PORTLAND, Ore. (Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024) – Playing the first of two matches in the span of four days, the LA Galaxy fell 4-2 on the road to the Portland Timbers at Providence Park on Wednesday night.
LA Galaxy Against Portland Timbers
Wednesday’s match marked the 38th meeting across all competitions between the Galaxy and the Portland Timbers, with LA leading the all-time series 15-14-9. Against Portland, LA holds a 14-12-9 record in league play and a 1-2-0 record in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. In two meetings between LA and Portland during the 2024 MLS Regular Season, the series was tied 1-1-0. LA’s loss to Portland snapped a seven game unbeaten run against the Timbers dating back to July 30, 2021. In two matches played against the Timbers during the 2024 campaign, Joseph Paintsil recorded two goals and three assists.
Goal-Scoring Plays
POR – Jonathan Rodriguez (Evander), 18th minute: Evander’s cross from the left wing was headed in by Jonathan Rodriguez at the near post.
POR – Evander (Santiago Moreno), 39th minute: Evander received a pass inside the middle of the box and his half-volleyed shot was guided into the bottom right corner.
LA – Gabriel Pec (Miguel Berry, Joseph Paintsil), 45+3rd minute: Joseph Paintsil flicked the ball to Miguel Berry on the edge of the 18-yard box. Berry then slid a pass into the path of Gabriel Pec, whose left-footed shot from the center of the penalty area was fired into the roof of the net.
POR – Evander (Jonathan Rodriguez), 51st minute: A loose ball inside the box fell to Evander, whose low shot was buried into the bottom left corner of the goal.
LA – Joseph Paintsil, 58th minute: Riqui Puig released Gabriel Pec inside the penalty area and the Brazilian winger’s shot was fired off the right post. The rebound fell to Joseph Paintsil, who slotted his shot in from the left side of the six-yard box.
POR – Felipe Mora (Antony, Santiago Moreno), 80th minute: Felipe Mora chested down a floated cross inside the box and his shot was drilled into the far corner.
Postgame Notes
- Through 30 matches played during the 2024 MLS Regular Season, the LA Galaxy hold a 16-7-7 record (59 GF, 44 GA; 55 points) and sit in first place in the Western Conference standings.
- Wednesday’s match marked the 38th meeting across all competitions between the Galaxy and the Portland Timbers, with LA leading the all-time series 15-14-9.
- Against Portland, LA holds a 14-12-9 record in league play and a 1-2-0 record in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. In two meetings between LA and Portland during the 2024 MLS Regular Season, the series was tied 1-1-0.
- LA’s loss to Portland snapped a seven game unbeaten run against the Timbers dating back to July 30, 2021.
- In 15 road matches played during the 2024 MLS Regular Season, the LA Galaxy hold a record of 5-6-4 (22 GF, 22 GA).
- The Galaxy hold a record of 4-2-0 (15 GF, 12 GA) in six league matches played dating back to July 17.
- Joseph Paintsil recorded at least one goal and one assist for a sixth time during the 2024 MLS Regular Season.
- Paintsil has recorded eight goal contributions (3 goals, 5 assists) in his last five league appearances dating back to July 17.
- Gabriel Pec tallied his 12th goal of the 2024 MLS Regular Season, completed 63 of 69 passes (91.3%) and four of seven dribbles and won eight of 14 duels in the match against the Timbers.
- Miguel Berry recorded an assist for a second consecutive match played on the road dating back to Sept. 1.
- LA Galaxy goalkeeper John McCarthy made a season-high eight saves in the match against Portland.
Next Game
Next up, the LA Galaxy play host to Vancouver Whitecaps FC at Dignity Health Sports Park on Saturday, Sept. 21 (7:30 p.m. PT, MLS Season Pass).
2024 MLS Regular Season
LA Galaxy (16-7-7, 55 pts) at Portland Timbers (12-10-7, 43 pts)
Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024 – Providence Park (Portland, Ore.)
