LA Galaxy loses 4-2 to Portland Timbers in midweek showdown
The LA Galaxy's finishing and build-up play struggled against the Timbers
The LA Galaxy had an off night in the Pacific Northwest as the club recorded a 4-2 loss to the Portland Timbers.
Days after an emotional comeback victory over LAFC, the G’s momentum was halted in Portland. LA again found itself in a two-goal deficit but could not climb out of this one.
Evander picked out Jonathan Rodriguez with a sensational cross in the 18th minute to put the Timbers ahead. There was little pressure on the Brazilian, and he fit the ball in between defenders Jalen Neal and Maya Yoshida.
In the 39th minute, Evander played the role of finisher with an excellent strike to the lower right corner of the net. The LA Galaxy’s coverage went soft, and he got the strike off with lots of space around him.
The Galaxy got one back through Gabriel Pec, his 12th goal of the season, late in first-half stoppage time.
Despite still being in the game, the Timbers found ways to extend its lead and get in transition to exploit the Galaxy. Evander scored his second goal of the night in the 51st minute, getting on the end of a loose box in the box.
Joseph Paintsil brought the LA Galaxy back to a one-goal deficit with his goal in the 58th minute, but it was the last time the Galaxy was clinical that night.
The Galaxy chased an equalizing goal for the last 30 minutes of the match, but the Timbers put the game to bed with a goal in the 80th minute from Felpie Mora.
This match was open and played with a good pace for most of the match. The Timbers found ways to take advantage of the LA Galaxy’s loss of possession and hit them on the counter-attack multiple times on the night.
“We create our problems with how we lose the ball, in rushing and forcing attacks and things that need to be allowed. We need to allow ourselves to develop,” said Head Coach Greg Vanney following the loss.
“The impatience is really sometimes our biggest enemy. That's ourselves undoing ourselves. And then sometimes we look back and we wonder where the guys are and why they're not closer and more aggressive,” he told reporters.
Goalkeeper John McCarthy also chimed in, saying, “I think it did turn into maybe rushing going forward and turned into back and forth a little bit, and as a group, we knew that. It's one of those things where everyone from myself, including to the forwards up front, there are moments we have to pick and chose. That comes down to a collective unit, picking and choosing moments to go forward.”
“[Portland is] a very, very good team on the counterattack and they were able to catch us a few times get behind us. That's something we tried to prevent but Portland got the best of us tonight,” added McCarthy.
Aside from their build-up issues, the Galaxy was wasteful in front of goal. There were multiple opportunities to test goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau. Miguel Berry had a good opportunity to open the scoring in the first half, Paintsil had a good opportunity in the box early in the second half and substitutes Dejan Joveljic and Marco Reus couldn’t bury the chances they had.
The xG stats in the second half confirmed the LA Galaxy should’ve had more than one goal. The G’s clearly won the xG battle but the lack of clinical finishing held the team from possibly leaving Providence Park with a point
"I think it's just a one-time thing that has just happened,” said Paintsil when I asked him if he felt the lack of finishing on the night felt like an outlier game.
“We still have the hope, the feeling, the ability to be really dangerous in the front line with Riqui (Puig), Marco (Reus), Pec and Berry,” added Paintsil.
McCarthy was key to keeping LA in the game despite allowing four goals. The 32-year-old goalkeeper made a season-high eight saves in the match against Portland.
“Mistakes are going to get made. That's life. It's a game of trying to limit your mistakes and as get as many opportunities as possible,” said McCarthy to the media postgame.
“It can get frustrating, but it's just part of the game. We try to eliminate them as much as possible. We'll learn from it and move on together. That's the most important thing,” he added.
The LA Galaxy still remains top of the Western Conference despite the loss. The club will look to rebound on Saturday night as it hosts the Vancouver Whitecaps.
“We haven't lost a home game. It's going to be a hell of a different kind of game, football against Vancouver on Saturday,” said Paintsil.
“I think we going to win and just go up again with another three points."