The LA Galaxy left Costa Rica with their third consecutive defeat after the first leg of their Concacaf Champions Cup round of 16 tie against C.S. Herediano ended 1-0 in favor of the Costa Rican champions.
They still have a chance to advance with a win in the return leg at Dignity Health Sports Park on March 12th, but they’ll first have to host another struggling side in St. Louis SC on Sunday.
The LA Galaxy’s unimpressive start to 2025 continued on Wednesday night as they failed to score or keep a clean sheet in their first Concacaf Champions Cup match since 2015.
Head Coach Greg Vanney is known for his loyalty to the game plan, typically unwilling to change formations or tactics even when results aren’t necessarily going his way. Unfortunately, an early injury crisis has forced him to break old habits and try out a new formation with a roster full of young talent still finding their legs at the continent’s highest level.
Without Miki Yamane, Joseph Paintsil, and Lucas Sanabria available to fill important roles in Vanney’s preferred 4-3-3, he elected to field a 5-2-3 instead. Emiro Garcés, Maya Yoshida, and John Nelson were the three center backs, with Julian Aude on the left and Harbor Miller, the youngest ever player to represent the Galaxy in the Concacaf Champions Cup, on the right as wingbacks.
Edwin Cerillo and Marco Reus started the match as the two midfielders with Gabriel Pec, Cristian Ramirez, and Ruben Ramos Jr, another academy prospect, in the attacking roles.
These changes seemed to make a positive difference in the first half, with the Galaxy playing what may have been their best 45 minutes of football all season. Pec was as electric as ever, and Cerillo and Reus did well to combine and progress the ball through the midfield, creating some good looks, a rarity in previous games.
I thought some of our coordinated attacks, I would say, were much more in sync”, said Vanney after the match.
“We got to better areas. We got some looks from good distances. I think we need to finish better.”
Ruben Ramos Jr. got a great look in the 36th minute of the first half. After a decent period of Galaxy possession, Marco Reus found the youngster in a wide area of the box. He took a touch inward and released a shot toward the center of Danny Carvajal’s goal. While Ramos Jr. did have some coverage in front of him, it ultimately felt like a disappointing outcome given the opportunity.
The first half ended goalless and gave Herediano the chance to react. Much like how the Vancouver Whitecaps’ halftime adjustments helped them dominate the Galaxy in the second half, Herediano figured out how to stop the Galaxy’s threat while creating more for themselves.
Marco Reus and Edwin Cerillo were marked out of the game, preventing any of the combination play between them that was so effective in the first half. Again, like in the Vancouver game, this added pressure in the midfield gave the Galaxy’s defenders more time on the ball and more chances to make mistakes in dangerous areas.
This would eventually lead to a mistake from second-half substitute Elijah Wynder, who got pressed deep in his own half, setting up Herediano captain Elías Aguilar for a thunderous shot that blasted past John McCarthy and into the bottom corner.
The Galaxy nearly found the equalizer just three minutes later in the 68th minute. Christian Ramirez pulled off a brilliant backheel pass to put Marco Reus in one-on-one with Carvajal, but the Costa Rican keeper stood up strong against the German legend and kept Herediano in front.
The Galaxy piled on the pressure to try and secure the all-important away goal, but their efforts ended up in vain. The Galaxy will need to score a goal and keep a clean sheet or win by at least two goals in the return fixture at Dignity Health Sports Park on March 12th to advance to the next round. Given their goal record so far, this could be a tall order.
The hope is that Sunday night’s fixture against St. Louis City SC, another side facing a difficult start to the season, could potentially put some win in the Galaxy’s sails.
City are without a goal for or against so far in 2025, playing two nil-nil draws against the Colorado Rapids and San Diego FC.
Despite scoring less, they appear to be more productive than the Galaxy in MLS play. Per FotMob, St. Louis have created 14 chances in two games in 2025, three more than the Galaxy.
Greg Vanney will have to pay special attention to City’s German winger Marcel Harrell. He’s created the bulk of his team’s chances and will be looking to pick up his first assist in Los Angeles.
The good news for the Galaxy is that they seem to have found more of that attacking spark in their Concacaf Champions League game. They created 9 chances in that match alone, almost doubling their total from both of their previous games.
It seems that Sunday night’s winner will be whichever side can find their scoring touch first. If the changes Vanney attempted on Wednesday night continue leading to chances, there’s a good chance the Galaxy could find their breakthrough against St. Louis City SC.
The LA Galaxy won’t look like the cup-winning team they were in 2025 until important players return from injury, but let’s see if they can’t get close with the unit they have available now.
PHOTO: Los Angeles Galaxy
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