STANFORD, Calif. (Saturday, July 1, 2023) – Playing the first of two regular-season matches in the span of four days, the LA Galaxy earned a 2-2 draw on the road against the San Jose Earthquakes before 42,823 fans at Stanford Stadium on Saturday night. Preston Judd and Raheem Edwards each tallied goals against San Jose, while Douglas Costa recorded two assists as the Galaxy extended a five-match unbeaten run in league play dating back to May 31.
Galaxy Run Of Form
Following the draw against San Jose, the Galaxy extended their unbeaten run to five matches in league play (1-0-4; 7 GF, 6 GA) dating back to May 31. In the Galaxy’s last six matches played on the road across all competitions dating back to May 23, LA holds a 2-1-3 record (10 GF, 8 GA). **
LA Galaxy Against San Jose Earthquakes
**Saturday’s match between LA and San Jose marked the 97th edition across all competitions of the Cali Clásico, with the Galaxy leading the all-time series 45-33-19. In 81 MLS regular-season matches played against the Earthquakes, LA holds a 36-28-17 record. In 10 all-time regular-season matches played against San Jose at Stanford Stadium, the Galaxy hold a 2-5-3 record (17 GF, 23 GA). LA is unbeaten in its last three matches played on the road against San Jose (2-0-1, 8 GF, 5 GA) dating back to June 26, 2021. In two matches played between the two teams this season, the Galaxy hold an unbeaten record of 1-0-1 (4 GF, 3 GA).
Goal-Scoring Plays.
LA – Raheem Edwards (Douglas Costa), 31st minute: Douglas Costa’s in-swinging corner kick delivery into the six-yard box found Raheem Edwards, whose flicked header found the far corner of the goal.
SJ – Jack Skahan (Carlos Akapo), 42nd minute: Carlos Akapo’s driven pass into the center of the box was finished by Jack Skahan from close range.
LA – Preston Judd (Douglas Costa, Riqui Puig), 47th minute: Douglas Costa dribbled towards the top of the 18-yard box and passed the ball to Judd, who fired his right-footed shot into the top left corner.
SJ – Cristian Espinoza (Jackson Yueill), 81st minute: Cristian Espinoza’s shot from outside the 18-yard box was deflected into the lower right corner of the goal.
Postgame Notes
- Following the result against San Jose, the Galaxy improved to 1-0-4 (7 GF, 6 GA) in their last five regular-season matches played dating back to May 31.
- In the Galaxy’s last six matches played on the road across all competitions dating back to May 23, LA holds a 2-1-3 record (10 GF, 8 GA).
- Saturday’s match between LA and San Jose marked the 97th edition across all competitions of the Cali Clásico, with the Galaxy leading the all-time series 45-33-19.
- Against San Jose, LA holds a 36-28-17 record in league play, a 4-1-1 record in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and a 5-4-1 record in the MLS Cup Playoffs.
- The Galaxy earned their second consecutive result against the Earthquakes at Stanford Stadium (1-0-1; 5 GF, 5 GA) dating back to Sept. 24, 2022.
- In seven regular-season matches played between San Jose and LA dating back to May 29, 2021, the Galaxy hold a 4-2-1 record (14 GF, 11 GA).
- In seven regular-season matches managed against the Earthquakes with the Galaxy, LA Galaxy Head Coach and Sporting Director Greg Vanney holds a 4-2-1 record.
- When scoring the first goal in a match across all competitions this season, the Galaxy hold a 5-2-1 record.
- With his two assists in the match against San Jose, Douglas Costa has recorded one goal and four assists in five matches played across all competitions dating back to June 7.
- In four games played in league play dating back to June 11, Costa’s four assists ranks tied for first in the league with New England Revolution midfielder Carles Gil.
- Preston Judd tallied his team-leading third goal of the season in the match against San Jose and has recorded two goals and one assist in his last four league appearances dating back to June 11.
- Raheem Edwards scored his first goal of the season, and his first in league play since doing so against the Colorado Rapids on Sept. 17, 2022.
- Riqui Puig registered an assist, completed 82 of 88 passes (93.2% passing accuracy) and won eight possessions in the draw against the Earthquakes.
