LA Galaxy tie 2-2 with NYCFC to break preseason losing streak

The LA Galaxy fight back to tie their second-to-last game in Coachella Valley

The LA Galaxy earned a 2-2 draw against NYCFC on Wednesday afternoon in their second-to-last preseason match. The Galaxy is still yet to get a victory but ended a three-game losing streak in the preseason.

Defensive mistakes and poor build-out play is what got NYCFC on the scoreboard twice in the first half. With the Galaxy starting most of their backup players, it wasn’t a shock to see them lack in quality.

The second half saw more of the regular starters return to the pitch including Gaston Brugman and Dejan Joveljic - both have missed games due to injury (This is Brugman’s first game back since tearing his meniscus in July). Riqui Puig didn’t play but according to the match broadcast, he will play in LA’s final preseason games this weekend.

Miguel Berry and Harbor Miller scored to tie the game for LA in the second half. Johnathan Perez made a great run against the backline and scored but the goal was called offsides and wiped away.

A small striker awakening

The LA Galaxy finally got some progress out of the number nine position on Wednesday afternoon. Berry scored his second goal of the preseason and Dejan Joveljic got good minutes of game action in the second half.

Aaron Bibout got the start and didn’t do much. He had a good chance in the first half but failed to get the shot on frame. Aside from being a target for long balls, Bibout didn’t have any impact in his playing time.

Berry’s goal was very scrappy but you need to see those striker instincts in the box. He was at the right place at the right time and put away the chance after Daniel Aguirre couldn’t get a strike-off.

Although it was a small sample size, I thought Dejan Joveljic had a decent performance in his first game back. He made some good runs against the backline and looked comfortable with his holdup play. It’s so important he gets a good amount of minutes in the next match to build up his fitness and match sharpness. We’re finally seeing some progress at the striker position this preseason. It’s not much but better than nothing.

McCarthy impresses

After coming into the game in the second half, goalkeeper John McCarthy made some good saves to grow his stock in LA’s goalkeeping battle.

The current goalkeeping competition doesn’t have a clear-cut starter but McCarthy has had fewer mistakes this preseason than the rest of the other ‘keepers. He’s made more impressive saves and that’s good when there is a microscope on each goalkeeper’s playing time.

Jonathan Bond started the game and was unfortunate with the defensive mistakes that happened. Poor communication in clearing the ball out led to a 1v1 situation that should’ve never happened and then LA gave the ball away in the build which led to a good chance that was put past Bond.

While I don’t think Bond was terrible in this game, it’s hard to ignore McCarthy’s good moments. It’ll be interesting to see who plays in LA’s final preseason game and if it’ll give us a hint of who will start on Feb. 25.

Midfield is slowly coming together

The return of Brugman is monumental for the LA Galaxy. He’s a key part of the team’s spine and brings much-needed stability to the squad. Brugman entered the match in the second half and played in a different position than we’re used to.

With Edwin Cerrillo playing as the defensive midfielder (where Brugman has played since joining the Galaxy), it pushed Brugman to be a box-to-box midfielder higher up the pitch.

Brugman’s playstyle has more attacking tendencies and since LA is playing with inverted fullbacks, he can push forward and play closer to the forwards than the backline. There were multiple moments in this preseason match where he made darting forward runs and played underneath Joveljic often.

The midfield in general looked much cleaner and had more control as the starter began to trickle into the game. Vanney has always emphasized control of the middle of the pitch as key to his team getting positive results.

With Riqui Puig coming back next game, we should see LA’s midfield take another leap in their play. The Galaxy could finally see Puig and Brugman play together for the first in over six months. The momentum is slowly building in favor of the SoCal team.