The LA Galaxy imposed their will on 9-man Santos Laguna to earn their place in the Leagues Cup knockout round.
Their four goals scored on the final match day of the first phase sees the Galaxy overtake Orlando City SC for third place in the MLS Leagues Cup standings and sets them up to face C.F. Pachuca in their quarterfinal.
The LA Galaxy righted the wrongs from their loss on penalties to Cruz Azul with an overwhelming 4-0 victory over Santos Laguna.
Greg Vanney reverted to his team’s most typical 4-3-3 after playing with five in the back and Gabriel Pec as a right wing back in the first half against Cruz Azul. Instead of playing the first half confused and behind a goal, the change helped the Galaxy play to their strengths and got them off to a strong start.
Mauricio Cuevas continued proving that he’s earned his newfound spot in the starting 11 by providing an assist to Joseph Paintsil in the first minute with his team’s first attack.
His overlapping runs continued to be a problem for Santos Laguna’s backline. He repeatedly got himself in position and put in four more crosses which nearly resulted in goals before Matheus Nascimento got to his fifth cross to double the Galaxy’s lead and momentarily earn them the fourth and final knockout round qualification place.
That would have been enough to get the job done but the LA Galaxy decided to make the most of the momentum and continued to push for more goals.
They got a big push in the right direction when Honduran national team striker Anthony Lozano received a second yellow for a stomp on Maya Yoshida in the 45th minute, leaving Santos Laguna with 10 men.
Things then went from bad to worse to awful for Santos.
Maya Yoshida got his revenge by scoring an easy tap-in off a rebound from Joseph Paintsil’s shot with the last kick of the first half.
The goal came in the 50th minute of a half that should have only had 48, causing Santos Laguna’s bench and players to have a go at the center referee. Santos midfielder Ramiro Sordo led the charge with some choice words, earning himself a straight red card with the ball not even in play and leaving his team with just nine players to see out the three-goal deficit.
If the scoreline wasn’t enough to sentence the match, the double-red cards definitely were.
The LA Galaxy were free to play at their leisure in the second half, creating chances at will against a Santos Laguna side who defended with all nine available players.
The congestion in the box did make it difficult for the Galaxy to find many clear chances. That is until the 74th minute when Maya Yoshida added a hockey assist to his goal with a peach of a pass to find Miki Yamane in-behind the defense. Yamane’s specialty first-time pass into the box went just behind Nascimento but landed perfectly for second half substitute Lucas Sanabria to prod home. The goal was ultimately awarded to Nascimento, but Sanabria won’t mind much as the effort will be useful in quieting criticism during a difficult moment form-wise for the 21-year-old Uruguayan.
All four goals were crucial for the Galaxy as they helped them leapfrog Orlando City SC for third place in the MLS Leagues Cup Standings.
This means they’ll face C.F. Pachuca in the quarter-finals on either August 19th or 20th. Pachuca finished second in the Liga MX League Cup Standings with 7 points from two wins and a loss on penalties, an identical record to the Galaxy.
For now, their focus returns to regular league play as they prepare to host the Seattle Sounders on Sunday, August 10th. It’ll be the first match between the classic Western Conference rivals since the iconic 2024 Western Conference Final where Riqui Puig provided a game-winning assist to Dejan Jovelic on a torn ACL.
While not in the MLS, the LA Galaxy will once again taste playoff football as they compete for the Leagues Cup and one of three Concacaf Champions League spots. They’ll have to win two games to earn a CCL berth and three in order to take the title.
They likely won’t have Riqui Puig to produce another magical moment in a final, but recent performances suggest that the LA Galaxy might have rediscovered what it takes to win a title without their Spanish magician.
PHOTO: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images
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