- Gastón Brugman won eight possessions and eight duels, recorded four successful dribbles, tallied two interceptions and completed 65 of 71 passes (91.5% passing accuracy) against San Jose.
- Calegari created three chances and won five possession and four duels in the match against the Earthquakes.
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Next Game
*Next up, the LA Galaxy play host to LAFC in the 20th edition across all competitions of El Tráfico at Rose Bowl Stadium on Tuesday, July 4. The match on July 4 kicks off at 7:30 p.m. PT and will be broadcasted live on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV – Free.
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2023 MLS Regular Season
LA Galaxy (3-9-7, 16pts) at San Jose Earthquakes (7-7-7, 28pts)*
Saturday, July 1, 2023 – Stanford Stadium (Stanford, Calif.)
Goals by Half 1 2 F
LA Galaxy 1 1 2
San Jose Earthquakes 1 1 2
Scoring Summary:
LA: Edwards (Costa), 31
SJ: Skahan (Akapo), 42
LA: Judd (Costa, Puig), 47
SJ: Espinoza (Yueill), 81
Misconduct Summary:
SJ: Espinoza (caution), 20
LA: Edwards (caution), 40
SJ: Tsakiris (caution), 57
LA: Calegari (caution), 78
SJ: Yueill (caution), 90+4
LA: Aude (caution), 90+7
Lineups:
LA: GK Jonathan Bond; D Calegari, D Chris Mavinga, D Kelvin Leerdam, D Raheem Edwards (Julián Aude, 63); M Riqui Puig M Gastón Brugman ©, M Mark Delgado (Daniel Aguirre, 76); M Tyler Boyd (Efraín Álvarez, 63), M Douglas Costa; F Preston Judd (Dejan Joveljić, 70)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Jonathan Klinsmann; D Mauricio Cuevas; M Adam Saldaña, M Jonathan Pérez, M Gino Vivi
TOTAL SHOTS: 11 (Preston Judd, 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 6 (Preston Judd, 2); FOULS: 8 (Tyler Boyd, 2); OFFSIDES: 0; CORNER KICKS: 5; SAVES: 2
SJ: GK Daniel; D Jonathan Mensah, D Miguel Trauco, D Rodrigues, D Carlos Akapo (Paul Marie, 65); M Carlos Akapo, M Carlos Gruezo (Ousseni Bouda, 78), M Jackson Yueill ©, M Jack Skahan (Benji Kikanovic, 72), M Niko Tsakiris (Tommy Thompson, 65); M Cristian Espinoza; F Jeremy Ebobisse
Substitutes Not Used: GK JT Marcinkowski, D Tanner Beason, D Daniel Munie; M Judson, F Will Richmond
TOTAL SHOTS: 14 (Three players tied, 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (Three players tied, 1); FOULS: 12 (Cristian Espinoza, Jack Skahan, 2); OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 7; SAVES: 4
Referee: Ramy Touchan
Assistant Referees: Jeffrey Swartzel, Kali Smith
Fourth Official: Sergii Demianchuk
VAR: Michael Radchuk
Weather: Clear, 82 degrees
Attendance: 42,823
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial
LA GALAXY POSTGAME QUOTES
LA GALAXY HEAD COACH AND SPORTING DIRECTOR GREG VANNEY
On if he had a chance to see the overturned foul call on Daniel Aguirre:
“I did. I saw it live. And then I saw it close up on the large screen in the stadium. And then I saw it on replay after. For me, it’s… there’s a couple different things here. There is… once you make the call, there is an extraordinary threshold that it takes to change that call back once you’ve made that call. And the reality is, is that the player with his first leg, fouls the player, and his back leg, knee, maybe catches a little bit of the ball after he fouls the player. This is a foul. This is a foul anywhere on the field. Just because some random part of his body touches the ball doesn’t make it not a foul. Like, it’s a ridiculous… this is the same referee that called some nonsense on us in the [Real] Salt Lake game. And, again, I think right now, we’re getting referees that don’t have a ton of experience. But, in this particular instance, he also has a VAR that recommends he goes back to look at it. So… I just don’t understand it. I don’t understand it. For us, again, the margins are a little thin. We’ve got a lot of challenges that we’re working through. And when we deserve something, or we earn something, or, it’s there, then, we need to have it. Having said that, we’re up 2-1. We make a poor decision, in my opinion, when Dejan [Joveljic] tries to go direct to goal from the endline instead of just spinning out and keeping the ball and moving our team forward. We have to manage the game better. It’s a bad decision. For me, it’s a bit of a selfish decision to try to go score a goal instead of go do what the team needs to do to get three points. And, it doesn’t guarantee us three points, but it sure guarantees that we stick together as a group. And we bring our team forward. We don’t get separated. And then we don’t get counterattacked, or we don’t get transitioned with goal against us. These little things, we have to be smarter with each play, because our margins are not as big as we would like them to be, by virtue of a lot of things. Missing guys. Having a makeshift backline. We have to play every play. We have to control the middle of the field in the end of the game. We didn’t. We’re so spread apart at times. We’ve got to control the things that we control. But, I do think that that was a huge error, since your question started there, I’ll end it there. I think it’s a huge error on behalf of the referees. But, I’m not surprised.”
