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It was truly a tale of two halves at Dignity Health Sports Park on Saturday night.
It was the third and final installment of the 2024 edition of El Trafico, and for the first 45 minutes, LAFC looked like it would run away with the match, as goals from Mateusz Bogusz and Denis Bouanga gave LAFC the early tw0-goal lead. However, the LA Galaxy turned the game on its head in the last 45 minutes to the tune of four unanswered goals, and the Galaxy ran off with an unlikely 4-2 win.
“It’s a group that’s maturing,” Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney said. “That’s the thing that we talked about all season is with the roster additions and the way we have kind of built the team and then it was just about maturing together as a group competitively and having big experiences. This was a moment that we felt was a big experience.”
Dejan Joveljic was the catalyst, as he scored two of the Galaxy’s four goals in the second half, with Edwin Cerillo accounting for the equalizer and Riqui Puig adding a goal late in the second half to put the cherry on top of the Galaxy’s comeback win. The result also came ramifications in the standings, as instead of an LAFC win that would’ve further tightened the Western Conference race, or a draw that would’ve left nothing unchanged, the win by the Galaxy (16-6-7, 55 points) gives them a seven-point lead over its rivals for first place, though LAFC (14-7-6, 48 points) does have two games in hand as the regular season enters the stretch run.
“We went far from who we are and lost control of the match,” LAFC midfielder Ilie Sanchez said.
LAFC took a 2-0 lead into the second half, but in a rivalry known for its comebacks, the Galaxy again stormed back. The key stretch was a two-minute span in which the Galaxy turned that two-goal deficit into a who new ballgame. The Galaxy pulled a goal back in the 53rd minute, as Gabriel Pec played a ball to Joveljic inside the penalty area, Joveljic then deked Eddie Segura to get free, then shot a ball past keeper Hugo Lloris far post to curt the LAFC lead in half. Then it only took the Galaxy all of two minutes to find the equalizer, as Pec passed to Riqui Puig inside the penalty area, Puig kept the ball inside 18, then passed back out to an unmarked Cerillo, who then unleashed a right-footed volley from about 25 yards out that sailed past Lloris far post to level the match.
Photo courtesy of LAFC
The Galaxy then took the lead in the 67th minute. Marco Reus played a ball to Pec inside the penalty area, Pec then passed back to Reus, who then took the ball near the end line, sent a back pass that Puig came in and shot a ball into the six-yard box, Joveljic got his right foot on the ball and redirected the ball into the back net to put the Galaxy in front. Things were looking even better for the Galaxy in the 78th minute, as LAFC’s Lewis O’Brien went studs up on a tackle on Miki Yamane, referee Ted Unkel initially pulled put a yellow card, but after further consultation, decided to upgrade to a yellow card, thus ending O’Brien’s night and forcing LAFC to chase the game a man down. The Galaxy capped off its comeback in the 86th minute, as Reus passed to Puig, who then fired a laser from about 24 yards out that snuck into the back net at the near post to seal the win.
“The second half, I think we fixed some things,” Puig said. “The pressure to be more difficult to take the ball and I think that it works and we played a really good second half.”
The first half was a completely different story. It took LAFC all of four minutes to find the back net, as Mateusz Bogusz won possession, then sprung Denis Bouanga with a ball down the left side. Bouanga dribbled all the way into the penalty area with little resistance from Jalen Neal, then sent a cross into the 18 that took a fortunate deflection off Maya Yoshida, which enabled Bogusz to sneak in at the back post and head a ball into the open net. Bouanga then doubled the LAFC advantage in the 15th minute, as Timothy Tillman broke up a play deep inside its side of the field, then ignited a counterattack. Tillman passed to Bouanga, who then dribbled down the left side, again without much resistance, Bouanga fired a shot just inside the six past keeper and former teammate John McCarthy into the back net.
“We’ll try to turn it around as fast as possible to get some points on Wednesday night,” LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo said.
As Cherundolo alluded to, LAFC and the Galaxy won’t have long to dwell on this match. LAFC will quickly prepare for a midweek match against Austin FC, while the Galaxy make the trip to Portland to face the Timbers.
