The LA Galaxy put the 2025 season behind them in style with a 2-1 win over playoff-bound Minnesota United.
This season couldn’t have come to an end early enough for some, while others may regret not having more time as the Galaxy had just started to find their way.
The LA Galaxy didn’t have much to be decided on this year’s MLS Decision Day.
They were eliminated from playoffs some time ago after going winless in 16 games at the start of the year, setting the record for the worst start to a campaign by a defending champion. Their form improved enough to earn 17 points in fourteen games up to the start of October, but that wasn’t enough to revive their playoff hopes.
However, that doesn’t mean that the Galaxy didn’t have anything to play for against Minnesota United.
Diego Fagundez entered the game on 79 goals and 79 assists in his MLS career. Fans were motivated to see Fagundez hit the legendary 80-80 mark in a Galaxy shirt as he enters a club-option year and may not be a G by the start of 2026.
A win and some favorable results elsewhere would also see the Galaxy rise above the bottom of the Western Conference and finish as high as 25th in the Supporter’s Shield standings.
Minnesota United were looking to prepare for their postseason run, where they’ll host the 2025 Leagues Cup champions Seattle Sounders in a best-of-three first round, by ending their league campaign with a win against the lowly Galaxy.
Unfortunately for The Loons, Los Angeles didn’t look so lowly in the game’s opening minutes.
Elijah Wynder received another start after scoring the winner against FC Dallas and immediately made his impact felt against United. His runs troubled the usually sound Minnesota backline but it was a great pass back to Matheus Nascimento in the 12th minute that caused the most chaos and gave the home side an early lead.
He seems to have found a true home in Greg Vanney’s system whenever he takes up a more attacking role. A strong football IQ combined with his youthful energy makes him a relentless runner, which drags opponents out of their roles and creates spaces for his teammates. He showed his finish touch on a couple of occasions already this year and has even added a keen eye for a killer pass.
In the second half we played another great pass into Joseph Paintsil, the joint-fastest player in the world in 2024, into an extremely favorable one-on-one. Paintsil’s first shot hit the post but the rebound landed right at his feet. He obliged the second time around and solidified his place as the Galaxy’s top-goalscorer with ten goals.
Paintsil and Wynder’s performances were far from the only positive ones from the team as the entire group delivered a strong performance across 90 minutes for the 17,765 fans in attendance on the final day. It was perhaps the best collective performance of the season as the Galaxy hardly allowed Minnesota to trouble their goal.
Never a side to let things get boring, the six minutes of added time were action packed.
Joaquín Pereyra scored an olímpico as a driven ball snuck past Novak Micovic’s legs directly from his corner kick in the 95th minute. Nearly right after the restart Edwin Cerillo was shown his second yellow card, meaning he’ll be unavailable for selection in next year’s season opener. That was followed by a bicycle-kick attempt from defender Nicolás Lodeira to almost force the Galaxy to split the points.
Fortunately for the home fans, that was the last kick of the game and the LA Galaxy ended the season with a win.
Their final record for 2025 is seven wins, nine draws, and 18 losses while scoring 46 goals and conceding 66 (nearly a mirror-image of 2024’s goal record of 69 scored and 50 conceded).
The LA Galaxy will play their final game of 2025 at Dignity Sports Park in the form of a friendly against Club América on November 15th. They could then return to official action as soon as February 3rd, 2026 in the opening round of Concacaf Champions Cup.
The roster will likely get turned upside-down between now and then as the front office looks to avoid a repeat of this season.
The 2025 season is finally in the past for the LA Galaxy. Hope may start to creep in as announcements are made and Riqui Puig makes his long-awaited return, but if anything has been learned this year it’s that even a championship-winning team can have plenty of space to improve.
PHOTO: Kelvin Kuo-Imagn Images
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