Match Recap

LA Galaxy Goals: Joveljić 41', Fagúndez 49'

New York City FC Goals:

Quick Read

New York City FC suffered a 2-0 defeat on the road against the LA Galaxy at Dignity Sports Health Park. Despite enjoying a strong first half City fell behind in the 41st minute after Dejan Joveljić converted from close range. The Galaxy would double their advantage in the 49th minute through Diego Fagúndez.

New York City FC were in the Golden State on Wednesday Night as they took on the LA Galaxy.

City were looking to bounce back from an unfortunate defeat last time out against the Columbus Crew, with Head Coach Nick Cushing making five changes to the side that faced the Crew.

Among those changes was a return to the starting XI for Thiago Martins and Kevin O’Toole. The pair had been nursing injuries recently but were passed fit and came in for Mitja Ilenič and Strahinja Tanasijević.

Cushing’s side started the brighter of the two teams and that saw Mounsef Bakrar register a shot after four minutes. The Algerian forward started the game in place of Alonso Martínez, but could not keep the effort on target.

At the other end, Galaxy forward Gabriel Pec managed to find space just inside the penalty area but could not test Matt Freese with his shot.

City’s ability to transition quickly from defense to attack was proving threatening, and in the 19th minute that saw Hannes Wolf handed the chance to put City ahead – his attempted shot from the right side of the penalty area skewing wide.

In the 35th minute, a City set-piece saw the ball worked short to Santiago Rodríguez on the left. The forward drove inside to engineer a shooting angle and only narrowly missed the target with a curling effort.

Minutes later, it was the turn of O'Toole to get a shot off from distance after Hannes Wolf laid the ball off to him. Unfortunately for the defender, his fierce drive flashed just wide of John McCarthy's goal.

Despite that dominance, it would be the Galaxy that took the lead in the 41st minute after a turnover in City's defensive third allowed Dejan Joveljić to convert from close range.

The second half saw Cushing make one change to his team as Birk Risa was replaced by Tanasijević. City were dealt a blow when the Galaxy found a second goal in the 49th minute through Diego Fagúndez.

City didn't let that goal dampen their self-belief and they quickly set about trying to engineer a route back into the game. In the 59th minute, a smart pass in behind by Rodríguez put Jones through on the goal but he could not beat McCarthy from close range.

The Galaxy almost made it three in the 63rd minute after a driving run by Gabriel Pec, but his low strike clipped the outside of the post.

The 66th minute saw Cushing introduce two additional changes as Wolf and Bakrar were replaced by Maxi Moralez and Alonso Martínez. They were joined on the field by Julián Fernández and Keaton Parks in the 78th minute as they replaced Jones and Perea.

Rodríguez was desperately trying to engineer something for City in the final third, and in the 81st minute, he tried to beat McCarthy from distance. A City freekick minutes later was dinked into the penalty area and eventually made its way to James Sands, but he was unable to produce the clean contact required to convert the chance.

At the start of injury time, Rodríguez and Moralez exchanged passes inside the box, and that allowed the latter to get a shot off, but he was unable to keep his attempt under the crossbar.

That was followed up minutes later by an impressive drive from distance by Tanasijević that forced McCarthy into a good save. Unfortunately, that would prove to be the last act of the night for City as they suffered a 2-0 defeat.