On shifting from a five to a four back, and what he liked about that group tonight:
“As it stands, we’re more comfortable as a group in a shape that we’ve traditionally gone with. In general. In terms of keeping possession. In terms of our defending. The responsibilities. We went to Colorado. A very short turnaround with altitude and a very, very tough place to play, without any days to really train. And so we just tried to protect ourselves for a good stretch. But, even in Colorado, our best stretch of the game was when we went back into our four and we looked a lot more comfortable, and we created chances at the end of that game. So, again, I feel like we are… there’s still vulnerabilities. Our line is quite conservative in terms of its movement and squeezing space and that kind of stuff over the course of the night, because, Kelvin [Leerdam] and Chris [Mavinga] haven’t played together. And so there’s some things where we manage it a little bit more conservatively than normal. And sometimes, that puts us in, not just for them, but that puts us into some difficult situations. We get a little bit stretched from front to back because we’re not really moving together specifically. But, I was proud of the group in general. Again, we’re on the road. This is several games that we’ve had back to back to back on the road. And, you know, we showed some resiliency, but the position that we’re in, we need three points. Three points are more important than the one point, especially when we’re in the lead or in a position to take the three points. Again, disappointing that we had VAR overturn a penalty for us. I’m going to keep saying that, in case you guys didn’t know that.”
On Preston Judd’s performance on the night, what he brings to the game, and his start:
“Preston [Judd] is a big, powerful, strong runner. Physically, he’s a handful in 1-on-1 situations for defenders. His ability to threaten behind the backline and transition moments specifically is unique and different. Just the power that he runs with, and his ability to kind of ride and roll defenders, and things like that. So, sometimes, I just feel like, just in this game, his ability to kind of compete and battle up there for the first 60 or so minutes, could help in a number of different ways. Obviously, he got the goal out of it. He had another look early in the game where he gets in behind. Maybe with a little bit more composure or just a little different, in terms of technique, he gets one early in the game as well. But, he’s a handful. He’s a handful for anyone both in transition, but also in his strength in dealing with them. He’s still learning a lot of decision making things inside of the game. When to do this, when to do that. Stuff like that. Which, he’s a young forward and learning his craft still, but, on every single day, he’s a handful for whoever needs to deal with him.”
On Douglas Costa’s performance on the night, and if these performances are along the lines of what his expectation is with Costa, and if there’s more from his game:
“I think he looks sharp. He looks fit. You see a lot of things that he is capable of doing. His capacity to get the team out of tight situations is phenomenal. Again, when he has Riqui [Puig] relatively close to him, and guys that are close enough to play quickly to move and do things, there’s a beautiful game that happens inside of that. Which we like. So, I’m not asking for a ton more out of him. He’s put in a good defensive shift. He’s chased some things back. I think as long as he stays consistent, he’ll keep finding his opportunities to try to finish attacks or slip guys in or do things. But, I like what I see from him. And I think he’s been a huge spark for our team over this last stretch of games. And, you know, if we could all just capitalize on some of these moments just a little bit more, we’d be a little bit happier than we are at this second.”
