Defending champion Galaxy lose to San Diego in | College News

It was simply 11 weeks in the past that the Galaxy raised the MLS Cup for a document sixth time, an event the staff celebrated Sunday with a relay of supporters and first responders carrying the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy back to midfield at Dignity Health Sports Park.

A triumphant video performed on the stadium’s big video screens, fireworks crammed the air and a darkish blue championship banner was unfurled above the southwest grandstands of the newly refurbished stadium.

Then the new season kicked off and all of that all of a sudden appeared like a distant reminiscence with San Diego FC, an enlargement staff taking part in its first MLS recreation, crashing the Galaxy’s occasion by using two second-half targets from Anders Dreyer and a clean sheet from goalkeeper CJ dos Santos to a beautiful 2-0 upset earlier than a sellout crowd of 25,244.

The loss was the Galaxy’s first in 22 video games at home, relationship to the ultimate recreation of 2023.

“This can’t happen,” coach Greg Vanney mentioned. “This is where we get points, this is where we win. We established that as something that was very important to us, and something we did last year. We don’t lose at home.

“So is it a rallying cry? It’s a wake-up call, I guess. We’ve got to be more prepared and we’ve got to be better, especially at home.”

The Galaxy had been lacking 4 of the gamers who led them to the title final yr, together with MLS Cup MVP Gastón Brugman and Dejan Joveljic, who scored the successful aim in the ultimate. Both had been traded, sacrificed to the league’s wage cap.

“There’s no excuse,” captain Maya Yoshida mentioned. “We missed a couple of important players, experienced players, who can change the game. We have the base of the team since last season.

“We should have done better.”

But if that wasn’t an excuse for Sunday’s loss, it was at the least half of the reason. Joveljic was one of 4 Galaxy gamers to attain double digits in targets and assists final season; no MLS staff had performed that earlier than. Yet, only one of the 4, winger Gabriel Pec, was in uniform since Joveljic was traded final month, and Joseph Paintsil and Riqui Puig are out with accidents.

The items Vanney used to puzzle collectively a lineup in these absences didn’t match. Christian Ramírez, the alternative for Joveljic up entrance, was ineffective in his 63 minutes whereas German veteran Marco Reus was unable to present both the tempo or the passing of Puig in the midfield. That left Pec remoted — and pissed off — for many of the afternoon.

“We weren’t very dynamic in the front half of the field,” Vanney mentioned. “When we were getting forward and getting into forward positions, we weren’t really turning possessions into attacks.

“We just looked a little disjointed. Maybe we weren’t prepared for where we needed to be with the new additions. We didn’t look like a team that just won the championship.”

Dreyer, a Danish worldwide who final month was taking part in in Belgium with Anderlecht, scored the primary aim in franchise historical past seven minutes into the second half. It was set up by a huge Galaxy error with keeper Novak Micovic, making simply his fifth MLS begin, taking a backpass from Miki Yamane in entrance of his aim and flipping a poor waist-high outlet ball to heart back Emiro Garcés deep in the Galaxy penalty space.

Garcés lifted a boot however was unable to control the go, which bounced to San Diego’s Chucky Lozano. He then despatched it into the middle of the box for Dreyer, whose left-footed shot beat Micovic cleanly.

“Ultimately, the game turns on a mistake,” Vanney mentioned.

“It was almost more self-defense than it was trying to actually do something with it. He was just trying to bring it down,” he mentioned of Garcés’ mishandling of the Micovic go. “The whole thing just felt a little bit rushed, and it didn’t really need to be.”

The rating opened the sport up because the Galaxy pushed for the equalizer, practically getting it in the 79th minute when a Yamane cross discovered a sliding Miguel Berry on the edge of the six-yard. But Berry’s left-footed deflection was smothered by Dos Santos. A minute later Dos Santos made one other save, one of three on the day, on a strive from the middle of the box by Ruben Ramos Jr.

Dreyer then made all that moot along with his second aim three minutes into stoppage time, with former LAFC ahead Tomás Ángel received the help on the play.

For the Galaxy, it was a bitter finish to a day that started with a joyous celebration.

“This is very obvious,” Yoshida repeated. “We have to be better.”