The LA Galaxy certainly asserted themselves against the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Samuel Grandsir was the catalyst for the Galaxy on Saturday night. Grandsir had a brace in the match, lietrally had a hand in another Galaxy goal, and goals from Chicharito Hernandez, Victor Vazquez and Efrain Alvarez help the Galaxy get back above the playoff line in the Western Conference, as they routed the Whitecaps 5-2 at Dignity Health Sports Park.

“It was great performance for everyone, Vazquez said. “Even then I think you can see that when we get the casual, we concede goals so easy, you know? Of course the performance was amazing. All the guys were working really hard.”

Four of the five Galaxy goals came in the first half, and its hot start was crucial for the Galaxy (10-11-3, 33 points), as they now sit in sixth place in the Western Conference.

The Galaxy broke out in the 12th minute. Julian Araujo sent a long ball forward, Vancouver’s Alex Cubas tried to make a play on the ball, but whiffed on a clearance attempt, which left Kevin Cabral open to dribble from the right side into the penalty area, Cabral then played a shot cross just outside the six-yard box and Samuel Grandsir slotted the shot past keeper Cody Cropper far post.

Grandsir’s goal was just the beginning for the Galaxy. LA was back on the attack in the 17th minute, Cabral again found Grandsir inside the box, only this time, Grandsir again sent a ball towards goal, the ball hit off the right hand of Ranko Veselinovic and went over the end line. The Galaxy pleaded for the penalty, but referee Silviu Petrescu initially signaled a corner kick, but Petrescu soon got the call for video review, which confirmed that the ball went off Veselinovic’s right hand, thus Petrescu reversed the call for the corner and signaled the Galaxy to the penalty spot, and Chicharito chipped the penalty into the back net in the 20th minute. Chicharito played the role of helper on the Galaxy’s third goal in the 30th minute, as he played a short one-two with Vasquez, and Vasquez launched a left-footed volley from 22 yards out and beat Cropper near post and just like that, the Galaxy were up 3-0.

We have to start the games this way, aggressive with confidence and trusting each other,” Vazquez said. “We’re going to make mistakes. [Not everything will be like] you want it, but today was a great performance from everybody.”

Vancouver however were not keen to let the Galaxy simply run all over them. The Whitecaps got on the board in the 38th minute, as Cropper punted a ball long, Ryan Gauld chased the ball down and fought of Araujo’s challenge to get the ball inside the penalty area and sent the shot past keeper Jonathan Bond to cut into the Galaxy lead. The Galaxy however responded by simply scoring another goal, which occured in the 40th minute, as Araujo on the overlapping run played a ball for Chichario, but he let it go to Grandsir, who then bended a ball from 18 yards out that beat Cropper to the lower right corner into the back net to restore the Galaxy’s three goal advantage.

Vancouver continued to fight in the second half. The Whitecaps got a second goal in the 70th minute, as Cristian Dajome overcame Araujo’s pressure to dribble into the box, played a ball into the six and Tosaint Ricketts tapped a ball past Bond into the back net to get Vancouver again within two goals. The Galaxy however snuffed out any thought of a Whitecaps comeback, first by salting away the remaining time in the match, then by getting a fifth goal in the 89th minute, as Dejan Joveljic played a short cross to Alvarez at the six and Alvarez slotted the shot past Cropper to seal the three points for the Galaxy.

“I thought, the emphasis for us tonight was controlling the midfield and controlling the ball,” Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney said. “Not putting ourselves in difficult situations, but also getting the ball moving a little bit quicker, defending as a unit, making sure we were connected as a group and moving together.”

The Galaxy’s will look to build on its momentum, as they host another Cascadia side, the Seattle Sounders on Friday.