{"id":44472,"date":"2022-08-14T18:55:38","date_gmt":"2022-08-14T22:55:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/?p=44472"},"modified":"2022-08-15T20:11:30","modified_gmt":"2022-08-16T00:11:30","slug":"galaxy-mature-in-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/2022\/08\/14\/galaxy-mature-in-win\/","title":{"rendered":"Galaxy &#8220;mature&#8221; in win with a 5-2 score line against Vancouver"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A four-goal first-half <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">fiesta<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> took the Los Angeles Galaxy back above the playoff line as they overwhelmed the Vancouver Whitecaps 5-2 Saturday night at home. The win came as the Galaxy &#8220;mature&#8221; in win against the Whitecaps.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was the first time the Galaxy scored five goals since the Bruce Arena days in 2016, but four different goalscorers bulged the net for LA in the season&#8217;s highest-scoring game. It was also arguably the Galaxy\u2019s most complete performance in a half in a good rebound from <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/2022\/08\/07\/galaxy-lose-4-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">their previous defeat<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Galaxy &#8220;mature&#8221; in win against Vancouver 5-2<\/h2>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Together onward and upwards\u2728\ud83d\ude80 <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/VamosGalaxy?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#VamosGalaxy<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/k5ifDkfQDK\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/k5ifDkfQDK<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Mark Delgado (@MarkyDelgado) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MarkyDelgado\/status\/1558714212334985219?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 14, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Galaxy Head Coach Greg Vanney certainly thought it was up there.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cYeah. Solid. Mature. Controlled. I thought it was good,\u201d the second-year coach said of the opening half.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Javier &#8220;Chicharito&#8221; Hern\u00e1ndez scored a cheeky panenka penalty, V\u00edctor V\u00e1zquez returned to the starting 11 with a long-range goal, and Samuel Grandsir scored a brace punctuated by a gorgeous curling effort to effectively decide the game by the opening 45 minutes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even though Galaxy winger K\u00e9vin Cabral didn&#8217;t get on the scoresheet, he was at the heart of everything good early. His impact was massive in the opening half and deserved more than just one assist. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Time and again, he was able to exploit the space left by Vancouver&#8217;s defense to get in behind the lines with his pace. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vancouver Goalkeeper Cody Cropper did well to claw out a Cabral header in eight minutes, but he could do nothing about the opening goal.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Cabral the catalyst<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cabral would receive a Juli\u00e1n Araujo pass down the right wing after a defensive mistake by Vancouver. Having time and space, he was able to pick out a streaking Grandsir at the back post, and Grandsir would blast his shot into the ceiling of the net for the 1-0 lead on 12 minutes.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">HOW DO YOU SAY ROCKET IN FRENCH, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SamuelGrandsir?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@SAMUELGRANDSIR<\/a> ?! \ud83d\ude80<\/p>\n<p>LA up 1-0 \ud83d\udca5 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/prl5xxjHLw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/prl5xxjHLw<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LAGalaxy\/status\/1558640694494826498?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 14, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cabral was at it again on the second goal.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">His pass to Grandsir was the catalyst for Grandsir to earn the penalty after sending a cross into the box that Vancouver handled. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chicharito would dispatch the penalty in cheeky <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">panenka<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> fashion for the 2-0 lead and his 10th goal of the year within 20 minutes.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"und\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\udea8 CHICHA PANENKA \ud83d\udea8 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/gIyd4yISW5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/gIyd4yISW5<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LAGalaxy\/status\/1558642218423836677?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 14, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ten minutes later, Cabral\u2019s ability to draw his defender out wide, opened space for Chicharito to play a quick one-two pass with V\u00e1zquez. The Spaniard took a touch before curling his right-footed shot into the bottom far corner of the goal for the 3-0 lead.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He spoke about how special it was to score his first goal of the season in front of his son visiting from Barcelona.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cYeah, for me, you know, this is the first time to have my son here. I&#8217;m so proud. Also, [he brought me luck]. The first time he&#8217;s here, I scored my first goal of the season,\u201d V\u00e1zquez confessed.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"es\" dir=\"ltr\">SHEESH \ud83d\ude2e\u200d\ud83d\udca8 <\/p>\n<p>V\u00edctor V\u00e1zquez makes it 3-0 Galaxy \u2728 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/oa0BrXQyEw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/oa0BrXQyEw<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LAGalaxy\/status\/1558645067929161729?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 14, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>Call and response<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A defensive lapse by the Galaxy, on 38 minutes, brought the Whitecaps back into the game.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cropper earned himself a goalkeeper\u2019s assist when he played a long pass over the top of the Galaxy defense to Ryan Gauld. Gauld beat Araujo for pace and struck his shot from just outside the 18-yard-box to make it 3-1.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\udca5 Goalkeeper assist! \ud83d\udca5<\/p>\n<p>Cody Cropper sets up Ryan Gauld to pull one back for <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WhitecapsFC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@WhitecapsFC<\/a>! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/qQKANIpDgW\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/qQKANIpDgW<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Major League Soccer (@MLS) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MLS\/status\/1558647343989174272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 14, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Galaxy responded in perfect fashion, however.