ST. LOUIS, Mo. (Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024) – Playing in their 14th road match of the 2024 MLS Regular Season, the LA Galaxy fell 2-1 to St. Louis CITY SCbefore 22,423 fans at CITYPARK on Sunday afternoon.
Joveljić Reaches 100 League Appearances With LA
Dejan Joveljić became the 33rd player in club history to make 100 career MLS Regular Season appearances for the LA Galaxy after logging 13 minutes off the bench against St. Louis. Joveljić has totaled 45 goal contributions (31 goals, 14 assists) in 100 career MLS Regular Season appearances (50 starts) across four seasons played for the Galaxy (2021-Present).
Goal-Scoring Plays
STL – Cedric Teuchert, 9th minute: Mark Delgado slid in and blocked a shot, but Cedric Teuchert was first to the loose ball and his effort from just inside the penalty area was curled into the bottom right corner.
LA – Gabriel Pec (Miguel Berry), 46th minute: Second-half substitute Miguel Berry received the ball just on the edge of the six-yard box and back heeled a pass into the path of Gabriel Pec, who ripped his shot past St. Louis goalkeeper Roman Bürki at the near post.
STL – Marcel Hartel (Jayden Reid), 68th minute: Marcel Hartel received a low cross inside the box and his first-time shot was redirected into the top right corner of the goal.
Postgame Notes
- Through 28 matches played during the 2024 MLS Regular Season, the LA Galaxy hold a 15-6-7 record (53 GF, 38 GA; 52 points) and sit in first place in the Western Conference standings.
- Sunday’s match marked the fourth all-time MLS Regular Season meeting between LA and St. Louis CITY SC, with the Galaxy trailing the series tied 0-1-3 (7 GF, 8 GA).
- In 17 road matches played across all competitions during the 2024 campaign, the LA Galaxy hold a 6-6-5 record (25 GF, 24 GA).
- The LA Galaxy hold a record of 5-5-4 (20 GF, 18 GA) in 14 road matches played during the 2024 MLS Regular Season.
- In its last four regular-season matches played dating back to July 17, LA holds a record of 3-1-0 (9 GF, 6 GA).
- Gabriel Pec recorded a goal, completed two of three dribbles, won seven of 14 duels, two of two tackles and was fouled twice in the match against St. Louis.
- In 30 matches played (27 starts) across all competitions during the 2024 campaign, Pec ranks first on the Galaxy with 13 goals and has added 11 assists.
- Dejan Joveljić became the 33rd player in club history to make 100 career MLS Regular Season appearances for the LA Galaxy after logging 13 minutes off the bench against St. Louis.
- Miguel Berry notched his first career assist for the Galaxy in 45 minutes played off the bench in the match against St. Louis.
- In his first career MLS start for the LA Galaxy, Marco Reus created one chance, completed two of five dribbles and 36 of 39 passes (92.3%) in 77 minutes of action.
- Joseph Paintsil will miss the match against LAFC on Saturday, Sept. 14 due to yellow-card accumulation.
- Next Game
Following the international break, the LA Galaxy return to action to host LAFC in the 24th all-time edition of El Tráfico* at Dignity Health Sports Park on Saturday, Sept. 14 (7:30 p.m. PT, MLS Season Pass).
2024 MLS Regular Season
LA Galaxy (15-6-7, 52 pts) at St. Louis CITY SC (5-10-12, 27 pts)
Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024 – CITYPARK (St. Louis, Mo.)
Goals by Half 1 2 F
LA Galaxy 0 1 1
St. Louis CITY SC 1 1 2
Scoring Summary:
STL: Teuchert, 9
LA: Pec (Berry), 46
STL: Hartel (Reid), 68
Misconduct Summary:
STL: Teuchert (caution), 38
STL: Horn (caution), 53
STL: Durkin (caution), 74
STL: Klauss (caution), 81
LA: Paintsil (caution), 90+2
Lineups:
LA: GK John McCarthy; D Miki Yamane, D Jalen Neal, D Maya Yoshida ©, D John Nelson (Mauricio Cuevas, 77); M Gastón Brugman (Isaiah Parente, 77), M Mark Delgado (Edwin Cerrillo, 67), M Diego Fagundez (Miguel Berry, 45), M Marco Reus (Dejan Joveljić, 77), M Gabriel Pec, F Joseph Paintsil
Substitutes Not Used: GK Novak Mićović; D Eriq Zavaleta, M Tucker Lepley, F Ruben Ramos Jr.
