The LA Galaxy and LAFC put on a show for the ages during their 24th encounter in front of a sold-out Dignity Health Sports Park. The original Angelenos came back from behind to take the lead and secure their place in the 2024 playoffs.
Dignity Health Sports Park remains a fortress following a 4-2 come-from-behind win for the LA Galaxy against city rivals Los Angeles Football Club.
A brace from Dejan Joveljic in his first start since returning from injury, a first career goal for Edwin Cerillo, and a late killer from Riqui Puig made the difference after a poor start from the Galaxy in the first half.
Greg Vanney said that LAFC started the game differently to how his side had set up, forcing his players to react and make decisions on the fly. This may have been the root of the Galaxy’s struggles early in the match, which Dennis Buonga was able to exploit on two occasions.
Riqui Puig admitted that both goals came after his failure to define the play further up the pitch. With Miki Yamane playing high early in the match, the backline and Jalen Neal were exposed to and couldn’t respond to Buonga’s speed and dribbling.
LAFC goals in the fourth and fifteenth minutes made it seem like this match would turn into LAFC’s fourth consecutive victory in El Tráfico. They seemed to constantly find ways to stop Riqui Puig and cut out his passes, even with the addition of Marco Reus in the midfield.
The first 45 minutes ended 2-0 to the visitors, with the home side seemingly unable to come up with any solutions.
Greg Vanney decided against repeating what he said to his team at half time to reporters after the match, making it clear that he was assertive in demanding more intensity from everyone in the second period.
Fortunately for the 25,174 supporters at DHSP, the Galaxy obliged to their manager’s demands and came out flying after the restart.
The added intensity proved effective at improving their ball recovery, giving the blue, white, and gold a much stronger foothold upon which they could build their comeback.
As the Galaxy’s pressure began to build exponentially, it wouldn’t take long for their increased efforts to bear fruit.
Dejan Joveljic marked his return to the starting lineup with a technically impressive beauty in the 53rd minute.
Diego Fagundez came towards the right from the left-hand side and his dummy run opened up space for Gabriel Pec to find Joveljic inside the box. His first touch sent LAFC’s Eddie Segura one way, before the second touch sent him to the shops, allowing the Serbian to blast a right-footed effort into the top-left corner in emphatic fashion.
The LA Galaxy swarmed like sharks after causing LAFC to bleed for the first time in the match. Despite still being a goal down, it was clear that the momentum had shifted into the home team’s favor.
Gabriel Pec got the Galaxy into their opponent’s box again almost immediately after, this time finding Riqui Puig on a darting run. LAFC closed him down, forcing him to leave the box and find Edwin Cerillo near the D.
Cerillo claimed he didn’t think much about it after the match, but in the moment he hit it with the conviction and accuracy of a player who knew exactly what he was about to do.
He took a touch to settle the ball before smashing a stunning trivela into the top left corner in the 55th minute to score his first goal as a professional and bring his side level with plenty of time to find a winner.
About 10 minutes later, Gabriel Pec got himself into the box before slipping it through for Marco Reus. The German legend got his head up and played a deft cutback towards the top of the box, where Riqui Puig was waiting unmarked.
His shot found its way into the back of the net off of a deflection from Dejan Joveljic’s foot and suddenly the LA Galaxy had completed the comeback and were up 3-2.
Things only got worse for LAFC as Lewis O’Brien caught Miki Yamane with a high sliding challenge from behind. Referee Ted Unkel first showed him a yellow before VAR ref Kevin Stott advised him that O’Brien’s studs-up tackle was worthy of a red card, leaving LAFC down a man with 10 minutes plus added time to go.
Riqui Puig then added insult to injury just six minutes later with a stunner of his own to put a cap on a magical night for the LA Galaxy. He hit a trademark right-footed curler which left Hugo Lloris rooted to the spot after receiving the ball near the top of the box from Marco Reus.
The final whistle brought Dignity Health Sports Park into ecstasy as they took back the lead in the all-time head-to-head record with their noisy neighbors in black, put themselves seven points clear of LAFC, maintained their undefeated streak at home, and secured their place in the 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs.
To have achieved playoffs with five games remaining would have been unthinkable just a year ago, but the LA Galaxy have proven that they have course-corrected and are back to being one of the best clubs in MLS.
They have five more opportunities to secure or lose their place at the top of the Western Conference. The upcoming run of matches to close out the season will determine if the LA Galaxy get to play in front of their home crowd during the playoffs.
This decisive run of games starts soon as the Galaxy will travel to Portland this Wednesday, September 18th. They will have to be better travelers than they were against St. Louis City SC if they hope to keep the good times rolling, but for now they can enjoy a satisfying win over their local rivals.
PHOTO: LA GALAXY
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