LOS ANGELES — Marco Reus called the night a rollercoaster.
That’s a good way to describe the Galaxy’s night at BMO Stadium Saturday against rival LAFC in the second El Tráfico meeting of the season.
The night saw the Galaxy fall behind by two goals twice, a late-game scuffle that led to a red card for LAFC’s Eddie Segura and an eventual game-tying goal by Maya Yoshida, who Reus said used his “big head” to help the Galaxy escape with a point in a 3-3 draw.
“I mean these games shows again a little bit of the rollercoaster of the season,” Reus said. “It’s hard to come back, but on the other side, somehow we keep our mentality and showed it again, that we are not giving up, especially in this situation, away, in a derby and it means a lot to us, coming back from 2-0 and 3-1.”
After Denis Bouanga’s second goal (67th minute), the night looked bleak for the Galaxy. The lead was 3-1 and the players were showing their frustrations with the night and each other.
“Sometimes, a little fight and passion, a little something in there can spur up a little more energy,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said. “A little more intention and purpose.”
Then came Gabriel Pec’s second goal (79th minute) to make it 3-2. In stoppage time, Mauricio Cuevas and David Martinez had some words after Cuevas’ foul. That led to several players coming together. Segura was issued a red card, giving the Galaxy a man advantage. Initially, the fourth official put five minutes on the board for stoppage time, but after the melee, they added on more time and Yoshida knocked home the tying goal in the seventh minute.
“I mean at 3-1, it felt like it was going to be difficult,” Vanney said. “We were trying to make some subs and trying to get some guys into positions where we could whip some balls in the box, do something to try to create some numbers up in the box and some action ahead of the ball, so that we could try to find a way to break through the wall that they had set up there.
“I’m proud of the guys that came on and just kept working through it. These games are crazy always, in a rivalry game or any game, you never give up.”
The Galaxy’s fortunes certainly changed with Segura’s red card.
“To mean, it made no sense,” Reus said. “If they want to fight, let them fight.”
In May, the Galaxy trailed LAFC 2-1 at halftime and snatched a point on Reus’ 84th-minute goal. Fast forward two months and the Galaxy’s late-game magic worked again.
“We earned a point,” Yoshida said. “We should play much better. The goals they made were exactly what they wanted and we are very clear that we have to be careful with that and we didn’t manage that, but I’ll take a positive side. My daughter doesn’t like LAFC, so at least, I can go home with a smile and hopefully she will be proud.”