Goals by Half 1 2 F
LA Galaxy 1 1 2
Portland Timbers 2 2 4
Scoring Summary:
POR: Rodriguez (Evander), 17
POR: Evander (Santiago Moreno), 51
LA: Pec (Berry, Paintsil), 45+3
POR: Evander (Rodriguez), 51
LA: Paintsil, 58
POR: Mora (Antony, Moreno), 80
Misconduct Summary:
POR: Zuparic (caution), 13
POR: Crepeau (caution), 45
LA: Brugman (caution), 45+2
POR: Ayala (caution), 52
LA: Yoshida (caution), 82
Lineups:
LA: GK John McCarthy; D Miki Yamane, D Jalen Neal (Emiro Garces, 85), D Maya Yoshida ©, D John Nelson (Mauricio Cuevas, 67); M Gastón Brugman, M Mark Delgado (Marco Reus, 61), M Riqui Puig, M Joseph Paintsil (Diego Fagundez, 85), M Gabriel Pec, F Miguel Berry (Dejan Joveljić, 61)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Novak Mićović; D Eriq Zavaleta, M Tucker Lepley M Isaiah Parente
TOTAL SHOTS: 24 (Riqui Puig, 8); SHOTS ON GOAL: 7 (Gabriel Pec, 3); FOULS: 7 (Gastón Brugman, Maya Yoshida, 2); OFFSIDES: 2; CORNER KICKS: 6; SAVES: 8
POR :GK Maxime Crepeau; D Juan Mosquera, D Kamal Miller, D Dario Zuparic, D Miguel Araujo, M David Ayala (Eryk Williamson, 67), M Diego Chara ©, M Jonathan Rodriguez (Antony, 79), M Evander, M Santiago Moreno; F Felipe Mora (Cristhian Paredes, 85)
Substitutes Not Used: GK James Pantemis; D Zac McGraw, D Finn Surman; M Marvin Loria; F Mason Toye
TOTAL SHOTS: 22 (Evander, 10); SHOTS ON GOAL: 12 (Evander); FOULS: 8 (Dario Zuparic, 2); OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 5; SAVES: 5
Referee: Tim Ford
Assistant Referees: Cory Richardson, Stefan Tanaka-Freundt
Fourth Official: Matthew Corrigan
VAR: Jose Carlos Rivero
Weather: Partly Cloudy, 66 degrees
Attendance: 23,165
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial
LA GALAXY POSTGAME QUOTES
LA GALAXY HEAD COACH GREG VANNEY
On tonight's game:
"Their greatest danger is in the transition. They have some very athletic players, some quality in the attack, obviously guys that can finish. The first half starts where I feel like we were just incredibly impatient with the ball, trying to force tackles through the middle of the field. It's very hard to control transitions when you lose the ball in the middle of the field because they can go left, they can go right. That set the tone for the game. We were trying get guys into good attacking positions, but sometimes our impatience to allow the play to develop, to play the game not through the middle of the field, but more on the flanks at times, forced the guys on their team who kind of cheat a little bit and wait for transition moments, forced them to have to defend and/or take advantage of the places they leave when they don't defend. I felt like we were incredibly impatient. It set a tempo in the first half where our tackles were fast. Not that they were rushed fast, and then we were trying get to good positions and then guys who were trying to get to good positions are now racing back to have to defend, and just really lacked balance, and never set up anything that looked like a collective attack and really didn't force their guys who are very good in the transition to commit to the defensive side of the game. I thought what changed in the second half is we found a little bit more patience. We weren't trying to play straight through the middle as much. We were working to get from side to side better, getting more guys involved in the attack, got ourselves into it, back into the game. Obviously the goal right at the end of the half was really good for us just to come into the locker room feeling a little bit closer. We were there and had the momentum to get ourselves back in the game, but every time we felt like the momentum was there, we would concede a goal. We didn't deal with some transitions well. We didn't box defend well at times. Some of their guys that are athletic and fast, we have got to be more confident in how we can defend them. Got to organize our marking a little bit clearer and earlier. And we conceded four goals, which is far too many and impossible to win when you give up four goals. We gave up goals mainly in transitions and then crossing situations where we were not taking account for guys that are in the box."
