Minnesota United forward Christian Ramirez blamed himself as he stood on the same piece of turf after Sunday’s 2-1 loss to Los Angeles at TCF Bank Stadium.

Planted near midfield, Galaxy opponents approached to tell Ramirez that the Loons are “really tough to play against;” his teammates came up to stress he was “unlucky” and the defeat wasn’t his fault.

Trailing 1-0 in the 66th minute, Ramirez scored the game-tying goal, which further staked his spot near the top of Major League Soccer’s scoring leaderboard. He now seven goals in his first 12 league games.

But less than 20 minutes later, the southern California native had the ball hit off his knee and go into the net for the decisive own goal against his hometown team.

The emotional swing was “the worst you could imagine,” he said. “I hate being in that position to give that goal up, and I’ll put that blame on myself.”

The deflection stymied the expansion franchise’s persistent pressure against the one of the league’s standard bearers. The Loons had a 65-35 percent lead in possession and 22-8 advantage in shots, with a couple close calls from Ramirez proceeding his goal off a header from midfielder Sam Cronin.

While the Galaxy have more MLS Cup titles (5) than United has franchise wins (3), Loons captain Francisco Calvo feels deference is given too easily from the upstart club.

“I think sometimes we give too much respect to some teams, to some players,” Calvo said. “We have to respect ourselves because we have good players; that is why we are here.”

After the game, Calvo hugged Ramirez and said a few comforting words. In the dressing room afterwards, teammate Kevin Venegas added some more encouragement at Ramirez’s locker.

“It’s unlucky,” Calvo relayed of his message to Ramirez. “He was trying to clear the ball, and it hit him. That happens in football, in soccer. He doesn’t need to feel bad about it because he’s trying to do the best for the team, and he has the support from our team.”

It was the second straight week where a Ramirez own goal contributed to a loss. In a 3-2 loss at Toronto, Ramirez was being held in an uncalled foul when the ball hit off him and into Minnesota’s net in the second half.

“That’s frustrating on my part to be back-to-back weeks with own goals,” Ramirez said.

After a slow start, the Galaxy (4-5-2) is unbeaten in its last four games. Minnesota (3-7-2) lost for the second time in its last three home games.

In the first half, Galaxy forward Giovani dos Santos’ gorgeous flick past leaping Loons goalie Bobby Shuttleworth went into net to take the lead in the 38th minute. Dos Santos’ left heel connected with Romain Alessandrini’s cross.

After Ramirez’s equalizer, it was Alessandrini’s free kick that hit off Ramirez for the own goal.