Following their 1-0 victory of the Seattle Sounders in the Western Conference Final, the LA Galaxy locker room was stuffed with tears and silence. What was presupposed to be a celebration as a substitute turned somber after the news that star player Riqui Puig had suffered a torn ACL in his left knee and would not be able to play in the final.
Saturday evening, they honored their teammate by etching one other chapter into the historical past books, defeating the New York Red Bulls 2-1 within the 2024 MLS Cup Final at Dignity Health Sports Park in Southern California.
Los Angeles, begin the occasion once more — there will probably be one other parade for the City of Champions. For a record-setting sixth time of their 29-year historical past, the LA Galaxy are champions of Major League Soccer.
Playing of their tenth closing, in entrance of 26,812 chanting, singing, drumming and cheering followers, the high-voltage environment electrified the Galaxy within the early minutes.
Most needed to know the way the Galaxy’s high-octane, possession-minded assault would look with out the maestro within the center in Puig.
It didn’t take lengthy to seek out out.
Gaston Brugman, starting in place of Puig, did his finest impression of the MLS Starting XI midfielder when he despatched a via ball into the field within the ninth minute that discovered the foot of ahead Joseph Paintsil. The Ghanaian was in a position to put simply sufficient energy on it to get previous Red Bulls keeper Carlos Coronel, who received an arm on the ball however was unable to make the save, giving the Galaxy the sport’s first aim.
Dejan Jovelic doubled the lead a couple of minutes later when he froze Coronel with a pretend to his left, baiting the Red Bulls goalkeeper earlier than slotting a shot to the far-right submit that gave the Galaxy a 2-0 lead in lower than quarter-hour.
It didn’t take lengthy for New York to chop into the Galaxy’s lead.
Red Bulls defender Sean Nealis minimize the deficit in half with a wonderful volley contained in the field within the twenty eighth minute. Emil Forsberg despatched a nook kick into the field, and the ball pin-balled off a number of gamers earlier than touchdown on the chest of Nealis, who volleyed it into the web.
For the third consecutive yr, the MLS Cup Final featured a Los Angeles-based staff. After LAFC lifted the trophy in 2022, they lost the final to the Columbus Crew in 2023.
Saturday’s closing was the primary look for the Galaxy since they defeated the New England Revolution 2-1 in extra time in 2014.
Many puzzled if LA Galaxy supervisor Greg Vanney would ditch his aggressive offensive model of play that places great strain on the opposing staff’s protection with out Puig on the pitch. But he didn’t compromise his 4-3-3 attacking formation that received the Galaxy to the sport’s greatest stage.
All season lengthy, the Galaxy dominated possession, drew opposing defenders to dribblers and handed the ball with ease as they attacked the web in an offensive onslaught that noticed them rating a conference-high 69 targets this yr.
Against the staff that had gained three consecutive video games on the street in the course of the 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs, all of which have been clear sheets, the Galaxy tallied two extra targets, extending their report for a playoff run with 18 complete.
They out-shot the Red Bulls 13-11 and had extra pictures on aim, 7-to-5.
At halftime, the gamers contained in the Galaxy locker room stayed largely quiet. Unlike final week, after they entered the break of the Western Conference Final deadlocked in a scoreless draw with the Seattle Sounders, they remained assured that if they only stayed the course for an additional 45 minutes, they’d be topped champions.
They made no substitutions at halftime.
Trailing by a aim, New York was way more aggressive within the second half. The Red Bulls had rallied from a one-goal deficit within the playoffs earlier than. They trailed the Columbus Crew 1-0 within the second half of their second recreation of the best-of-three first-round collection. They scored two targets in a span of 16 minutes in that recreation to take the lead.
However, in all their different MLS Cup Playoff matches, the Red Bulls scored first and relied on their sturdy protection to carry regular. This time it was the Galaxy’s skilled and veteran-laden protection that held on to the lead.
Borussia Dortmund legend Marco Reus entered the match within the seventy fifth minutes, and in contrast to his loss within the Champions League Final earlier this yr, helped the LA Galaxy elevate one other trophy.
There have been a number of nail-biting moments, in addition to missed alternatives on offense, however when the ultimate whistle blew, the stadium erupted like an explosion ripping via the eardrums.
The victory was the second championship for town of Los Angeles over town of New York in simply over a month’s span out of the 5 main males’s skilled sports activities leagues. The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the New York Yankees in 5 video games on October thirtieth.
It additionally marks the sixth championship for Los Angeles since 2020 total.
As the champagne popped and was sprayed everywhere in the Galaxy gamers, this time they celebrated within the postgame locker room. As the music blared, there was laughter, screams of exultation and as soon as once more tears.
This time, nevertheless, they have been tears of pleasure.
