{"id":44868,"date":"2022-09-05T18:20:01","date_gmt":"2022-09-05T22:20:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/?p=44868"},"modified":"2022-09-05T18:20:01","modified_gmt":"2022-09-05T22:20:01","slug":"galaxy-ties-skc-2-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/2022\/09\/05\/galaxy-ties-skc-2-2\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Gray areas&#8221; as Galaxy ties SKC 2-2"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>Los Angeles &#8211;<\/b> <i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cSometimes when you win, you really lose, and sometimes when you lose, you really win, and sometimes when you win or lose, you actually tie, and sometimes when you tie, you actually win or lose. Winning or losing is all one organic mechanism, from which one extracts what one needs.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This beauty of a quote is spoken by Rosie Perez, as Gloria Clemente in the 1992 basketball film, \u201cWhite Men Can\u2019t Jump.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>&#8220;Gray areas&#8221; as Galaxy ties SKC 2-2 at Dignity Health Sports Park<\/h2>\n<p><a id=\"pxvEdDWuQmJ1bK3-QcZoUA\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1242956948\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'pxvEdDWuQmJ1bK3-QcZoUA',sig:'70o7tXG7qZrRdQNLCISGMVst98Hr9IG_uZXifMzdp8g=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1242956948',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But it just as easily could have come out of the Los Angeles Galaxy locker room after L.A. lost a lead, came back to tie 2-2, and Galaxy Captain Javier \u201cChicharito\u201d Hern\u00e1ndez had a stoppage-time Panenka penalty saved at home against Sporting Kansas City in a spot kick-filled affair on Sunday evening.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And while it may be easy to blame Chicharito for failing to convert to seal the win, the Galaxy as a team didn\u2019t \u201cextract\u201d the three points they needed over the course of the match.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They got off to a dream start, though, as the Galaxy captain scored in four minutes for his 200th career club goal and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/clubs\/la-galaxy\/stats\/#season=2022&amp;competition=mls-regular-season&amp;statType=general&amp;position=all\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">14th of the MLS campaign<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Riqui Puig found V\u00edctor V\u00e1zquez with an excellent long pass from his own half, for V\u00e1zquez to collect and play Chicharito in behind the SKC defense with an outside-of-the-foot pass. Chicharito collected in stride and buried his right-footed shot into the back of the net for the early 1-0 Galaxy lead.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">CHICHAGOOOOOOOOL <\/p>\n<p>That&#39;s 200 career club goals for the captain \ud83d\ude4c <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/J8jAgQtgqU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/J8jAgQtgqU<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LAGalaxy\/status\/1566580463195394052?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">September 5, 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 rest of the half saw L.A. control possession through their midfield, passing around SKC at will, but with very little end product after the opener.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIn my opinion, we should have created more chances,\u201d Galaxy Head Coach Greg Vanney said. \u201cI think there was more opportunity there for us than we allowed ourselves to take advantage of.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>SKC strikes first in the second half<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It would come back to haunt them, as Sporting Kansas City would strike first in the second half to tie the game on 67 minutes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After Derrick Williams was whistled for a handball inside the box, SKC Captain Johnny Russell stepped up to take the game\u2019s first penalty, which Galaxy Keeper Jonathan Bond almost saved, but instead parried off the post and in for the 1-1 scoreline.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Johnny Russell levels it from the spot! <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/SportingKC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#SportingKC<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/7ZSRToLx8j\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/7ZSRToLx8j<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Major League Soccer (@MLS) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MLS\/status\/1566600767930261504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">September 5, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Less than 10 minutes later, the Galaxy had lost their lead for the third time in the last four games.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After receiving a long pass and cutting in from the left wing, midfielder Felipe Hernandez\u2019s shot was deflected off Julian Araujo and into the top corner of goal to put SKC ahead 2-1 on 76 minutes.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/SportingKC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#SportingKC<\/a> flip the script in LA!<\/p>\n<p>Felipe Hern\u00e1ndez with a solo-goal to make it 2-1. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ilkTa8A5HF\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/ilkTa8A5HF<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Major League Soccer (@MLS) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MLS\/status\/1566603407380586497?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">September 5, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>Galaxy tie it up<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It would set up tense 14-plus minutes of game time, in which the Galaxy would get two penalty kicks, tasting both sweet and sour.