The Los Angeles Galaxy is one step closer to clinching the top spot in the Western Conference after an impressive 4-2 home win over the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday]. Gabriel Pec continued to make his case for MLS Newcomer of the Year with a goal and two assists, treating the sellout crowd something to remember in the second-to-last home game for the Galaxy.
On a night when the Galactic attack made history, LA took advantage of their rivals’ dropping points to open up a seven-point lead atop the table. With three games left in their campaign, they are in control of their own destiny. Win out, and they will win the West for the first time since 2011, the last time they also won the Supporters Shield.
LA Galaxy Post Match
The Defence Plays With Pride
The Galaxy’s set-piece and transition defence have threatened to derail their goal of a sixth MLS Cup all season. While LA has improved upon last season’s 67 goals conceded, there are still obvious areas of improvement to address.
Other teams have called it the team’s Achilles heel, with Seattle’s Albert Rusnak stating simply, “they don’t like to defend.”
Before the start of this week, in which the Galaxy played three times and conceded eight goals, USMNT legend and current MLS and Apple TV Analyst Marcelo Balboa analyzed the Galaxy’s set-piece defending on La Cuna Galaxiana Podcast.
“When you man-to-man mark, it’s your guy, it’s about pride. You’re taking that ownership,” Balboa urged. The former defender isn’t convinced the defence has a problem, however.
“Is there a fix for the defense? You’re in first place.”
On Saturday, the defence lived up to the team’s position in the table. It held the Whitecaps to just two shots on goal, as the Galaxy broke their two-game streak of conceding two goals in the first half. More importantly, Emiro Garcés played a strong first 90 minutes, giving LA another option in defence.
“You saw when we’ve been talking about with him,” LA Galaxy Head Coach Greg Vanney said of Garcés’ performance post-match. “His physical quality is just so good. His quickness, speed, his strength in the duel but also how quickly he can recover to things.”
Garcés’ development is good news for a Galaxy team still trying to be as good defensively as it is on offence. His performance, and that of the entire backline that featured against Vancouver, is something to be proud of. It’s also one they can build off of.
A Night for the History Books
The Galaxy saw very little space for their potent offence to operate in the opening 30 minutes. Eventually, the pressure proved too much for Vancouver’s defence, who had posted four shutouts in their last five matches. Pec would open the scoring off a fortuitous rebound for the home team. That opened the floodgates for LA’s attack, and all three DP’s scored on a historic night for the Galaxy.
The LA Galaxy is now the first team in MLS history with four players to have scored 10 or more goals in the same season. All three Galaxy DPs, plus Dejan Joveljić, have hit double figures. This gives the team more than one player that can win a match or influence a game. And that’s without even mentioning recent Champions League finalist Marco Reus.
Additionally, the 2024 Galaxy are just the second team in MLS history to have three players record more than 10 goals and more than 10 assists in the same season (Joseph Paintsil: 10 goals, 10 assists; Gabriel Pec: 13 goals, 12 assists; Riqui Puig: 11 goals, 14 assists), joining the 1998 Los Angeles Galaxy, who had Mauricio Cienfuegos, Cobi Jones, and Welton accomplish the same feat.
The Galaxy’s newest DP signings, Pec and Joseph Painstil, have certainly delivered upon their price tags of approximately $20 million combined. They are the first pair of teammates to record more than 10 goals and more than 10 assists in their inaugural season in the league.
The DPs they replaced, Douglas Costa and Javier “Chicharito” Hernández, contributed only 12 goals between them last year, or Pec’s current assist total.
If the Galaxy’s attack can continue to perform at this rate, LA might just be writing a new chapter in the history books. The story of their sixth MLS Cup.
Galaxy On the Cusp of Greatness
The Galaxy is widely recognized as having among the richest legacies and histories in MLS. Despite this, the last 10 years have been rough for Galaxy fans. Just last year, the team was devastated by a fan boycott that was ultimately the catalyst for then-President Chris Klien’s dismissal. The season ended with a 13th-place finish and the Galaxy, having one of the biggest payrolls in the league, missing the playoffs for the fourth year out of the last five.
What a difference a year makes.
The Galaxy has 58 points, representing Vanney’s best point total as Galaxy head coach since he arrived four seasons ago. It’s also the Galaxy’s best finish since 2014 when they finished with 61 points.
If LA wins its remaining three matches, not only would they win the Western Conference and lock up home-field advantage through the playoffs, but they would be in rarified company. They would write more history for matching their historical best finish of 67 points set in 2011.
Of course, none of this matters if the Galaxy fails to win a sixth MLS Cup.
Vanney himself is pleased the Galaxy has shown the consistency to be in this position, but claims that team point totals aren’t how this team will measure itself.
“Some of those teams (2011, 2014 Galaxy) won championships,” Vanney stated. “So that’s the next step for us, is graduating from being a good in-season team to now being that step to being a championship type of team, and that’s what we are wishing for here as we get down the stretch.”
Vanney will find no arguments from Galaxy fans on this one.