The Galaxy went winless away from home last season and finally snapped a 20-game streak without a road MLS win April 11 against Austin FC.
Saturday, another bit of road misery went away as the Galaxy won for the first time at Atlanta United in a 2-1 final. In the brief history between the teams, the two goals were the first scored by the Galaxy in Atlanta.
The road trip continues Wednesday with a trip to Sporting Kansas City. SKC and old friend Dejan Joveljić handed the Galaxy a 2-1 defeat March 14 at Dignity Health Sports Park.
The Galaxy (4‑4‑4, 16 points) now are in a better place, as evidenced by Saturday’s come-from-behind win.
“The group had a strong mentality and kept with it, they kept doing the work,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said after Saturday’s win. “They kept defending and finding the opportunities in transition. There are some good things to take away, but the mentality over this last stretch of games has been outstanding. I’m proud of the guys for sticking with it.”
The Galaxy have secured points in five of their last six league games. It is too early in the season for a must-win game, but with SKC at the bottom of the Western Conference (1-8-2, 5 points), the Galaxy have a good chance to pick up another important three points on the road.
“It’s like we can beat anyone, no matter where we are,” Galaxy defender Jakob Glesnes said. “It wasn’t the cleanest game, but again, we knew as long as we can defend well, especially away, that we’re going to have opportunities going forward as well, because we have some quick, good guys in the front that can do special things.”
Saturday was Gabriel Pec’s turn with the “special things,” scoring goals in the 74th and 79th minutes to secure the victory. Before Saturday, Pec had only one MLS goal, but had scored six in CONCACAF Champions Cup play.
Pec had sat out a couple of days during training before the club departed for Atlanta.
“We want to find Gabe on the move and ideally moving toward the goal and he was more clinical through the finishes, getting Gabe running behind the back line and getting him at speed,” Vanney said. “He did a great job of taking those two and hopefully that builds some confidence for him.”
One person that always has confidence in Joveljić, but unfortunately for the Galaxy, he’s making them pay for it. In his first two meetings against his former club, Joveljić has scored twice. He joked after the March meeting that he will always score against the Galaxy.
SKC allowed six goals against the Portland Timbers on Saturday and last month lost 5-0 to the Chicago Fire. In 11 games, SKC has scored just eight goals and allowed 32.
After Wednesday, the Galaxy’s traveling party will head to Seattle for a meeting with Sounders on Saturday night.
GALAXY at SPORTING KANSAS CITY
When: 5:30 p.m. PT Wednesday
Where: Sporting Park, Kansas City, Kansas
How to watch: Apple TV