TOTAL SHOTS: 10 (Joseph Paintsil, Gabriel Pec, 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 6 (Gabriel Pec, 2); FOULS: 7 (Jalen Neal, Gastón Brugman, 3); OFFSIDES: 4; CORNER KICKS: 2; SAVES: 4
STL: GK Roman Bürki ©; D Jake Nerwinski, D Henry Kessler, D Kyle Hiebert, D Jannes Horn (Jayden Reid, 65); M Chris Durkin, M Eduard Loewen (Jake Girdwood-Reich, 90+5), M Marcel Hartel, M Simon Becher (Joao Klauss, 65); F Indiana Vassilev (Nokkvi Thorisson, 65), F Cedric Teuchert (Rasmus Alm, 75)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Ben Lundt; D Akil Watts, D Josh Yaro, D Tomas Totland
TOTAL SHOTS: 10 (Cedric Teuchert, 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 6 (Cedric Teuchert, 2); FOULS: 17 (Simon Becher, 2); OFFSIDES: 0; CORNER KICKS: 3; SAVES: 5
Referee: Joe Dickerson
Assistant Referees: Corey Parker, Walt Heatherly
Fourth Official: Ricardo Fierro
VAR: Daniel Radford
Weather: Clear, 89 degrees
Attendance: 22,423
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial
LA GALAXY POSTGAME QUOTES
LA GALAXY HEAD COACH GREG VANNEY
On the start of today's game:
“I thought we started game not really matching the intensity of the game but understanding coming out of the locker room, what we said is we've got to manage wisely the first 10, 15 minutes playing for their life. They are at home. They are a pressing team in general, and they are going to come out and create some problems for you understand early on. We were not at the right speed of things. We were not moving to support each other. We were casual. Our decisions were sometimes ones that put us in trouble. We didn't really put the ball behind them at all just to turn them and see if we should shift the game out of our half of the field and ultimately, when you're not up to speed, the opposition is pressing you and is going to play pretty direct and we are making mistakes. We made enough mistakes to get ourselves down a goal. I thought after we got down a goal we started to find our way back into it in terms of establishing the ways we could hold the ball. I thought we minimized more or less there in the rest of the first half, I don't remember too many things that they had in terms of chances or anything like that. And then we adjusted at halftime, brought Miguel (Berry) on, get the goal back right away. And the second goal, again, I don't think they had a boatload of options or goal-scoring chances in the first part of the second half, and then we were a little bit careless with an exit pass again. We can lose exit passes. It's a little bit of how we play. It the reaction after the exit pass that concerns me. We missed the pass. Joe (Joseph Paintsil) missed the pass going out, but then Joe's reaction is very stagnant. He stands in the guy who was kind of stepping to press him and keeps moving into the box and the cutback cross finds the guy that kind of ghosts in the box at the top of the -- at the penalty spot and he scores. I'm a coach who understands that mistakes happen in the game. No one is going to play the perfect game across the board. But how we react to the things that don't go well is going to be pivotal and is going to potentially determine our season, especially teams that look to counter press and look to really press and cause mistakes and try to take advantage of those situations. We can't both be a little bit loose with the ball and then not react as a group collectively to deal with the situations. Now you're down two and we are chasing it a little bit there at the end.”
On yellow card accumulation for Joseph Paintsil and Riqui Puig:
“We'll deal with the last part internally. But in terms of were they aware, was he aware? Yes. For Riqui (Puig), that was last week. He got his trying to recover a ball in the transition. I have more patience for that than one that is having a conversation with the referee and it's not in the run of play and is doing nothing that's really helping the team. That one doesn't sit well with anyone. So as I said to the guys, our decisions are going to determine our fate in the future, whether that's in the run of play and the decisions we make in our build out or in some of these actions today where we lost balls that came back at us or decisions like that one, that was after the play had nothing to do with anything to make a decision that's detrimental to the group in the big picture. That's unacceptable; any time it's unacceptable at this time of the year, and it's made us just a little more vulnerable as we go into the next, and that's stuff that can't happen. We're too experienced and been around too long much too long to be in those situations. The rest of it we'll take care of it internally and have a discussion on that.”
On Marco Reus' first start today:
“It's a tough first start to be midday in St. Louis, and it's really hot out there. The tempo of the game was kind of at a moderate pace for a lot of it. They started off pretty fast but the game pretty quickly found like a moderate pace in which I felt like the changes of rhythm and the changes of speed inside of the game weren't as evident and weren't as clear; and I felt like, you know, that was also a little bit of a challenge for him on the day. Obviously you see his quality. You know his vision, some of the things that he's able to do. Where Marco (Reus) is going to really excel for us is when the change of rhythm happens or the movement off the ball is there and when it's this hot, you get just a little less movement off the ball which doesn't open up as many good looks. A big part of it for us, and today for him; just to keep moving forward in his match fitness. He got one of the more challenging games that I think he's going to get weather-conditions wise from here till the end of the season just because of the heat factor in the middle of the afternoon and it was scorching. Aside from that, we take it as a step forward for him just because for him he hasn't played in a while and being able to get through 65, 70 minutes and showing him in moments what he's capable of doing and other parts, as he'll show as he gets more and more comfortable inside the league, and the tempo of games picks up a little bit, I think that will suit him.”
