Photos courtesy of the LA Galaxy.
Victor Vazquez, left, was one of the LA Galaxy’s main offensive threats on Sunday night against Kansas City.
The LA Galaxy looked to treat its fans at Dignity Health Sports Park to some on-field fireworks before the actual postgame fireworks show that has become at staple for the Galaxy every Fourth of July.
However, this year’s Independence Day opponent, Sporting Kansas City, had other ideas. The Galaxy dictated the terms of the match, but Kansas City didn’t wilt under the pressure. Late goals from Johnny Russell and Khiry Shelton combined with its bend-but-don’t-break approach was all Kansas City needed in this key Western Conference matchup, and Kansas City moved into a tie for first place with Seattle in the Western Conference following its 2-0 win over the Galaxy.
“I thought for the 78 minutes it was arguably the best game we’ve played all year,” LA Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney said. “I thought our ball circulation, our bold movements, our positional play, our relationships on the field, our chance creation on the field……..I thought it was all outstanding. The part that missed was to put the ball in the back of the net.”
After withstanding an offensive barrage from the Galaxy, Kansas City finally had its first real scoring chance in the 8oth minute. Ginaluca Busio sent a free kick right at goal, keeper Jonathan Bond parried he ball towards the far post, and Andreu Fontas unexpectedly found himself with a close range chance at the near post, Fontas however sent a header off that near post.
Then came the moment in the 82nd minute for Kansas City. Felipe Hernandez pressured Adam Saldana into a turnover, Johnny Russell took the ball, dribbled inside the penalty area and fired a shot just inside the box, keeper Jonathan Bond stopped the shot, but Russell successfully tracked the ball and headed a ball past an out-of-position Bond into the far post net to give Kansas City a lead few thought they would have. Kansas City wrapped up the three points in stoppage time on a counter, as Gianluca Busio cleared out a Cameron Dunbar Cross, Khiry Shelton outraced Sacha Kljestan to the ball and was off to the races. Shelton dribbled into the penalty area, faked a shot which got Bond on the ground, Shelton did a sidestep and shot into an empty net.
“We felt that today we played better than them, we created more opportunities than them, but unfortunately we couldn’t capitalize on any of them,” said LA Galaxy defender Jorge Villafana. “We couldn’t score on any of them and then at the end a mistake. The second one we went looking for the goal so they countered, but I feel like we could’ve ended the game earlier.”
Such a result seemed unlikely considering it was the Galaxy that were the aggressors for the most of the match. The Galaxy turned things up during a three-minute span, starting in the 31st minute. Vazquez crossed a ball to Kevin Cabral in the 31st minute, but Cabral’s header just missed the right post. Two minutes later Victor Vazquez sent a long free kick into the six-yard box, Ethan Zubak headed a ball on target, but keeper Tim Melia made the stop and held onto the ball inside the six. The Galaxy got the ball back in the 34th minute, and Vazquez launched a volley from about 24 yards out, Melia made the stop, but spilled the ball back into play, Samuel Grandsir got the rebound inside the 18, took a touch before shooting just outside the six, Melia got his hands on the ball, and though it went through his legs, Melia’s hands ended up saving the day for Sporting, as the ball went off the near post, but trickled over the end line.
Photo courtesy of the LA Galaxy.
Samuel Grandsir and the LA Galaxy found Daniel Salloi and Sporting Kansas City hard to break down on the Fourth of July.
The Galaxy continued to buzz around the Kansas City net early in the second half. A shot by Samuel Grandsir was saved in the 56th minute, Vazquez had a rebound chance and with Melia out of position, Vazquez saw a open net at the far post, but Fontas saved the ball well shot of the goal line, then in the 62nd minute, Grnadsir raced past Luis Martins into the penalty area, Grandsir played a cross back to a trailing Vazquez, but Vazquez’s shot went wide right.
“When you don’t score, you pay after,” Vazquez said
The Galaxy might have put away some of those chances had they had its star striker, Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez, available. The Mexican international, who has a league-high 10 goals, had been battling what Vanney described as a calf-related issue all week, and while Vanney said Chicharito’s calf did improve over the course of the week, Vanney still felt the issue was serious enough not to put him out on the field on Sunday night.
“It was bothering him [a little bit]during the week. Towards the end of the week, he was feeling better,” Vanney said of Chicharito’s status throughout the week. “We had modified him over the course of the week and in the warm up he felt it too much to just put him out there.”
The Galaxy will have to put this match behind them pretty quickly, as they welcome FC Dallas on Wednesday.
