Led by another outstanding performance from Riqui Puig, LA Galaxy advanced to the Western Conference semifinals by defeating the Colorado Rapids for the second straight year – this time with a 4-1 win at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park for the best-of to end the first round -3 series in just two games.

Puig scored his second consecutive brace of the Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs with two goals in second-half stoppage time, while attack partners Gabriel Pec and Joseph Paintsil also got on the scoresheet. Additionally, Friday’s result secured the Galaxy’s status as early frontrunners for the MLS Cup, presented by Audi on December 7th.

“We knew it was going to be a challenging game: altitude, opponent at home, performance for the season,” head coach Greg Vanney said after the game. “We knew they had to win today and we had to try and play against it a little bit.

“Sometimes we were too fast. Sometimes it was okay too. But at the end of the day in the playoffs it doesn’t matter. You move on and get to the next round.”

Paintsil, who scored the decisive goal just before half-time, had nothing but praise for Puig.

“I think he deserves everything,” Paintsil said of the FC Barcelona-trained playmaker, whose 13g/15a this season ensured the league’s third-best offense in 2024 (69 goals). However, those numbers weren’t enough to make him a finalist for this year’s Landon Donovan MLS MVP Award.

“If people don’t see it, we see it as players, as a team ourselves,” Paintsil added. “We’re a team and even if he doesn’t really get recognized as MVP, I don’t think it matters to him.”

“The main thing he really cares about is winning the league. This is (more) more important than winning the MVP. The MVP is a plus for a player, but winning the league is much more important to a player or a woman’s club than anything else.

Despite being left off the MVP shortlist, Puig responded on the court when it mattered most. By scoring four of his team’s nine goals (and assisting on another) in the first round, Puig appears poised to lead the Galaxy in the quest for titles.

“(My form) cannot be achieved if I don’t have the team I have,” Puig said. “I have to thank all my teammates, the staff and the coach. We’re having a fantastic season but we need to finish really well and hopefully we can win this MLS (Cup) because that’s what we want.”

For Vanney, Puig’s red-hot form comes at the perfect time.

“He is an important player for us. He drives our team from possession of the ball to attack. He does things for us. I think Riqui would jump at the chance to win an MLS Cup any day before getting an MVP trophy. He has developed further within our team. He continues to be the driving force and engine of our group.

“… I’m glad Riqui is playing great now because this is the phase where you make the biggest statement right now, not during the regular season.”

After becoming the first team to reach the conference semifinals, the Galaxy now awaits the winner of the Real Salt Lake-Minnesota United series in the next round. Whichever opponent shows up, LA will host the game at Dignity Health Sports Park and be in the hunt for a historic sixth MLS Cup.

“We have a championship mentality,” Paintsil said. “We are playing every game at once and as you can see we are doing everything we can to maintain that mentality that we have always had (since) the start of the season.

“There is little doubt about the people facing us, but we don’t care what people say. “We just take it game by game and then see what happens,” said Paintsill. “But our goal is to be in the final.”