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Sports

Whitecaps, Galaxy tangle at BC Place

By Sports Network
Published | Updated

Vancouver, BC – Vancouver Whitecaps FC will be pleased to be returning home as the club faces the Los Angeles Galaxy at BC Place on Saturday.

Vancouver has lost three of its last five games to drop into a tie for fifth place, including a 2-0 defeat at Colorado last weekend.

The Whitecaps are still only one point back of Los Angeles ahead of Saturday's game, but a win or loss in that match could result in potentially dramatic different places in the standings.

A win could move Vancouver as high as second place, while a defeat could drop the Whitecaps as far down the table as eighth place.

With point being so valuable this time of year, Vancouver will be pleased to be returning home, where the team has already beaten the Galaxy once this season while amassing a record of 8-1-3 at BC Place this season.

The Galaxy collected two wins in the past week to boost their confidence, starting with a 4-2 victory in league play against Real Salt Lake before a 2-0 win over Cartagines in midweek in CONCACAF Champions League play.

After falling behind 1-0 early in the second half, Robbie Keane netted a hat trick and Omar Gonzalez scored as well to lead a furious rally.

"He [Keane] can do that on any given night, which is crazy to say but if we give him the ball in the right spots he's going to make those plays. He was terrific," said Galaxy forward Landon Donovan.

It was the second hat trick of the season for Keane, who has formed a nice partnership with Donovan since the American returned to the lineup.

The Galaxy's offensive ability was on full display in the second half, although Donovan believes his team has the capability to score goals on any given night.

"We've had a number of games this season where we've dominated in a lot of ways, we've put 20-plus shots on the scorecard and we've had a number of chances to score goals, and some nights we've scored three or four and some nights we don't," said Donovan.

Four of the next five games for the Galaxy will be against Western Conference playoff contenders, so if the offense is able to click at the right time, it would be a big boost for the defending champions.