CARSON — The Leagues Cup version of the Galaxy has caught the regular-version group in total wins.
Despite being mired in last place in the MLS regular-season standings, the Galaxy have found success in this year’s tournament between MLS and Liga MX teams.
After earning seven points in their three group stage games, the Galaxy advanced to the knockout round as the fourth seed out of the 18-team MLS group.
After a pair of first-half goals and some hard-fought defending, the Galaxy’s Leagues Cup journey will continue thanks to a 2-1 victory over CF Pachuca on Wednesday night in front of 16,599 at Dignity Health Sports Park.
“I thought our work rate on the defensive side was excellent and I thought just the commitment over the whole game was great and you need to win games like this,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said. “Tough circumstances, busy stretch of games and the guys just battled.”
The Galaxy defeated Tijuana (5-2) and Santos Laguna (4-0) during the group stage and had a 1-1 draw against Cruz Azul. Their victory over Pachuca was their third of the tournament. Their regular-season record is 3-16-7.
The Galaxy will host the Seattle Sounders in a semifinal Wednesday at 7:45 p.m. The teams met earlier this month in MLS play with the Sounders routing the Galaxy, 4-0, in Carson.
This time, both teams have weekend matches, with the Galaxy playing Saturday but the Sounders playing on Sunday, giving them one less day to prepare.
Seattle defeated Puebla in penalty kicks, 4-3, after a scoreless draw in another quarterfinal on Wednesday.
The Galaxy got on the scoreboard in the 28th minute with an own goal off of a Pachuca defender. Off of a corner kick, Marco Reus, on the second ball, crossed it low into the crowd in front of the goal and Daniel Aceves put it into his own goal.
In the 37th minute, Reus did the job himself with a finish from approximately 12 yards out for a 2-0 lead. Matheus Nascimento’s pass to Reus included a deflection off of a Pachuca defender, right into Reus’ path for the finish.
Protecting the two-goal lead became the challenge for the Galaxy. Pachuca dominated possession in the second half and the Galaxy managed only one shot, while Pachuca had nine.
In the 78th minute, Alexandre Zurawski’s initial shot was saved by Novak Mićović, but the rebound came back and hit Galaxy defender Emiro Garces, sending the ball back toward the goal, forcing Mićović to come up with another save.
Late in stoppage time, Zurawski broke the shutout with a stellar volley and finish, but the final whistle sounded soon after.
“I felt like it was a pretty mature performance for us and we haven’t seen a ton of those over the broader season,” Vanney said. “But we certainly put one together tonight and the guys have been great inside of this tournament.”
This was the first meeting between the Galaxy and Pachuca since 2007, in what was called the SuperLiga tournament between MLS and Liga MX teams, which lasted from 2007-2010.
In the first game of Wednesday’s doubleheader, Orlando City SC defeated Toluca in penalty kicks, 6-5, to advance to face rival Inter Miami in a semifinal. Inter Miami defeated Tigres, 2-1, as MLS teams went 4-0 in the quarterfinals.
The final and third-place game are set for Aug. 31.