It was simply 11 weeks in the past that the raised the MLS Cup for , an event the staff celebrated Sunday with a relay of supporters and first responders carrying the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy again to midfield at Dignity Well being Sports activities Park.
A triumphant video performed on the stadium’s large video screens, fireworks stuffed the air and a darkish blue championship banner was unfurled above the southwest grandstands of the newly refurbished stadium.
Then the brand new season kicked off and all of that out of the blue appeared like a distant reminiscence with San Diego FC, an , crashing the Galaxy’s get together by using two second-half objectives from Anders Dreyer and a clear sheet from goalkeeper CJ dos Santos to a shocking 2-0 upset earlier than a sellout crowd of 25,244.
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The loss was the Galaxy’s first in 22 video games at dwelling, relationship to the ultimate sport of 2023.
“This could’t occur,” coach Greg Vanney mentioned. “That is the place we get factors, that is the place we win. We established that as one thing that was crucial to us, and one thing we did final 12 months. We do not lose at dwelling.
“So is it a rallying cry? It is a wake-up name, I assume. We have to be extra ready and we have got to be higher, particularly at dwelling.”
The Galaxy had been lacking 4 of the gamers who led them to the title final 12 months, together with MLS Cup MVP Gastón Brugman and Dejan Joveljic, who scored the successful objective within the ultimate. Each had been traded, sacrificed to the league’s wage cap.
“There is no excuse,” captain Maya Yoshida mentioned. “We missed a few essential gamers, skilled gamers, who can change the sport. We have now the bottom of the staff since final season.
“We should always have achieved higher.”
But when that wasn’t an excuse for Sunday’s loss, it was a minimum of a part of the reason. Joveljic was one in every of 4 Galaxy gamers to achieve double digits in objectives and assists final season; no MLS staff had achieved that earlier than. But, simply one of many 4, winger Gabriel Pec, was in uniform since Joveljic was traded final month, and Joseph Paintsil and Riqui Puig are out with accidents.
The items Vanney used to puzzle collectively a lineup in these absences didn’t match. Christian Ramírez, the alternative for Joveljic up entrance, was ineffective in his 63 minutes whereas German veteran was unable to offer both the tempo or the passing of Puig within the midfield. That left Pec remoted — and pissed off — for a lot of the afternoon.
“We weren’t very dynamic within the entrance half of the sphere,” Vanney mentioned. “After we had been getting ahead and stepping into ahead positions, we weren’t actually turning possessions into assaults.
“We simply seemed somewhat disjointed. Perhaps we weren’t ready for the place we would have liked to be with the brand new additions. We did not appear to be a staff that simply gained the championship.”
Dreyer, a Danish worldwide who final month was enjoying in Belgium with Anderlecht, scored the primary objective in franchise historical past seven minutes into the second half. It was arrange by a large Galaxy error with keeper Novak Micovic, making simply his fifth MLS begin, taking a backpass from Miki Yamane in entrance of his objective and flipping a poor waist-high outlet ball to heart again Emiro Garcés deep within the Galaxy penalty space.
Garcés lifted a boot however was unable to regulate the go, which bounced to . He then despatched it into the middle of the field for Dreyer, whose left-footed shot beat Micovic cleanly.
“Finally, the sport activates a mistake,” Vanney mentioned.
“It was nearly extra self-defense than it was attempting to truly do one thing with it. He was simply attempting to deliver it down,” he mentioned of Garcés’ mishandling of the Micovic go. “The entire thing simply felt somewhat bit rushed, and it did not actually must be.”
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The rating opened the sport up because the Galaxy pushed for the equalizer, almost getting it within the 79th minute when a Yamane cross discovered a sliding Miguel Berry on the fringe of the six-yard. However Berry’s left-footed deflection was smothered by Dos Santos. A minute later Dos Santos made one other save, one in every of three on the day, on a attempt from the middle of the field by Ruben Ramos Jr.
Dreyer then made all that moot together with his second objective three minutes into stoppage time, with former LAFC ahead Tomás Ángel received the help on the play.
For the Galaxy, it was a bitter finish to a day that started with a joyous celebration.
“That is very apparent,” Yoshida repeated. “We have now to be higher.”
This story initially appeared in .
