The title champion of the MLS Los Angeles Galaxy finally has a victory after having established a questionable record of 16 consecutive victory games to start a season.
Now they will seek to take the momentum towards a second consecutive triumph when they visit the city of St. Louis on Saturday.
Los Angeles (1-12-4, 7 points) finished the 12 losses and four draws to open the season with a solid 2-0 victory on the visit of Real Salt Lake on May 31.
The performance provided a little light for half a season full of frustration for the Galaxy, which did not give up doing a race in the playoffs despite the last place of the West Conference at 15 teams.
“I don’t see why we can’t get started,” said Los Angeles coach Greg Vanney. “For us, as a group, it is a question of learning to win and cross the finish line.”
Lucas Sanabria and Joseph Paintsil scored the goals of the galaxy against Salt Lake. The defensive effort was stellar, especially since the club is tied for the end of the league with 36 authorized goals.
“I think more the pieces are starting to meet,” said Vanney.
Los Angeles hopes that midfielder Marco Reus (thigh) will be back after an absence of a match. Reus is equal with Diego Fagundez with three goals, one behind the team leader Christian Ramirez.
The galaxy seeks to beat the city of St. Louis for the first time. Los Angeles has a 0-2-3 sheet after losing 3-0 against St. Louis’s visit on March 9.
The city of St. Louis (3-9-5, 14 points) also suffers a difficult season and is in 14th place in the West.
But the team posted their life in their first two games under the acting coach David Crichley. St. Louis recorded a home victory 2-1 against the earthquakes of San Jose during the start of Critichley before falling 2-1 Sunday against the host Portland Timbers.
St. Louis took an advance of 1-0 on the goal of Akil Watts in the 50th minute, but he conceded the goal of the allocation five minutes later. The team remained aggressive and the timings capitalized when David Ayala scored the winner in the second minute of the second half.
Critichley said he didn’t want to be satisfied with equality.
“I told them that the performance was great, but we have to improve,” said Critichley. “… we play to win every time we get on the field.”
Cedric Teuchet, Marcel Hartel and Simon Becher scored goals in March against the Galaxy. Teuchert leads St. Louis with three goals.
– field level media
