The Galaxy’s second consecutive sold-out home game was packed full of action. Fans saw it all as this match produced six goals, shocking misses, unbelievable saves, and a red card. Greg Vanney’s team is playing well but insisting on leaving themselves in positions to be stealing draws rather than claiming wins.
The Los Angeles Galaxy returned to Dignity Health Sports Park on Saturday, March 16 as they hosted St. Louis City SC in front of 25,174 supporters.
As mentioned in our match preview, both sides came into this match sporting identical records. It seems neither team wanted to break the trend as the contest ended in a 3-3 draw. The result would see both teams posting a 1-3-0 record complete with a matching goal difference (2). This fixture’s biggest impact on the Western Conference was the LA Galaxy leapfrogging City to fourth place in the standings.
Both sides were off to the races from kick off with St. Louis’s Aziel Jackson tested McCarthy for the first time with just 50 seconds played. The Galaxy would draw blood first and fast as Julian Aude assisted Dejan Joveljic in just the third minute.
Aude created the goal by making himself an option with a well-timed run. Once he received the ball Aude drove forward before combining with Diego Fagundez, who quickly returned the ball for Aude to lift his head and find Joveljic and assist the Serbian for the second consecutive game. Joveljic’s fourth goal in as many matches makes him the first player to score in his team’s first 4 MLS games of the season since Taty Castellanos.
The LA Galaxy then went on to hurt themselves as some poor interplay from the typically reliable Riqui Puig and Edwin Cerillo allowed Tomáš Ostrák to steal the ball just in front of McCarthy’s box and score the game’s first leveler in the 27th minute.
Los Angeles made a habit of starting fast after the restart as Joseph Paintsil scored his second of the season and first in front of the supporters to give his side a 2-1 lead in the 51st. Mark Delgado received the ball deep in his own half before playing a beautifully incisive long ball for Paintsil to chase down and convert with ease thanks to his blistering pace.
This scoreline would balance itself once again as St. Louis equalized through a stunning Joakim Nilsson bicycle kick. Substitute Samuel Adeniran made an immediate impact on the match as he headed Jackson’s deep corner back across the box and into the path of Nilsson’s flying boot right after coming on in the 60th minute.
The game remained in a 2-2 draw until Galaxy mistakes threw a wrench in things.
Gaston Brugman, who has yet to play 90 minutes in 2024, came on as a second half sub as part of his reintegration into the team following the torn meniscus he suffered last July.
Brugman played well for about 20 minutes before a poor touch and loss of balance caused him to lose the ball in the Galaxy’s half and concede a dangerous chance followed by a corner. Jackson’s ball whipped a ball in towards a crowded box where an off-balance McCarthy miscalculated and punched it into the back of his own net.
After 88 minutes during which the Galaxy called Burki to action more than any other team has managed so far, Greg Vanney suddenly found himself overseeing a 2-3 loss with just two minutes until the completion of the 90.
Eight minutes of extra time gave the Galaxy a chance to score and steal another draw. Gaston Brugman would take it and make up for his earlier costly mistake by assisting Maya Yoshida for the game’s final equalizer. Brugman’s freekick in the 95th minute led to his first goal contribution of the season and saved a point for LA at the death.
The Los Angeles Galaxy are continuing to show enough fight and quality to remain undefeated in 2024 but are failing to secure wins thanks to continuously shooting themselves in the foot with mistakes that end up costing points.
Their next chance to turn one point into three will be away at Sporting Kansas City this Saturday, March 23rd. Sporting have the second best defense in the Western Conference and will be looking to hold off the high-scoring Galaxy in front of their supporters. Be sure to tune in to MLS Season Pass or attend one of the watch parties at 5:30 PM PST to find out who prevails in this battle of defense vs offense.
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PHOTO: LA Galaxy
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