Galaxy advance to knockout stages with win over San Jose

Different stadium, different tournament, and as it turned out, a much different plot, but ultimately, still the same result for the Los Angeles Galaxy.

The Leagues Cup edition of the California Clasico saw the Galaxy and the San Jose Earthquakes face off, this time in the much smaller confines of San Jose’s PayPal Park as opposed to the last meeting back on June 29, which took place at Stanford Stadium. This time however, the Quakes put up a much better fight against its Northern California rivals, playing them to a standstill as the match wore on late. Still, the Galaxy ultimately got the result it needed, as a Miguel Berry goal in the final minute of regulation time got the Galaxy a vital three points courtesy of the 2-1 win.

“I think it was a decent game,” LA Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney said. “They’ve (San Jose Earthquakes) already had one game under their belt in the tournament, so they had two points and were trying to manage their way into the next round. They got a little conservative at the end trying to protect that extra point that I think probably would’ve really helped them. I thought it was a decent game.”

The result ensures the Galaxy a spot in the knockout stages of the tournament. The Galaxy also have more road paths to win the group, as they will have to either win against Chivas Guadalajara or at the very least get the match to a shootout to win the group. A Chivas regulation win enables the Goats to leapfrog the Galaxy for the top spot, and that result would also eliminate the Quakes from the tournament as well.

Berry delivered the winner for the Galaxy in the 89th minute. The Galaxy held the ball inside San Jose’s side of the field, then Riqui Puig made his move, as he curled a ball into the penalty area, Miki Yamane timed his run perfectly as did Berry to evade defense into the box, Yamane played a ball into the six-yard box and Berry slotted the shot past keeper William Yarborough into the back net.

After 40 scoreless minutes, a gorgeous strike from Diego Fagundez enabled the Galaxy to take the lead. Gabriel Pec dribbled down the field, passed to Diego Fagundez, and he kept the ball inside the penalty area until he finally saw a sightline. Fagundez then uncorked a right footed volley that sailed past Yarborough at the far post to give the Galaxy the lead. Los Angeles held the lead for most of the second half, but the Quakes caught them in the 75th minute, as Jackson Yueill pounced on a errant pass from Gaston Brugman, played a quick pass to Carlos Gruezo, who then found an unmarked Jeremy Ebobisse at the top of the penalty area, and Ebobisse sent the shot past keeper Novak Mikovic to level match.