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After turning away from pressure, Puig played another inch-perfect pass, this time to K\u00e9vin Cabral, who took his touch past Sporting Keeper John Pulskamp and allowed himself to be brought down for the penalty.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chicharito calmly blasted his shot into the left-hand corner of the net to tie the score 2-2 in 88 minutes, with time left to win the match.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">CHICHARITO. <br \/>COLD-BLOODED. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/62tnd4V5rQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/62tnd4V5rQ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LAGalaxy\/status\/1566606156448968704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">September 5, 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 would get the chance to do so deep into stoppage time after substitute Samuel Grandsir headed a cross into SKC defender Kayden Pierre\u2019s arm in the box to earn the game\u2019s third penalty.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chicharito would step up again, this time to complete his hat trick and seal all three points for L.A.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>The Panenka seen throughout the world<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Only this time he made himself go viral, not by scoring, but by attempting a Panenka that didn\u2019t even threaten to fool Pulskamp to keep the score 2-2 where the game would end.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">John Pulskamp read the mind of Chicharito. \ud83e\udd2f<\/p>\n<p>Denied the hat trick and stoppage-time winner from the penalty spot. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Ov6zbnOiyh\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/Ov6zbnOiyh<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Major League Soccer (@MLS) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MLS\/status\/1566608711333908483?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">September 5, 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;\">\u201cLike I said to the fans, to everyone over here, I am not going to play the victim. I am sorry, of course, I am sorry. It\u2019s a very key play. It\u2019s like if I had a one-versus-one at the end of the game and I miss it. It\u2019s the same, just this is a penalty, it\u2019s more obvious, Chicharito explained while speaking of the \u201cbittersweet\u201d moments during the match where he was both hero and villain. \u201cI scored two goals and we draw. We did a pretty good effort. It wasn\u2019t that bad, but in the end, it\u2019s a mistake, I feel responsible that we couldn\u2019t get the two points that we lost to get the win.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vanney kept his captain accountable, while also calling out the rest of the team for their part.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt was the wrong decision. The wrong decision. He knows that. He knows how I feel. He knows how his teammates feel. It is what it is. We\u2019ve just got to keep moving forward, and we lost an opportunity there in the end,\u201d Vanney confessed. \u201cBut again, we gave up two goals just by letting guys just run behind us. It&#8217;s nonsense. Like, this has to stop.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Gray Areas as Galaxy ties SKC 2-2 with late missed penalty<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite more dropped points at home and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/2022\/08\/07\/galaxy-lose-4-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">more to SKC<\/a>, battling back to earn the draw extended the Galaxy\u2019s unbeaten run to five matches (2-0-3).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Never ones to make things easy on themselves, there were, as Chicharito said, \u201cgray areas\u201d in this Galaxy, SKC tie.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThere are gray moments\u2026 I scored two, and I missed the most important play of the game, then we get a point, but it&#8217;s in our home, so it\u2019s not that great. There are gray areas, I think that\u2019s a good way of saying it because I scored two goals. Without the other two goals, we couldn\u2019t draw.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Galaxy needed more than a draw to keep pace in the Western Conference, where they started the day in eighth place. Time is running out for them if they are to secure a playoff berth.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They will now travel to fourth-place Nashville SC next Saturday, hoping to \u201cextract\u201d a win that feels like a win.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Los Angeles &#8211; \u201cSometimes when you win, you really lose, and sometimes when you lose, you really win, and sometimes when you win or lose, you actually tie, and sometimes when you tie, you actually win or lose. Winning or losing is all one organic mechanism, from which one extracts what one needs.\u201d This beauty [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3969,"featured_media":44874,"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":[17,119,3237,19],"tags":[2715,4853,307,4030,5247,1881,2958,4207,5203,1200],"class_list":["post-44868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-galaxy","category-mls","category-nashville-sc","category-skc","tag-dignity-health-sports-park","tag-felipe-hernandez","tag-greg-vanney","tag-javier-chicharito-hernandez","tag-john-pulskamp","tag-johnny-russell","tag-julian-araujo","tag-kevin-cabral","tag-riqui-puig","tag-victor-vazquez"],"modified_by":"Raheem Bashir, Site Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44868","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=44868"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44868\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}