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FCD hopes to slow streaking Galaxy

Oct 10, 2014 - 10:33 PM Frisco, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - A pair of Western Conference contenders collide at Toyota Stadium on Sunday as FC Dallas looks to secure a playoff berth with a win over the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Dallas spurned a chance to punch its postseason ticket last weekend as the club lost 2-0 at Vancouver Whitecaps FC, while the Galaxy has already clinched a playoff berth but is firmly in the mix for the Supporters' Shield with three games to play.

Fortunately for FCD, Sunday's match will be taking place on home soil, as the club has lost its last four games away from Toyota Stadium.

In the loss to the Whitecaps, Dallas yielded both goals in the opening 18 minutes to Sebastian Fernandez, leaving the club with too much work to do over the remainder of the contest.

"We came out soft and slow, gave up two goals, and we never really recovered. I think we definitely started to play better as the game went on, but by that point, you're 2-0 down, and they can control the match by sitting there and doing whatever they want. It's disappointing," said Dallas defender Matt Hedges.

A win on Sunday would erase some of that disappointment, and Dallas head coach Oscar Pareja has not allowed himself to look beyond the Galaxy match.

"We need to clinch first, and now we are thinking about LA. My mind doesn't let me go that far, especially when I have such a big responsibility to play the next game and try to take care of our business, which is to get ourselves into the playoffs. After that, we'll see," said Pareja.

Los Angeles has its sights set on the Supporters' Shield with the club in a battle against Seattle for the regular-season's top prize.

The two outfits enter the weekend level on 60 points, but the Galaxy is in the midst of a great run of form, having claimed a 3-0 win over Toronto FC last weekend for their third straight win to extend their unbeaten streak to 10 games.

Galaxy star Landon Donovan has been pleased with his team's form in recent months, and acknowledged that the Supporters' Shield has become a real goal for his team in the past few weeks.

"We haven't necessarily been paying attention [to the standings] until the last few weeks, but now it's very realistic to win the Supporters' Shield and that's absolutely our goal."

The Sounders own the first tiebreaker for wins against the Galaxy, so Los Angeles will need to close the season strong in order to claim the honor. And that starts with Sunday's fixture, which could be difficult against a good Dallas side.

Making matters tougher for the Galaxy is the fact that three key players, Donovan, Robbie Keane and Omar Gonzalez, are away on international duty.

Dallas will also be missing a few important pieces as Blas Perez, Je-Vaughn Watson and goalkeeper Raul Fernandez will be away with their respective countries as well.