Dejan Joveljic has come into his own during this year’s MLS postseason. The Serbian striker has found the net in all but of the Galaxy’s games and is the joint-top scorer in the playoffs with five goals - the same as Vancouver’s Ryan Gauld.

But his 85th minute winner in last night’s Western Conference final was the high point, not just of his season, but his career as a whole.

After winning back possession inside the Seattle half, Los Angeles moved quickly - Delgado found Riqui Puig in space and with one neat control, the Spaniard brought the ball under control and threaded it past two defenders to Joveljic, whose first-time strike was too powerful and too well placed for Stefan Frei to to turn behind.

A winning goal that put the Galaxy into next weekend’s MLS Cup final - the first time the franchise have gone all the way since 2014. They will face the New York Red Bulls on Saturday, with the advantage of being the home team.

Joveljic relives winning strike against Seattle

After the game, Joveljic reflected back on the moment he saw his shot strike Frei’s palm and creep inside the post. “Before the goal, it was a good reaction, I’m not sure who from. Riqui got the ball, I knew that he was going to play it and I saw an open space so I ran into it. And I knew that the goalkeeper was going to take one step to his left, so I just shot with 60 percent power. He almost saved it, I was a little bit lucky!”

The result and the outcome couldn’t have been better for Greg Vanney’s men, as the Serbian concurred, “It’s an amazing feeling. They said that Seattle has the best defense - they showed that they play the best defensive football. They lock their defense but didn’t realize that we have the keys to unlock it”.

Ater being part of the Red Star Belgrade side that clinched back-to-back SuperLiga title in 2017-19, Joveljic is now a step away from being crowned a champion in North America.

Joveljic’s career highlight so far

He’s also one goal away from equaling a career high of 20 goals in one season (which he did with Wolfsberger). But out of all the 43 goals he has scored since going professional in 2016, his late winner against Seattle means the most.

“100 percent, yeah. I’m pretty sure that was maybe the most important goal in my professional career. My numbers are the best so far but hopefully next season or the one after that, I will beat these numbers”.

Joveljic and the Galaxy have five days to prepare their gameplan for Saturday’s final and do their homework on New York, who finished the regular season seventh in the Eastern Conference but eliminated the Cup holders in the Round 1 of the playoffs.

“What can I say? I am very happy, I am very proud. I can’t wait to play this game, in front of our fans. So I really hope we’re going to lift that trophy. We prepared for this. I’m happy, but not surprised,” Joveljic concluded.