CARSON — The Galaxy were home Sunday, but it didn’t feel or sound like it against Cruz Azul.
The sellout crowd of 24,285 at Dignity Health Sports Park was mostly full of Cruz Azul supporters, giving the night a road game feel for the Galaxy.
“I thought the atmosphere was great,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said. “It didn’t feel like a home game. It felt like our field and our stadium, but it didn’t feel like our environment, if you will …I just felt like we were a little outnumbered on the night.”
On the field, the game seemingly teetered on the brink of a brawl, especially in the second half, but the Galaxy fought and clawed their way to a 1-1 regulation draw to earn one point. The game then proceeded to penalty kicks with an additional point at stake.
Both teams hit their first five kicks in the shootout, sending it into a sudden-death period. In the eighth round of kicks, Galaxy midfielder Edwin Cerrillo had his attempt saved, but Cruz Azul’s Jesus Orozco gave the Galaxy another life as he hit the cross bar.
However, in the ninth round, after Galaxy defender Emiro Garces missed his attempt, Cruz Azul’s Mateo Levy finally clinched the winner (8-7).
“I’m glad I got in, those are games you want to play,” Galaxy defender John Nelson said. “First half, I think we struggled a bit. They are good on the ball, you do got to give them credit. They pulled us apart a decent amount, but at the end of the day, how the game went, I think a tie is, you know, I think kind of happy for us to be honest. To come out with at least a point, obviously, we’re still alive, but I’m happy with how we played and the fight, you have to be proud of that.”
The shootout loss leaves the Galaxy on four points with one game left. The club will enter the final round of games in fifth place.
The Galaxy scored the equalizer in the 81st minute on Gabriel Pec’s goal. Pec, making a central run, was able to get a foot on a perfect cross from Mauricio Cuevas for the finish. Cuevas had entered the game as a sub in the 66th minute, replacing Miki Yamane.
Cruz Azul, the winners of the CONCACAF Champions Cup, got hit for a touchdown in its Leagues Cup opener, falling to the Seattle Sounders 7-0 last Thursday. The best thing for Cruz Azul was their early lead Sunday in the 21st minute on Carlos Rodriguez’s goal.
The Galaxy managed only one shot in the first half, while Cruz Azul was credited with 11 shot attempts and four on goal.
The Galaxy made a tactical change to start the second half, bringing on forward Matheus Nascimento to replace midfielder Lucas Sanabria. Marco Reus moved back into his attacking midfield role, with Diego Fagundez dropping into a more defensive midfield position.
In the 61st minute, Cruz Azul nearly put the game away, but Mateusz Bogusz’s shot hit the post as he was falling toward the ground.
Joseph Paintsil, who was in a lot of the physical moments of the game, drawing fouls, nearly gave the Galaxy the equalizer in the 76th minute. Paintsil got by his defender in the 76th minute and got in on Cruz Azul goalkeeper Kevin Mier, but Mier used his body to block Paintsil’s shot.
In the 86th minute, Galaxy goalkeeper Novak Micovic made a game-saving save while he was falling down on a shot by Mateo Levy.
The Galaxy will conclude their opening round of games Thursday at home against Santos Laguna (8:15 p.m.). The game will be part of a doubleheader, following the Colorado Rapids taking on Cruz Azul (5:30 p.m.)
After the first two rounds of Phase One, the Seattle Sounders and the Portland Timbers are tied for first place on six points (two wins). Six teams, including the Galaxy are on four points. Inter Miami is in third on five points.
The top four teams in both the MLS and Liga MX standings will advance to the quarterfinals later this month.
“I always felt like it was going to take at least seven (points) to get through,” Vanney said. “Just because you have so many teams vying for just four spots, that it was going to be at least seven and you probably have to have a reasonable goal differential.
“It’s going to be about taking three points (on Thursday). The extra point (dropped in Sunday’s shootout loss) would have been nice because it would have been a little bit of a tiebreaker if you could win the next game, but I felt like at the start of this, you’re going to have to get at least two wins, a draw and maybe even that extra point that we didn’t get tonight (Sunday). We’ll see how it plays out. We are the last game, I think of the entire first round, we’ll have some relative sense of what we need to do on the night.”