After leaving Rio Tinto Stadium with no away goals in the first leg of their Western Conference Semifinal series with Real Salt Lake, the LA Galaxy made a massive statement with a 5-0 home win in the second leg. 

From the first minute until the final whistle, the Galaxy embarrassed the defending Western Conference champion at StubHub Center to get one step closer to qualifying for the MLS Cup. 

In the victory, every single player that manager Bruce Arena named to the starting 11 played a key role in shutting down one of the most dynamic teams in the league. Not only did Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane come to life, but the Galaxy dominated in their own half and the midfield as well. 

While the headlines may tell us about Donovan's hat-trick in his final trip to the postseason, all of the pieces came together perfectly for the Galaxy in the triumphant victory. 

Every goal scored by the Galaxy saw terrific combination play from multiple players in order to break down the strong Real Salt Lake back four. 

The first goal, which was netted by Donovan, was the product of two tweaks to the lineup made by Arena. Stefan Ishizaki and A.J. DeLaGarza were handed starts on the right to provide more width to the squad. 

That width showed itself in the buildup to Donovan's first strike. The move started when Ishizaki received a cross-field pass from Juninho. Once the ball found its way to the right side of the pitch, the Galaxy worked their magic. 

The Swedish winger attracted two defenders, which allowed DeLaGarza to cut in and chip a pass over to the head of Donovan. The middleman on the play was Marcelo Sarvas, who played a perfect ball to DeLaGarza. 

"When we're playing well. We create a lot of chances like that and this team is fun to play on. You don't want the game to end," Donovan said after the match.

The little piece of detail that started the buildup to the second goal was a tackle by Robbie Rogers in the attacking third. Once Rogers forced the turnover, the Galaxy began their precision passing on the way to Keane's 20th-minute strike. 

Keane impressed with his instincts, as he ran back behind the ball to stay onside so he could slot home the pass from Donovan. Small moments like the run by Keane and tackle by Rogers separate contenders from pretenders in the postseason. 

With a two-goal advantage, the Galaxy did not sit back and try to defend their lead. They did the right thing and continued to pounce because RSL just could not contain them. 

The strong defense played a role in creating the third goal, as Juninho dispossessed Javier Morales in RSL's attacking third. The ball found the feet of Omar Gonzalez, who played the ball out to Gyasi Zardes to kickstart another impressive team goal. 

Donovan sprinted right past Tony Beltran, who had a terrible night marking the American legend, to latch on to a pass from Keane to beat Rimando for a second time. 

Rimando said after the match that he doesn't see anyone beating the Galaxy in the postseason, per Chris Kamrani of The Salt Lake Tribune: 

The picking apart of the RSL defense was not over with, as the fourth goal produced another example of team fluidity. Rogers took a backheel pass from Zardes and played it into Keane. The Irishman then found Sarvas, who proceeded to net the fourth goal. 

Donovan made RSL's defending look amateur to complete his hat-trick in the 72nd minute. With the attention on Keane, Donovan looped right around Kyle Beckerman and Chris Schuler in order to get open and finish. 

Donovan left the match in the 83rd minute to a standing ovation. LA Galaxy insider Adam Serrano gave us a glimpse of the scene as he exited: 

By making such a major statement against one of the league's best sides, the Galaxy proved they can be the most complete team in the league when at their best. Say what you want about the Seattle Sounders, who could face the Galaxy in the Western Conference Final with a win over FC Dallas on Monday, but the Galaxy are a wonderfully skilled machine when firing on all cylinders. 

Donovan and Keane get all the credit, but the midfield machine powered by Juninho and Sarvas controls the pace of the game. The duo silenced the impact of Beckerman and Morales throughout Sunday's win.

The duo is also capable of shutting down Seattle's midfield muscle Osvaldo Alonso, who is seen as the best defensive midfielder in the league, in the next round. Alonso's role with Seattle is similar to the ones of Juninho and Sarvas. All three players earn possession for their respective sides in order to start up the attack. 

If the Galaxy pairing contains Alonso like they did Beckerman and Morales, it may be a long series for the Sounders against the established four-time MLS Cup champion. 

Even when the Galaxy shuffle their parts they are effective. DeLaGarza usually sets up next to Gonzalez at center-back, but he was shifted out to the right in order to create more chances, and to quiet Joao Plata. The diminutive Ecuadorian striker did not record a single shot in the defeat. 

LA saw DeLaGarza star at right-back, and the Galaxy experienced no drop-off in production from Leonardo at center-back. When Leonardo left the match with an injury, Tommy Meyer made the same impact next to Gonzalez.

Not only did the Galaxy look like the best team left in the playoffs Sunday, they made Arena look like the best manager remaining. With a deadly combination like that, we could easily see them lift the MLS Cup on December 7. 

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90. 

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