CARSON — The old version of the Galaxy made an appearance at the wrong time Wednesday night.
After finding some success throughout the Leagues Cup tournament, avoiding all the pitfalls and mistakes that have hurt them in the regular season, the Galaxy victimized themselves at two key moments in a 2-0 semifinal loss to the Seattle Sounders in front of 16,255 at Dignity Health Sports Park.
“I feel like we never really got to the point where we were really hurting team,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said. “We had a lot of passes, we put a lot of possession together, but creating real chances, very limited. Give up two goals that were silly, not to say they didn’t have a couple other chances where Novak (Mićović) made decent saves, but for me, the two goals were just …you can’t give up those if you are planning to win a championship, you just can’t.”
The Galaxy made it to the semifinals by going 3-0-1 against four Liga MX teams, beating Tijuana, Santos Laguna and Pachuca and earning a draw against Cruz Azul.
Despite the loss, the Galaxy still have a chance at some consolation in the third-place game. The Galaxy, who will face Orlando City SC on Sunday, must win that game to secure a spot in next year’s CONCACAF Champions Cup tournament.
Orlando led Inter Miami 1-0 late in the second half of the early semifinal, but Lionel Messi scored twice to lead the Miami to a 3-1 win. Orlando, which defeated the Galaxy, 2-1, in March, will be making its third trip to Carson this season. Last week, Orlando defeated Toluca in the Leagues Cup quarterfinals.
The Galaxy caught a break late when Seattle defender Nouhou was issued a red card for a reckless foul on Gabriel Pec in the second half. The initial call was a yellow card, but the referee was summoned to the video review and he changed the call, sending Nouhou off.
Unfortunately for the Galaxy, they never created any serious chances during their 14 minutes with the man advantage, as Seattle defended its way to the win and booked a trip to the title match.
Trailing 1-0, the Sounders put the game away in the 57th minute when Osaze De Rosario, son of MLS legend Dwayne De Rosario, surrounded by four Galaxy defenders, was able to flick the ball up, shed a defender or two, and still managed to put the ball into the back of the net for a goal.
“The goal he takes, is a pretty darn good goal,” Seattle coach Brian Schmetzer said. “That’s a pretty impressive play.
“We wanted to get ball down the field and we wanted to play in their half. It was critical for us to get off to a fast start.”
Just like the previous meeting between the teams, an MLS match on Aug. 10, the Sounders were in control from the outset.
Seattle opened the scoring early in this one thanks to a Pedro De la Vega goal and some slow reactionary time by the Galaxy. After an initial shot was saved by Galaxy goalkeeper Novak Mićović, the rebound was spilled. Galaxy defender Mauricio Cuevas was close enough to clear the ball out, but another Seattle attacker got there. His shot was blocked and but the rebound was deposited for a 1-0 lead in the seventh minute.
“The goal they score is the goal we’ve got to deal with,” Vanney said.
It took the Galaxy some time to find their comfort in the game, if that’s even possible against the Sounders. Their first shot on goal came from Cuevas in the 20th minute, but Seattle goalkeeper Andrew Thomas was able to get a hand on it to keep it out. In the 28th, Diego Fagundez’s shot from distance was headed low and inside the near post, but Thomas again came up with the stop, sending the game into halftime with Seattle leading 1-0.
In that Aug. 10 match, the Sounders handed the Galaxy a 4-0 defeat, scoring two goals in each half.
There’s one remaining league match left between the teams, next month in Seattle.