Former Germany international Marco Reus has reached the Western Conference final with Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer and thus still has the chance of his first championship title.
The former Dortmund player made one assist in the 6-2 win over Minnesota United FC and will now face Seattle Sounders FC with Galaxy next weekend. The winner of this game will then play against the representative of the Eastern Conference for the championship.
Reus makes an assist for former Frankfurt player Joveljic
Reus was substituted in the 69th minute in the rout of the Minneapolis team. After Gabriel Pec gave the Californians a lightning-fast lead in the first minute and Yeboah quickly equalized in the 6th minute, the former Dortmund player set up Joveljic’s 2-1 for the Galaxy (18th).
The former Frankfurt striker also scored the 6-2 final score with his second goal in the 89th minute. In addition to Joveljic, the other goal scorers Gabriel Pec and Paintsil, as well as Yeboah, also scored a second goal. Gabriel Pec missed the hat-trick with a penalty miss (78th), but this ultimately remained a side note.
“Ultimately, I came here to be as successful as possible with the team. If I could achieve that after such a short time, it would be great,” said Reus after the game on Monday. “But I know from the past that you have to work hard to get a little closer to your dream.”
Reus has now made nine appearances for his new team since his summer move to the USA. He played six of those in the regular season and three in the play-offs. In the game against Minnesota, Reus was in coach Greg Vanney’s starting lineup for the first time during the play-offs.
LA Galaxy are now favorites
LA Galaxy are favorites to win the remaining teams. The highly-rated team of Inter Miami, with Lionel Messi, had surprisingly been knocked out in the first round of the play-offs. Local rivals Los Angeles FC, the team with the most points in the Western Conference in the regular season, lost to Seattle in extra time in their knockout game and are also out, along with defending champions Columbus Crew.
“In the end, it doesn’t matter to me whether we are favorites or not. We still have to win two games. The Conference final will be hard enough, the focus is on next Saturday,” Reus emphasized. The 35-year-old’s contract runs until the end of 2026. It is the first time the attacking player has played abroad.
In the East, Orlando City followed Sandro Schwarz’s New York Red Bulls into the Conference Finals – the city is thus aiming for a double title.
