LA Galaxy's Road Trip Ends in Defeat to Columbus and a Season-Defining Injury
LA losses 2-1 to the Crew and gets a major injury update on Joao Klauss
The LA Galaxy’s road trip ended with a 2-1 loss to the Columbus Crew on Wednesday night and a blow that could reshape the rest of their season.
Head Coach Greg Vanney confirmed postgame that Joao Klauss will undergo surgery to repair ligaments in his foot and won’t return until after the World Cup break. Losing the Brazilian striker removes LA’s most reliable offensive weapon this season at the worst possible time, with the Galaxy winless in four of their last five and desperately needing points at home this weekend against RSL.
After a two-hour weather delay, goals from Daniel Gazdag and Diego Rossi put Columbus in control of the match. Gabriel Pec scored his first MLS goal of the season in the 86th minute to cut the deficit but it wasn’t enough. LA’s fourth loss of the season leaves them behind the rest of the top of the West.
Columbus dictated the terms from the opening whistle. LA struggled to build any rhythm in possession as the Crew’s press suffocated the Galaxy’s midfield, winning the ball back quickly and preventing any sustained buildup through the lines.
Vanney acknowledged his side couldn’t match the intensity required. “They were moving faster around the field than we were. They were moving in numbers, staying connected, closing things up,” he said.
The Galaxy’s response was too passive throughout. Rather than anticipating the press and moving the ball at pace, LA looked reactive and hesitant, which has been a recurring theme in their road performances this season.
“There’s times when we’re walking and we need to be jogging, times when we’re jogging and we need to be sprinting,” said Vanney. “We need to increase our intensity level and speed, especially in a game when a team is aggressively pressing like that.”
It wasn’t until Pec’s late goal that the match began to shift in LA’s favor but it was too little, too late.
The Klauss news casts a long shadow over the coming weeks. The striker’s combination of physicality and technical quality gives Vanney a profile he simply can’t replace like-for-like in the current squad.
“You lose that nine up there who gives you a couple things, both with the ball and without the ball, and we just have to adapt and deal with it,” said Vanney.
Against Columbus, LA used Marco Reus as a false nine in an attempt to play through the press. Julian Aude also left the match early with an injury, adding to an already stretched roster that is missing Erik Thommy and Matheus Nascimento.
With the frontline depleted, 19-year-old Ruben Ramos Jr. made his second career start for the Galaxy. The La Puente native is one of the most promising products of LA’s academy in recent years, as the striker who led the club’s youth teams to success in the MLS Next Cup and is now being asked to start contributing at the senior level.
He played 62 minutes as a left-sided attacker and was honest in his postgame assessment about his performance.
“I didn’t have a great game today, but I’ll put that responsibility on me. I just want to improve. I’m a young guy, so I just want to improve, learn and just get out there and do my best,” said Ramos.
With Klauss sidelined for an extended stretch, Ramos is likely to become a familiar face in the coming weeks. That is both a challenge and an opportunity for a player with plenty to prove.
The road trip is over. Now comes defending your home turf.
With just one point from a possible six on this trip, Vanney made clear that the Galaxy must turn Dignity Health Sports Park into a fortress if they want to stay relevant in the Western Conference race.
“We’ve got to take points at home and then the road points that we take can be somewhat bonus, but we’ve got to make home a place that we’re taking points on a consistent basis,” he said.
RSL comes to town on Sunday night. It’s a moment to prove that DHSP can still be a fortress for the G’s.