There were tears and silence in the LA Galaxy locker room after they defeated the Seattle Sounders 1-0 in the Western Conference Final. Following the announcement that star player Riqui Puig will not be able to participate in the final due to a torn ACL in his left knee, what was meant to be a celebration instead took a tragic turn.
By defeating the New York Red Bulls 2-1 in the 2024 MLS Cup Final at Dignity Health Sports Park in Southern California on Saturday night, they paid tribute to their teammate and wrote another chapter in history.
There will be another parade for the City of Champions, so get the celebration going, Los Angeles. The LA Galaxy have won Major League Soccer for a record-breaking sixth time in their 29-year history.
In front of 26,812 yelling, singing, drumming, and cheering supporters, the Galaxy was energized in the early minutes of their 10th final performance.
Most were curious about what the Galaxy’s fast-paced, possession-focused assault would look like without Puig’s maestro in the middle.
Finding out didn’t take long.
In the ninth minute, Gaston Brugman, who started in place of Puig, gave the MLS Starting XI midfielder his best impression by sending a through ball into the box, where it reached the foot of striker Joseph Paintsil. The Galaxy scored the first goal of the match when the Ghanaian applied just enough force to get past Red Bulls keeper Carlos Coronel, who had an arm on the ball but was unable to make the save.
The Galaxy took a 2-0 lead in less than fifteen minutes when Dejan Jovelic froze Coronel with a fake to his left, taunting the Red Bulls goalkeeper before putting a shot inside the far-right post to increase the advantage a few minutes later.
New York quickly began to reduce the Galaxy’s lead.
In the 28th minute, Red Bulls defender Sean Nealis made a stunning volley inside the box to cut the score in half. Nealis volleyed the ball into the net after Emil Forsberg’s corner kick into the box pinballed off multiple players and landed on his chest.
The Los Angeles-based team made it to the MLS Cup Final for the third year in a row.In 2023, LAFC lost to the Columbus Crew in the championship game after winning the title in 2022.
The Galaxy made their first appearance since defeating the New England Revolution 2-1 in extra time in 2014 on Saturday.
Without Puig on the field, many questioned whether LA Galaxy manager Greg Vanney would abandon his aggressive offensive style of play that puts a great deal of pressure on the defense of the opposing club. He did not, however, alter his 4-3-3 offensive scheme, which helped the Galaxy advance to the largest stage of the game.
The Galaxy scored a conference-high 69 goals this season because to their offensive assault, which saw them dominate possession, draw opposition defenders to dribblers, and distribute the ball with ease.
The Galaxy scored two additional goals against the side that had won three straight away games during the 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs, all of which were clean sheets, increasing their record for a playoff run to 18 goals overall.
They had more shots on goal (7-to-5) and outshot the Red Bulls 13-11.
The guys in the Galaxy locker room were mostly silent at halftime. In contrast to last week, when they were tied in a scoreless draw with the Seattle Sounders going into the half, they were still certain that they would win the Western Conference Final if they only played another forty-five minutes.
At halftime, they did not make any changes.
New York was far more aggressive in the second half, down by a goal. In the playoffs, the Red Bulls had already recovered from a one-goal deficit. In their second game in the best-of-three first-round series, they fell behind the Columbus Crew 1-0 in the second half. They took the lead in that game with two goals in 16 minutes.
But in every other MLS Cup Playoff game, the Red Bulls took the lead and held fast because to their strong defense. This time, the lead was maintained by the Galaxy’s seasoned and veteran-heavy defense.
In contrast to his defeat in the Champions League Final earlier this year, Borussia Dortmund legend Marco Reus helped the LA Galaxy win another trophy after entering the game in the 75th minute.
The crowd erupted like an explosion tearing through the eardrums when the final whistle blew, despite a number of suspenseful moments and lost offensive possibilities.
Out of the five main men’s professional sports leagues, the Los Angeles triumph was the city’s second over the New York one in less than a month. On October 30, the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the New York Yankees in five games.
Additionally, it is Los Angeles’ sixth overall championship since 2020.
This time, the Galaxy players rejoiced in the postgame locker room as the champagne burst and splashed everywhere. There were cries of joy, laughing, and tears once more as the music played.
But these were tears of happiness this time.
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