On a loss at this point in the season:
“I'm disappointed in the result for sure. More for me, it's being able to manage the conditions and still be able to perform on things that we need to perform on the day and execute in the ways we need to execute on the day. That's what's important in this time of the season. That then also translates into results. I think you'll see across the league at this time of year, we see it all during the year. When you enter into a place, the conditions are a little different. We've got to be at the point in the season where we have to manage whatever the conditions are and still perform and execute upon the things that we need to execute to have the game look how we want it to look and see it out in the ways we need to. I felt like we didn't do that today. So it's disappointing. It happens in the course of the season. We have to bounce right back. You see it last night with the some of the results around. It's just something that you have to manage and you have to grow up from, and we don't have many games left and especially as we get to the playoffs to have games like today. Sometimes it happens, and the response is what's going to be really important as we come into the international break and getting ready for next one.”
On Dejan Joveljić getting playing time today:
“It was good to get him out there and get him moving. I think over the course of this last week where he trained with the group all week, his speed was getting up and his intensity level was getting higher. It just happened that when he entered in this game with 20 minutes to go, you know, they were pretty low, playing in transition, so there was not a lot of spaces to move. He was just trying to kind of hover underneath Miguel (Berry) at times and in between the two and try to find space in the box and get into the box. I think he was just trying to find any space to be involved in the game but then to be able to get into the box when we got into crossing situations. I don't think it's a real great game to be able assess overall performance or where he's at. I just think it's important that he got inside of the game and he got 20 minutes, and he's got to get his rhythm back and he's got to get his match fitness back and he's got to get some opportunities in front of goal in between now of the next couple weeks and just continue to build forward. But this game was at that point. It was a little bit unique because they were pretty low and really kind of defending the spaces in their box and in front of their box. There's not a lot of space for the forwards to move other than just to try to find some window inside of the box to finish, and that's kind of what it came down to for him.”
LA GALAXY FORWARD MIGUEL BERRY
On his mentality entering today's game and his assist:
“For me it's to make an impact and obviously change the game. That's your job as a substitute, and you know, regardless, really, whenever you play, is to change the game for the better and make a difference. I was happy to be involved early and it's a space that we discussed attacking all week. Credit to the coaches for pointing that out and just it happened kind of like we said it would, and I think between Deki (Dejan Joveljić) and I … we probably scored that goal 25 times in training all year. I was happy it worked out that way. Obviously disappointed about the result, though.”
On comfort level entering games:
“Continuity I think is important in terms of playing as well as getting to know the players around you and the coaching staff and the attacks and everything. It's very difficult to get that quickly. I think as this year's gone on, I've gotten to know my teammates better and they have gotten to know me better and I think there's a certain level of understanding comfort and that kind of thing always grows. We are looking forward to having it continue to develop but yeah, I think as we get on in the season and with more training -- at the beginning it's always going to be difficult with come together with 25 people you've never played with before. Happy with the way it's gone and evolved, and hopefully continue to grow.”
On team's mentality following today's match with six games remaining:
“The locker room is frustrated not getting a result. We see ourselves as contenders to win everything, and you know, the attitude going into every game is to win every single game and I've been on good teams before where that wasn't the case. There's a hunger there, good hunger. And this one was a tough one to swallow playing away from home not playing our best. We are excited for LAFC and know what a difficult task that is, but we are excited to play them at home and really kind of take it to them and do everything we can to bring those three points and the playoffs at home.”
On playing with Dejan Joveljić:
“It was a good experience. We got to play together this week in training on sort of the scout team. I think we combined well a few times. It's a little wrinkle that we could throw in there, I guess and I was happy to see him back from injury. I know it's been tough for him. It was good for him to get back out there and get his 100th game. I'm sure we like a good result to cap that one off but it was good for us to play. I think we did early in the season against Nashville, as well and we came out well and we did well in the last 30 minutes of that game as well. It's something we've done before and we have not done a whole lot of. But whatever the game calls for, I think both of us are prepared to work for the team and give the team what it needs.”
