MLS wrap: Galaxy to meet Houston in final

The Los Angeles Galaxy and Houston Dynamo will face off in the final of the MLS Cup after comfortable wins in their Conference finals.

Mike Magee and Robbie Keane scored unanswered goals in the second half as the Galaxy advanced to the championship final with a 3-1 win over Real Salt Lake on Sunday, while the Dynamo were 2-0 winners over Sporting Kansas City.

Landon Donovan landed the first blow for Galaxy during the first half but Real’s Alvaro Saborio responded almost immediately to level the scores at 1-1.

But a strong second-half performance led by Magee and Keane’s goals saw LA home in the Western Conference final.

Both teams struggled to deal with a crowded midfield early before Los Angeles upped the tempo to find their first goal in the 23rd minute.

Real keeper Nick Rimando did well to get a one-handed punch to a David Beckham corner but when the ball was served back in, Andy Williams shoved Omar Gonzalez, with the referee pointing to the spot.

Donovan stepped up and converted the penalty, but the Galaxy could only hold on to the lead for two minutes.

Almost immediately after the restart, Jamison Olave headed a Salt Lake corner back across goal for Saborio to head home.

After sustained pressure the home side did get their second goal not long after half-time. Beckham served up a tantalising cross to leave Magee with a free header, and despite Rimando getting a hand to it the ball crossed the line to make it 2-1.

Keane made amends after earlier hitting the post some 10 minutes after Galaxy’s second goal.

The former Tottenham and Celtic man maneuvered in the area to find an inch of space and was able to fire across Rimando’s body to make it 3-1.

Meanwhile, goals from Andre Hainault and Carlo Costly propelled the Dynamo past Sporting Kansas City in a 2-0 away victory in the Eastern Conference final at Livestrong Sporting Park.

Even with midfield maestro Brad Davis suffering an early game-ending injury, the Dynamo managed to catapult themselves into the MLS Cup, their third appearance in six years.

Hainault tapped in a close-range rebound from substitute Jermaine Taylor’s shot that hit the post to give Houston the lead in the 53rd minute.

And Costly took advantage of a counterattack to split past two defenders and score from just inside the box with a rare goal in the 87th minute.

Davis limped off the ground in the 38th minute with a right quadriceps injury.

Los Angeles will now seek their third MLS crown at home on November 20, when they face two-time champions Houston at the Home Depot Center.