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SAN JOSE — The Galaxy used a little late-game magic to win its Leagues Cup opener against the San Jose Earthquakes on Wednesday night at PayPal Park.
San Jose had tied the score on Jeremy Ebobisse’s goal in the 75th minute, but the visitors responded with substitute Miguel Berry’s tap-in off a Miki Yamane assist in the 89th minute and held on for a 2-1 win.
“(We knew) a draw can help us, but a win is going to put us in. We decided we would push the numbers forward and go for it,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said. “We put a striker on and tried to push the numbers into the attack. At the same time, they added another center back onto the field and tried to go to five in the back to protect the draw and play for the second point. A good run and good pass by Riqui (Puig) and a good pass by Miki back across the front of the goal was able to give us the win and then we were able to see it out.
“Sometimes these playoffs and these tournaments, especially the teams that have played games before and they know this is their last game, sometimes it affects the decision-making, and we were kind of playing off that as well. We did what we needed to do.”
The Galaxy (1-0) leads West Group 2 and has a match still to play against Chivas de Guadalajara (0-1) on Sunday night in Carson. The Galaxy has already secured its spot in the knockout round of the 47-team tournament between MLS and Liga MX teams.
The Earthquakes (1-1), coming off a dramatic victory over Chivas on Saturday at Levi’s Stadium, had three open looks inside the 18-yard box during a 5-minute period midway through the first half.
Amahl Pellegrino, Carlos Gruezo and Hernan Lopez couldn’t convert their golden opportunities for the hosts, then the Galaxy’s Diego Fagundez delivered a magnificent curling strike for a 1-0 lead in the 41st minute.
“Diego does what Diego does. He’s a very smart player,” Vanney said. “Plays his position really well. He gets into good spots. I mean, hell of a goal to pick up the ball wide and get to the inside shoulder of the full back, and he hits a great shot into the back post.”
Though Fagundez’s stunning curler was the goal of the match, Berry’s game-winner was similarly impressive. His volley came off a perfect touch near the goal line from Yamane, who was set up by Puig’s precise pass that cleared the San Jose back line.
Now, the team will focus on its match with Chivas, which will be played at Dignity Health Sports Park, though Chivas will be designated as the home team.
“The way the tournament is set up … they’ll have I think more access to certain areas of the stadium, or fans, which they might have anyway. You never know, because Chivas brings a big crowd,” Vanney said. “I think our guys will look forward to the fact there will be a big atmosphere. It’s going to be sold out, a lot of energy in the stadium, split some percentage between the two of us. In general, I think the guys will enjoy that. We’ve had a good season at home in our stadium. So even though it’s not league, we want to continue also the momentum we’ve had on our home field over the course of the season and keep that going.”
Originally Published: July 31, 2024 at 10:55 p.m.
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Courtesy : https://www.pressenterprise.com/2024/07/31/galaxy-edges-earthquakes-on-late-goal-in-leagues-cup-opener/