The Los Angeles Galaxy seem to be clicking at just the right time.
Hosting a playoff game at home for the first time since 2016, the Galaxy treated the home crowd to a suspenseful yet exciting match that yielded the right result. The Galaxy rode Julian Araujo’s second-half goal and some timely saves from keeper Jonathan Bond ensured the Galaxy’s advancement to the Western Conference semifinals with a 1-0 win at Dignity Health Sports Park.
“I’m really proud of our guys,” Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney said. “This is how you win playoff games. Sometimes they’re not so fluid and sometimes they’re not as perfect as you’d like them to be. And sometimes, you have to dig and you have to find your opportunities and you have to defend at the end when the opposition throws a lot of things forward. And, you really have nothing to lose at that point.”
Dating back to September 14, when it lost 3-0 to the Vancouver Whitecaps, the Galaxy have been red hot, going on an undefeated streak that got them three wins and a draw to close out the regular season. That run was key for the Galaxy going from the edge of missing the playoffs altogether to being able to host a playoff game. Now, the Galaxy brace for perhaps its biggest match to date this year, as they will head north up the 110 freeway to face LAFC on Thursday, the second time in four years the two cross-town rivals will meet in the playoffs with a berth in the Western Conference final at stake.
“I’m expecting another Tráfico,” Araujo said of the upcoming match against LAFC. “It’s going to be a good one for both teams. We all know what it means. Our fans know what it means. Their fans know what it means. We’re going to try to go over there… It’s going to be tough to go to their stadium, but we have our fans and we have ourselves. We’re going to have each other’s back and play our game.”
After 59 scoreless minutes, the moment finally came for the Galaxy in the 60th minute. Douglas Costa passed a ball to Araujo, but surrounded by four defenders, chose to pass back to Costa, then sprinted into the penalty area. Costa faked a left-footed cross, then sent a forward ball for Samuel Grandsir, who took the ball towards the end line, then crossed into the six-yard box and Araujo, who a minute earlier hit the framework on a shot attempt, would not be denied this time, as he sent a header past keeper Joe Willis far post to put the Galaxy ahead.
The Galaxy thought they had a first goal earlier, but unusual circumstances prevented that from happening. Riqui Puig led a Galaxy break from the middle lane, played Chicharito Hernandez, CHicharito timed his run perfectly and fired a shot that best Willis near post. However, the officiating crew went to video review, and what was seen on the video review was that as the Galaxy break was getting started, Araujo and Nashville’s Hany Mukhtar were going for a 50-50 ball in the air, Mukhtar did win the ball, but Araujo’s left foot clipped Mukhtar, meaning a foul was committed, and in the officiating crew’s mind, the foul negated the break and the goal, and thus concluded the goal is waived off, meaning the match remained scoreless from that point on.
“I think it’s too soft and I think the VAR needs to go with more decisive plays,” CHicharito said of the play. “You cannot do that because if not, every game is going to be stopped by it.”
Nashville had two great chances early in the match to grad the lead. Its first chance, which came eight minutes into the match, was gifted by the Galaxy themselves, as Bond cleared a ball out of the penalty area, but it went to Nashville’s Sean Davis, who immediately one-timed a pass to Teal Bunbury just outside the penalty area. Bunbury looked to capitalize on this sudden great chance, but Bond immediately recovered and made the stop on Bunbury’s shot and was allowed by teammate Sega Coulibaly to get the ball. Then, just seconds into the second half, Nashville had another golden opportunity, as Randall Real sprung Mukhtar with a ball into the box, Mukhtar took a touch before firing a shot outside the six, but Bond denied Mukhtar with the kick save and the backline eventually cleared the ball out of danger.
