Primetime Disaster: LA Galaxy hits historic low in 1-0 loss to SKC
Will the LA Galaxy ever win a game this season? Reaction from Greg Vanney and Maya Yoshida following the 1-0 loss in Kansas
The LA Galaxy’s 1-0 loss to Sporting Kansas City extended its winless streak to 11 matches and revealed yet another way for the reigning MLS Cup champions to stumble.
In a historic statistical anomaly, Sporting KC became the first team in MLS history to win a match without registering a single shot. The Galaxy dominated with 72% possession, 11 attempts and an xG tally of 1.25 — but still failed to score.
The homeside got the lone goal of the game through a Maya Yoshida own goal. A low cross inside the box deflected off the inside of his leg and got past John McCarthy.
“The cross was very quick, and the ball -- I think ball came between the legs and the ball and deflected in, unfortunately. Again it shouldn't happen in this moment because we are struggling in the league,” said Yoshida to reporters postgame.
The Galaxy have accumulated three out of a possible 33 points to start the 2025 season. As the standalone game under the Sunday Night Soccer lights, the match gave a national audience a glimpse of the struggles reigning MLS Cup champions are going through.
“Every year is different. It presents new challenges every single year. This year has provided plenty of them from the start of after winning the championship and having to clear out some guys to injuries to performance stuff. There's been plenty of things,” said Head Coach Greg Vanney postgame.
“Our job here as a collective group as a team, [for] everybody, is to find the solutions; even when challenges present themselves. So far, yeah, we haven't found those solutions.”
Yoshida echoed that sentiment and offered insight into the locker room atmosphere postgame.
“Some players spoke, and I personally spoke with Coach and the general manager to keep our atmosphere better,” said Yoshida.
“There's nothing wrong in the dressing room, especially this season, we have Marco, me, also Zanka, some experienced players surrounding me. So for me, it's much easier to organize.”
The Galaxy began the second half with a significant tweak to effect how the club’s most dangerous players would attack. Wingers Joseph Paintsil and Gabriel Pec usually play as inverted wingers - meaning they have the ability to cut inside on their stronger foot to pass or shoot with an angle towards goal - but Vanney made them play traditional wingers to inject more pace and verticality.
It was one significant tweak that helped use the full width of the field and create more pressure on the KC backline. But it ultimately didn’t achieve the goal of getting a point from the match.
In his postgame press conference, Vanney reiterated that he was satisfied with the team’s ability to create chances but disappointed in the inability to finish the final action.
When asked if he would consider major tactical changes, he pushed back on the notion and explained that this squad is already very tactically versatile.
“Creating a game model is about putting players into final actions where they can try to be successful and connect with each other and finish. We need to be sharper as a group, and we're going to keep working on the training field about doing that,” he said
“But we dominated this game in every single way, and we didn't execute, and we gave up an own goal. To me, today, it wasn't about any of those things. We did different variations and movements inside of the game to try to unlock.” Vanney
The night went from bad to worse as Paintsil and Pec exited the match early due to injury. The Galaxy had to play the last 11 minutes of regulation time without a Designated Player on the pitch. Both players had created moments of danger through their athletic abilities and individual skill. During the press conference, Vanney said he had no intel on the significance of the injuries.
“We got two injuries, and Joseph [Paintsil], and [Gabriel] Pec is out. The DP is huge in MLS and now we don't have a DP,” said Yoshida about the situation.
“Somehow the things going to the difficult side, unfortunately. But can't change many things in one week”.
With stars sidelined and solutions elusive, time is running out for the Galaxy to salvage its season. If change doesn’t come soon, 2025 will go down as one of the worst MLS seasons of all time.