LA Galaxy

The magical Emmanuel Boateng has the LA Galaxy dreaming of another MLS Cup

Published Nov. 15, 2016 2:34 p.m. ET

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Ryan Rosenblatt

Emmanuel Boateng was the Gatorade National Player of the Year as a high school senior, so it's not like he was some unknown player as a youngster. But he was never really looked at as a future star and when the LA Galaxy signed him before the season. The hope was that his pace would be a nice addition to the team and make him a useful player off the bench.

And yet in the team's biggest game of the season on Wednesday night — a win-or-go-home playoff opener — Boateng was the star. He almost single-handedly annihilated the Real Salt Lake defense and put the Galaxy in the Western Conference semifinals.

It started with his leaving three defenders in his dust and one on his butt.

There wasn't much in that from the Galaxy. Little interchange and the build up to it wasn't anything spectacular. That's simply Boateng out-classing the entire RSL defense.

On his second goal, Boateng just beat one player.

Boateng's pace has been obvious since his first match with the Galaxy. He can absolutely fly, but it's not his pace over 40 or 50 yards that is his biggest asset. It's his burst in small spaces and his ability to get to his top speed so quickly. That's what made both of his goals happen, not to mention clinical finishing.

The Galaxy started the match without Robbie Keane and Steven Gerrard, as both are only just returning from injury. Nigel de Jong is long gone and much of the team looked like a group of MLS also-rans, with Brian Rowe, Daniel Steres, Jeff Larentowicz, Alan Gordon and a newly-out-of-retirement Landon Donovan along with the typically excellent Jelle van Damme, Sebastian Lletget and Giovani dos Santos. But it wasn't those who have been around MLS forever, or even some of the team's more skillful and prominent players. It was Boateng.

Boateng is still just 22 years old. That Gatorade National Player of the Year Award was only four years ago and while one match does not make a star, Boateng has really come into his own as the season has gone on. He may not single-handedly win the Galaxy another game, but he can certainly help them win some more as they chase a record sixth MLS Cup. And whether he does or not, he'll always have Wednesday night, when he was nothing short of magical.

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