. But it’s been one of the hottest teams in the league since then, losing just one of its next 12 regular-season games.

Yet the Galaxy has gained just one spot in the standings since May, leaving them with a lot of heavy lifting still to do if they hope to reach the playoffs. They got a good start on that Sunday, rallying from an early two-goal deficit to draw conference-leading St. Louis 2-2 before a crowd of 19,554 on a warm afternoon at Dignity Health Sports Park.

The goals came from Riqui Puig on a penalty kick in the 51st minute and from second-half substitute Billy Sharp, who scored against a short-handed defense with seven minutes left in regulation. The result left the Galaxy (7-10-9), four points and four places out of the ninth and final playoff berth in the Western Conference with eight games to play. But it also left the team unbeaten since returning from its month-long Leagues Cup break.

Injuries have decimated Greg Vanney’s team, which has lost six starters for significant stretches this season. Defender Lucas Calegari, whose 22 starts ranks second on the team, was the latest to go down after sustaining a knee injury earlier this month. He could be the fourth player to have his season end early because of injury. And St. Louis needed less than four minutes to take advantage of the makeshift back line the Galaxy were left with, going in front on Samuel Adeniran’s seventh goal of the season. The Galaxy argued for an offside call but didn’t get it.

That was a bad omen for the Galaxy: St. Louis (15-10-3), which leads the Western Conference, is second in the Supporters’ Shield table and has the best goal differential in the league 28 games into its first MLS season. It has lost just once this season after scoring first. That streak would hold Sunday, but just barely.

The Galaxy’s first chance at pulling even came in the 25th minute when defender Mauricio Cuevas bent a long cross to the top of the six-yard box for Dejan Joveljic, but his header went right to St. Louis keeper Roman Bürki. St. Louis responded by doubling its advantage three minutes later when João Klauss rolled a shot through the legs of Galaxy keeper Jonathan Bond. St. Louis beat Bond once more before intermission, but this time Adeniran was clearly offside before putting the pull inside the side netting from a tough angle in the 37th minute.

The Galaxy halved the deficit when Puig converted a penalty following a handball call on Adenrian. Nine minutes later, the omnipresent Adenrian was given his second yellow of the game for a reckless challenge on Puig, sending Puig to the turf and Adenrian to the locker room, leaving St. Louis to finish the game with 10 players.

The Galaxy needed 23 minutes to capitalize of the man advantage, with second-half substitute Diego Fagúndez angling a free kick to the far post for Sharp, who headed it in for his second goal in four games.