On if he saw Jackson Yueill’s yellow card, and his thoughts on the tackle and call:
“I did. I mean, I haven’t seen it up close. I thought it was a red card. Again, I think it’s serious foul play. When a player is at top speed, running the opposite direction the ball is, a good five to eight yards away, there’s zero intent to play the ball. You’re getting a guy running at speed and you kind of rake him across the Achilles, the ankle. It’s very dangerous. The irony is, that, a couple seconds later, we take a ridiculous free kick and grab somebody. And that offense and his offense are the game. They each get a yellow card. The irony wasn’t lost on me in the moment. I know that’s the game and it happens. But, we’re fortunate that Douglas [Costa] is okay, because that is… that is a gross challenge. And it shouldn’t’ be acceptable on the field. Not in our league. But, again, they reviewed it and they chose it wasn’t. So, they’ve got it figured out.”
On the importance of the midfield throughout the season, especially tonight against a high-pressing opponent:
“When our midfield is connected and moving off of each other, but also moving in their relationships with the guys that are either on their side, as it relates to Mark [Delgado] and working with Lucas [Calegari]. And whether it’s whoever the winger is on that side and the other two that are staying connected with them, the ability just to play the game. And to play fast and to combine off of each other. Break lines. To initiative attacks. I’ve said this before. It’s one of the best midfields in the league. But it’s about being consistent. It’s about remaining connected through the course of the game. And, again, staying aware of each other and playing to our principles. But we see that through moments, where, it’s really, really good. And just collectively, as a group, again, duplicating as many of these moments as much as we can through the course of the game. Right. The game doesn’t have to be random. We should be creating these actions on a relative, consistent basis. There’s times where you have to improvise. And certain situations. But, certainly we can create scenarios that we’re trying to create and be as consistent as we want. But these guys are all talented and they compliment each other. Mark wants to play fast. Gaston [Brugman] has the ability to both wiggle out of situations and play fast. And Riqui [Puig] changes the speed of the game when he picks up the ball and accelerates at times. So, again, there’s a compliment there. And you have to give Danny [Aguirre] credit. When Danny comes in, I feel like he impacts the game in a very positive game as well. He brings something to the midfield also.”
LA GALAXY MIDFIELDER DOUGLAS COSTA (Translated from Spanish)
On his thoughts regarding the overall performance from the team tonight:
“I think that we are close to playing good soccer for 90 minutes, but we are missing small details that are important to be able to close out games and take three points home. Because we are playing very well but in three games, we haven’t been able to take home the points we deserve.”
On whether he is feeling like himself and enjoying his game:
“I think that I am in a good streak right now, because after suffering a lot of injuries, right now I am playing soccer with a lot of joy and I truly enjoy it. Like I was saying, if my team wins, I win as well because they know they can count on me, and I can count on them.”
On whether he feels frustrated with a result like tonight, especially with a penalty kick call that goes against the Galaxy:
“Yes, because we aren’t young players, and we have to have more experience to close out matches. In regard to the referee decisions, it’s something I can’t control, none of us can control. It’s things that happen. They are also human beings that make mistakes, and I don’t agree with that, but it is what it is.”
On whether he feels like he has to be more of a leader for the team after Javier “Chicharito” Hernández’s and Martín Cáceres’ injuries as well as have a bigger role on the attack:
“You guys know that I am not a vocal leader that likes to talk and call out my teammates. I am more of a technical leader that helps out on the field with passes, support, who tries to give assists or score goals. It’s things that I know how to do from many years ago. It’s a shame that we won’t have Javier [“Chicharito” Hernández] for the season because he is someone I love playing with because he scores goals and leads the team as a champion. And also, with Martín [Cáceres], I played with him at Juventus, and I have a great relationship with him inside and outside the field. But it’s things that happen and will be a learning curve for us. Now, my mentality is to stay healthy and in my top level to be able to help my team.”
