Dejan Joveljic scored his fifth goal of the playoffs in the 85th minute to give the LA Galaxy their 10th all-time MLS Cup final appearance with a 1-0 win over visiting Seattle Sounders in the Western Conference final on Saturday.

Joveljic’s goal, assisted by Riqui Puig and Mark Delgado on a quick counterattack after a loss of possession in Seattle, sealed the second-seeded Galaxy’s first finals appearance since winning their record fifth MLS Cup in 2014.

Next Saturday they host the New York Red Bulls, who won the Eastern Conference final 1-0 against Orlando City the previous Saturday.

Joveljic’s goal came somewhat against the run of play, as it was fourth-seeded Seattle who were more likely to score in the closing stages after a balanced first half.

The Sounders were looking to reach the MLS Cup final for the fifth time since 2016 and secure their third title. However, they exit the playoffs after failing to win any of their four regular season games.

Joveljic was the Galaxy player who caused Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei the most problems in the first half, when his volley forced him into a somewhat awkward save in the 19th minute.

But his match-winner seemingly came out of nowhere when Alex Roldan played an aimless pass from his post on the right that landed at Delgado’s feet. This was one of Seattle’s very few mistakes that night.

Delgado quickly passed forward to Puig, who needed control after a few touches and then played the ball into the path of Joveljic’s clever diagonal run. Joveljic drove his shot deep and hard into the bottom left corner at great speed, sliding past Frei’s outstretched palm on the way over the line.

John McCarthy made five saves to secure the Galaxy’s second clean sheet of the playoffs. His best moments came before halftime.

In the third minute he parried Albert Rusnak from a tight angle at the near post with his leg and in the 41st minute he pushed Obed Vargas’s free kick just beyond the left corner of the penalty area with his outstretched arm.

–Field level media