LA Galaxy start off strong, hold of NYRB for MLS Cup title

A full decade after last lifting the MLS Cup, the Los Angeles Galaxy are finally back in its rightful place; reining atop Major League Soccer.

It had been ten years since the Galaxy won its fifth MLS Cup title. Since then however, the Galaxy have endured more hard times than good ones. Since 2014, the Galaxy have made the playoffs just four times in this ten-year stretch, and during that time span, the Galaxy have seen a revolving door of head coaches and front office personnel, been penalized by the league for attempting to circumvent the salary cap, were boycotted by its supporters groups for its shortcomings, and have seen its profile in the greater Los Angeles area dented by the arrival (and immediate success) of crosstown rival LAFC. Not even bringing in high profile stars such as Steven Gerrard, Giovani Dos Santos (as well as his brother Jonathan Dos Santos), Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez could reverse the Galaxy’s slide.

However, this season, after a decade in which anything that could go wrong did indeed go wrong, things finally broke right for the Galaxy this season, and the impact was immediate. Led by a new general manager, Will Kuntz, who then signed two players, Joseph Paintsil and Gabriel Pec, who won MLS Newcomer of the Year, the Galaxy reasserted themselves as the class of the league. The Galaxy fought for the top seed in the Western Conference all season, made its way through the Western Conference playoffs to reach the MLS Cup final, then, in front of a raucous crowd at Dignity Health Spots Park, despite playing without its top playmaker, Riqui Puig, who had suffered an ACL tear in the Western Conference final, still managed to cap off a season of redemption in grand style, as they held off a tough New York Red Bulls squad to win the 2024 MLS Cup with the 2-1 decision.

“This is kind of the stamp that we’re back,” Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney said. “I think this year, this team has proven from the quality of soccer and the quality of players, style of play, all those things that this
group has shown – it’s shown that the quality is there and the quality is back.”

The 2024 title is the Galaxy’s sixth in franchise history and as aforementioned, the first since 2014, when Robbie Keane’s strike in the second half of stoppage time lifted the Galaxy past the New England Revolution. Midfielder Gaston Brugman, who started in Puig’s spot in the midfield and provided the assist on the game’s opening goal, was name the match’s Most Valuable Player.

“I was excited to play for everything that we have done,” Brugman said. “In regard to the assist, I dreamt of it yesterday and I dreamt of something that I could give to the team and then I was able to do it.”

The Red Bulls caught a bad break during warmups, as defender Andres Reyes came up ill and was scratched from the lineup at the last minute. The Galaxy then got going in the ninth minute. Edwin Cerillo received a ball from Gaston Brugman broke forward, then sent a ball forward, Paintsil timed his run perfectly to get behind the Red Bulls defense and into the penalty area and one-timed a right-footed shot that deflected off Coronel and trickled into the back net to get the majority of the sellout crowd at Dignity Health Sports Park going and most important of all, stake the Galaxy to the early lead.

It only took the Galaxy five minutes to double its lead. Marky Delgado played a ball from the halfway line to Joveljic, who then dribbled all the way inside the penalty area, took a left-footed shot that Coronel let go thinking it was going to go wide right, but it snuck it at the far post, and just like that, the Galaxy were up 2-0. The Galaxy had a chance to virtually end the match early, as they had a free kick on the left side of the penalty area, Brugman sent the sent piece into the penalty area, the ball deflected off a Red Bulls player, then deflected off the crossbar before going out of bounds.

“We weren’t as aggressive as we should be and maybe not that clever with the ball the first 15 minutes to just come into the game and feel the game a little bit,” Red Bulls midfielder Emil Forsberg said.

The Red Bulls however refused to be run over, and got back in the game in the 28th minute. Emil Forsberg sent a corner kick into the penalty area, the ball took several deflections, but stayed inside the box, and Sean Nealis cashed in for the Red Bulls, firing the right-footed shot past keeper John McCarthy at the back post to pull a goal back for New York.

Both teams went back and forth on chances in the second half. The Galaxy had a golden chance to restore the two-point lead in the 65th minute, as Miki Yamane came in on the overlapping run, touched a ball into the penalty area, and aimed for the near post, but his shot ricocheted of said near post. The framework was the Galaxy’s best friend in the 72nd minute, as after defending a Galaxy chance, the Red Bulls broke out on the counter, Forsberg sprung Lewis Morgan down the right side, Morgan played a ball to Elias Manoel inside the penalty area, Manoel held the ball, then passed to Forsberg, who took the right-footed shot for the near post, but it deflected off and out of bounds.

The atmosphere was amazing here in the stadium in this final,” Red Bulls head coach Sandro Schwarz said. “What I have seen, what I can say, is always the same, that I love these guys and how the reaction was.”

Both teams kept the pressure on in the match’s waning moments. Pec had a great chance to put the Galaxy back up by two goals in the 74th minute, as Brugman played Gabriel Pec into the penalty area, Pec slotted a ball past Coronel, but the shot just missed the far post. New York’s last chance to force extra time came in the 93rd minute, as Lewis Morgan sent a ball into the penalty area, Forsberg jumped for the ball, but it was too high, Manoel tried to get to the ball, but Galaxy defender John Nelson marked Manoel well enough to prevent him from getting to the ball, the ball stayed inside the penalty area, Cory Burke took a shot, but it was blocked and the Galaxy eventually cleared the ball out of the box.