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Araujo collected a long pass from Mark Delgado on the right wing. His cross-field pass found Grandsir at the top of the box, where the winger took a touch to collect himself before unleashing a sumptuous curling effort that just kissed the inside of the post for his second goal of the game and to restore the three-goal lead to 4-1 where the half would end.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">HAVE YOURSELF A GAME, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SamuelGrandsir?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@SAMUELGRANDSIR<\/a> \ud83d\udc4f <\/p>\n<p>The Frenchman has a brace in the first half \ud83d\udd25 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/WRpg5uMVRv\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/WRpg5uMVRv<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LAGalaxy\/status\/1558647373911404544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 14, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Sam has been putting in good shifts. And, I think as he continues to mature, and his game is maturing, he\u2019s having less of the emotional breaks and little things in the game, and he stays connected. He\u2019s a good player,&#8221; Vanney said of the Grandsir&#8217;s two-goal first half.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vancouver would strike first in the second on 70 minutes. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After beating Araujo, Cristian Dajome got to the finish line, where his cutback pass to Toisant Ricketts, was placed in at the near post to make the score 4-2.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Tosaint Ricketts puts it away to bring <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WhitecapsFC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@WhitecapsFC<\/a> within two! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/0mnt6pvfHU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/0mnt6pvfHU<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Major League Soccer (@MLS) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MLS\/status\/1558660625735159808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 14, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>10-man Vancouver<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dajome would end any Vancouver comeback himself, though. His clumsy challenge on Araujo in the 79th minute earned him a second yellow and left Vancouver with 10 men.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Substitutes Dejan Jovelji\u0107 and \u00c1lvarez would exploit the man advantage by connecting in the 89th minute. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jovelji\u0107 picked up a long Daniel Aguirre pass on the left wing and beat his man to the end line. The Serbian super-sub squared the ball back to \u00c1lvarez, for him to lift the ball over Cropper to complete the 5-2 rout for the Galaxy.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"fi\" dir=\"ltr\">GALAXY ON THE BREAKAWAY \u203c\ufe0f <\/p>\n<p>Dejan Jovelji\u0107 sets it up and Efra\u00edn \u00c1lvarez sends it home \ud83c\udfaf <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ThQqWBllQu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/ThQqWBllQu<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LAGalaxy\/status\/1558664739382710272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 14, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>A big night in LA as the Galaxy &#8220;mature&#8221; in win at Dignity Health Sports Park<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Several Galaxy players had big nights, and with their recent form (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/news\/riqui-puig-watches-on-as-la-galaxy-put-it-together-vs-vancouver-whitecaps-fc\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">six losses in the last eight<\/a>), it was a much-needed lift for the locker room and fans.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cA lot of things that we\u2019ve done well in spurts during the season, but I thought we did well for larger stretches of the game tonight, which is key. You can\u2019t just do it for five here or five there. Today we put it together. And we took our chances. Which got us on top of the game, which has been a positive formula for us when we get the first goal, then we tend to roll a little bit better.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vanney is right, of course. The Galaxy is 9-1-1 when scoring the first goal in league play this season. At home, they only lost once when scoring the first goal.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Can the Galaxy &#8220;put it together&#8221; again?<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The challenge for Los Angeles will now be \u201cputting it together\u201d for the rest of the season. And V\u00e1zquez knows every game counts. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although Saturday\u2019s victory took them back above the playoff line again, the Western Conference is tightly packed, with fourth through eleventh place separated by just five points.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAll the guys were working really hard. We knew that it is 11 games, that it was 11 games left to go, and we have to win at home because we were conceding many goals at home, we were losing many games at home. And today, we showed that we are there, that we are a great team. We are a good team, but we have to start the games this way, aggressive with confidence and trusting each other,\u201d V\u00e1zquez shared.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The team could get another lift when they face Seattle at home next Friday.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">New signing Riqui Puig is expected to make his debut in a tantalizing match against the Concacaf Champions League winners that could have massive repercussions on the playoff race.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Photo Credit: <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MarkyDelgado\/status\/1558714212334985219\/photo\/1\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marco Delgado on August 14, 2022<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A four-goal first-half fiesta took the Los Angeles Galaxy back above the playoff line as they overwhelmed the Vancouver Whitecaps 5-2 Saturday night at home. The win came as the Galaxy &#8220;mature&#8221; in win against the Whitecaps. It was the first time the Galaxy scored five goals since the Bruce Arena days in 2016, but [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3969,"featured_media":44490,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3427,17,119,22,23],"tags":[4509,1367,4030,4207,4477,4454,688,1200],"class_list":["post-44472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ccl","category-galaxy","category-mls","category-sounders","category-whitecaps","tag-dejan-joveljic","tag-efrain-alvarez","tag-javier-chicharito-hernandez","tag-kevin-cabral","tag-ryan-gauld","tag-samuel-grandsir","tag-tosaint-ricketts","tag-victor-vazquez"],"modified_by":"Raheem Bashir, Site Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3969"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44472\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}