The Minnesota United-Los Angeles Galaxy match Wednesday pitted the two teams tied for second place in the Western Conference.

They were locked in a back-and-forth battle befitting how close they were in the standings.

The Loons led 1-0 at halftime, L.A. stormed back to go up 2-1 after 70 minutes before United defender Kervin Arriaga’s header in the 80th minute made for a 2-2 draw at Allianz Field.

Both clubs came into the match with 20 points. MNUFC (6-2-3) is unbeaten in four straight games, while Galaxy (5-2-6) are winless in four in a row.

Joseph Rosales’ corner kick found Arriaga at the back post. The pair of Hondurans also connected on a very similar goal in the 2-1 win over Atlanta United in the previous game May 4.

Loons captain Michael Boxall identified Tuesday a need to force Galaxy’creative attacking midfielder Riqui Puig into wide spaces. But the L.A. attacking midfielder was allowed to go straight down the middle of the field, and he laid it off for Diego Fagundez to score in the 68th minute.

The Loons established a very high 3-5-2 press in the first half. L.A. had 58 percent possession in the first half, but it was unthreatening without a single shot.

MNUFC’s aggression forced Puig to drop deeper and deeper to get the ball, and the Loons’ reading of passing lanes snuffed out attacks before they were able to begin.

MNUFC had seven shots to zero for the Galaxy in the first half, but L.A. came out much stronger in the second half.

In the 61st minute, Puig sent a through ball to Gabriel Pec, and he sent a cross for Dejan Joveljic to score the equalizer.

The Loons scored first with a long-range strike by Bongi Hlongwane in the 31st minute. The South African, who hadn’t scored since March, had his shot glance off the cross bar and downward. It wasn’t ruled a goal on the field, but upon video review, it was determined to have crossed the line.

Briefly

United unveiled a Minnesota Soccer Spotlight area of Allianz Field on Wednesday, crediting homegrown signings and current players on MNUFC and MNUFC2. The current list of players includes Devin Padelford, Caden Clark, Loic Mesanvi, Rory O’Driscoll, Kage Romanshyn, Fred Emmings and Patrick Weah. … The Loons’ Under-19 went 3-0-0 in the MLS Next Flex tournament last week and qualified for the MLS NEXT Cup playoffs in Nashville, Tenn., from June 15-23. Shattuck-St. Mary’s U19 also qualified for those playoffs. The U17s and U15s each went 1-1-1 during group stage of MLS NEXT Flex. … MNUFC honored members of the St. Olaf men’s soccer team during pregame Wednesday. The Oles won the Division III men’s soccer championship in December.

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