LA GALAXY MIDFIELDER MARCO REUS
On the conditions playing in St. Louis:
“It was really hot, really tough for me to play at this time. But it's not only me, especially for our guys, it was a tough game. We lost too many balls in areas where we should not do many mistakes, and then we lost the control of the game because of the mistakes, what we did. It was, yeah, it was hard for us to create big chances. I thought after the 1-1 that we are in the game, and we have the control. And then I think we make a stupid mistake, and then was a countercheck and then was 2-1 and was even harder to comeback.”
Looking ahead to the next six games including a match against LAFC:
“We have to stay calm and of course we have to work hard and we have to speak about these games, the last game, as well, like we always do. I think the most important thing is we want ball possession. We want ball possession in the opposite half. But when we are there, it's really important that we don't do stupid mistakes. Because after this, we have to run back, and it takes the power from us. I think that's the most important thing. We stayed calm the whole season. The team was really good, and now, of course, we have the derby. I think after this game, it's hard to say. But we will be ready for the next game.”
On the difficulty of today's opponent St. Louis CITY SC:
“Honestly it was not difficult. It's just it was on us and I think we play our game far from our best game. Like I said, if we stick to the plan in the offense when we have the ball, then we control the game. It was too many unnecessary situations where we lost the ball and it's even harder to come back in other situations. I think that is the reason why we don't win the game or where we lost the game.”
On the second half following a disappointing first half:
“We learned that we don't have to play every ball forward. We don't need to rush every ball between the lines. It's really, really important that we protect our attacks, and that we have enough players behind the ball for their offensive players, and when we do this, then we have wave after wave, and then we can protect our energy and all the stuff. And of course, in the halftime, we were really mad and angry about our platform. We scored the 1-1, but at the end, it was not good enough for us.”
On playing without Riqui Puig today:
“Of course, players like Riqui (Puig) always will help us. It doesn't matter in which position, but of course, it was my second game was not good enough today. But like I said, really my last game was three months ago and of course I need some time to adapt with the team and everything around with the fitness level and all the stuff. So I'm not worried about it. It's just about us that we stay together even now after this loss today. It's much more important that we stick together, be a team like always the team did in this season, and then I'm not worried about the next games.”
On El Tráfico:
“A lot of guys were talking about the derby. So I know derbies from my past in Germany. Like I said, I think if we stick to our plan and stick to our defensive plan and offensive plan, then I'm not worried about the next game or the next games. We have to make sure that everybody is there, giving 100 percent for the team and then we will win again.”
LA GALAXY DEFENDER JALEN NEAL
On defensive improvements needed:
“I think our mindfulness on the ball is definitely something that we can improve. You know, kind of deciding where we can take risks on the field and where we can't take risks is an important thing. The coach reiterated that in the locker room. He said every decision we make at this part of the season ends up having a consequence, whether good or bad, so dealing with how we take our risks on the field is a really big thing for us.”
On defense being ready for playoffs:
“I think we have been in the playoff form. Once again, I think it's just you know, obviously different games, you're going to have different intensities. You know, different things are going to happen. But I think we already have the chemistry to be into the playoffs right now. Obviously we are dealing with some injuries and people being sidelined or not. So we don't have our full roster but I think we are already playoff ready to be honest. It just comes down to us putting in the work each and every game and securing that first place spot.”
On the importance of first place and home-field advantage:
“It's huge, getting first place sets us up for many home games in the playoffs and that's what everybody team wants. They want home-field advantage and we play best at home. It's a no-brainer for us to go out and get first place.”
On the midfield in defensive situations:
“The whole team knows what we are getting into with our style of play. It's not something that I'm aiming at the midfield. We all know what happens with our style of play. We like to keep the ball and we like to break teams down with our play. So there's going to be times where we lose the ball in the midfield and we have to set ourselves up to counterpress and win the ball back quickly or at least be in good positions so where we don't get counterattacks and they can't make a chance off of us losing the ball. That's just something that's going to come with our style of play and we all just kind of have to deal with it.”
On the addition of Marco Reus:
“Individually, it's always nice to have another high, experience player in the locker room. Someone you can to when you have issues on or off the field. Someone who is experienced in more facets of life than you, it's always nice to have a guy like that in the locker room. Especially coming from Europe, it's a whole different atmosphere and environment and somewhere I eventually want to be. Having guys like that on the team is a huge to young players like me as a collective, he benefits our team in a crucial way. I think bringing him kind of just adds more eyes on to another player on our team and just adds quality to the high quality we have already. It elevates our squad even more, and a huge transfer for us to be honest. He's been a really cool guy on and off the field and we are all loving to getting to know him.”
