LA Galaxy advance in Concacaf Champions Cup, performance leave much more to be desired
The LA Galaxy's scoreless draw with Sporting San Miguelito was enough to advance to the next round of the Concacaf Champions Cup. However the performance on the pitch left much more to be desired.
The LA Galaxy advance to the next round of the Concacaf Champions Cup on the away goals rule following a scoreless draw with Sporting San Miguelito. The SoCal side will face Mount Pleasant FA at home on March 11.
The return leg lacked speed and dynamism at the start of the first half. Aside from a Joseph Paintsil goal that was reversed following a VAR review, the Galaxy didn’t have many quality looks at goal.
The buildup was off tempo and LA’s speed in possession was lackluster. Playing against a low block for a majority of the match is going to make the game more difficult, but the Galaxy’s inability to move up a gear was on full display. With San Miguelito unable to create chances themselves, the Galaxy was content to force them to bunker down.
The second half was the same story, not much to really build on and LA was unable to truly threaten San Miguelito consistently. The lone moment of adrenaline was a scrap between both teams in the final minutes of the game. Matheus Nascimento, who was an unused sub, received a red card to end the match.
LA finished the match with 73% possession, 13 shots (three on target) and 11 corner kicks. Compare that to San Miguelito, who recorded 27% possession, seven shots (none on target) and three corner kicks.
“Individually (San Miguelito) are very good defenders. Even in combinations, I thought their guys stayed close together for the most part. They were really committed to the defending aspect of it. If we were truly tied and needed to win the game, I would have done things differently,” said Head Coach Greg Vanney postgame.
“You don’t need to expose yourself to go try to score goals, especially as the game progressed. When you’re ahead and not giving up really much on the defensive side, I chose to keep it a little more stable and a little less exposed. Could we have maybe created a few more chances? Maybe, but it’s a knockout situation and you have the advantage.”
The low block the visitors played made it hard to break down, and it required the LA Galaxy to take more risks despite having the advantage. Not being able to score and get the home crowd going is something Vanney mentioned postgame.
“We need a little humility early in the season that we have some things that we need to continue to improve upon…. guys are frustrated because they wanted to score goals and they wanted to create,” said Vanney.
LA will move on quickly as it prepares to face Charlotte FC on Saturday night. The Eastern Conference side tied 1-1 with St. Louis City SC in its first match of the MLS season.