On opponents' four goals and midfield defense:
"I think if we lose balls in bad places then I think sometimes if they have one guy in the box or two guys in the box, then I think our back line needs to be able to deal with those situations. If they are getting three, four guys in the box, for sure our midfielders need to help those situations. I think it just depends on the numbers and who and how the situation develops. I felt like we were having some midfield challenges later in the game when Marco (Reus) came in because he was really committed to high positions and Riqui (Puig) was more getting into higher positions or picking up the ball and moving into high positions. Gaston (Brugman) became a little on an island in some of these defensive moments. That's where I really felt like we started chasing that equalizing goal. I felt like we started to really concede some of the middle of the field. There were other moments here or there, but I didn't necessarily feel like that was a consistent issue. I may change my mind when I come back and watch it, but I felt like that became an issue as the game progressed and we started to extend ourselves a little bit more. The one caveat to that is the transition moment when I believe it's Evander's (Portland Timbers midfielder) goal where we do force the ball wide. We are one-on-one and Gaston leaves the middle to go help and the guy he leaves to go help our guy is the guy actually finishes. Probably in a better scenario or better situation he stays and we have to defend one-on-one and we cover John a little bit differently. But that's probably one scenario where we left the middle and we probably needed to be in the middle. There might be others. That's one I can think of off the top of my head."
On whether tonight's loss served as a "reality check" for the team:
"I don't know if it's a reality check. I think everybody understands the challenges of this league and competing on the road and they're a good team. We create our problems with how we lose the ball, in rushing and forcing attacks and things that need to be allowed. We need to allow ourselves to develop. We did such a good job of that the other night (vs. LAFC) specifically in the second half. We were able to take what was arguably one of the best transition teams in the league and really eliminate the transition. It's because we took care of the ball and because we gave our guys behind the ball chances to get tight to the players they need to mark. We did those things. Tonight for sure through the first half of the game and some stretches in the second half when we were chasing the game, the impatience is really sometimes our biggest enemy. That's ourselves undoing ourselves. And then sometimes we look back and we wonder where the guys are and why they're not closer and more aggressive. The reality is they're shell shocked a little bit and now they're conceding a little bit of territory. We have to make sure we're mindful of these situations or else we start to lose trust in our positioning, get a little cautious in our press defending and start to concede territory. Now good transition teams are really running at you. Look, at the end of the game the other day, 4-2 or whatever and we were playing around, I feel like there was some arrogance in that moment. I don't feel like we came into the night with arrogance. I don't feel think that was it at all. I think we got exposed for the mistakes with made in the course of the game and we didn't clean them up. We have to recognize this again as we come to the end of the season and go to the playoffs, because it's these things that hurt ourselves with more than -- opposition obviously takes advantage, but we expose ourselves and the opposition hurts us."
On tonight's match demonstrating the importance of home field advantage:
"Absolutely. I said it the other night at the end of the game to the group. You always want to play that game at home. In this league, you want to play at home. The conditions here, you come here, play on turf. It's a little slower, a little different. Around our league there are so many different types of conditions you deal with. Could be altitude, turf, others in the western conference. It is so important for us to be mindful of the last four games to put ourselves in a position to be playing at home. There is nothing else that we're playing for right now down the stretch is to make sure we play as many of these games at home in the playoffs as we can. Tonight is a great example of why and the other night was a great example of why the other way. It's absolutely the point."
On pressure toward end of season and an injury update on Julian Aude and Martin Caceres:
"I'm not sure if the group feels pressure. At least I don't see that and sense the pressure, because part of that is I think it could be a false sense of separation from ourselves in the group; the reality is because of games in hand we don't have a great separation because you can't take anything for granted. The gap just closed a bit. I don't know all the results out there. I am sure it closed a bit on us. Now it's a lot tighter. I don't sense arrogance our nervousness. I sense that a few guys didn't have great games for various reasons. Collectively I feel like we rushed the game in the wrong moments and put ourselves in tough situations. Sometimes I think we rushed the game when we feel like we have to go win the game early or right away or we start it really push the game. At times we just have to be more mindful because we expose ourselves. This thing is tight. Last four games are going to be big. We play two at home and two away. You know, we're playing for the west and home field advantage. Got to get guys healthy, turned around. I think you asked about players. Julian (Aude), assuming that he continues through the course of the week doing the things, he'll be in training tomorrow with the guys who are training. He trained the other day. He should be available to be a part of the game this weekend. He won't be ready to start or anything like that. Should be available to possibly get some minutes. He's got some training sessions under his belt which is a positive thing and feels a lot better. Martin (Caceres) will be out. As far as everyone else, we'll take inventory how the guys are doing coming off the turf and everything and then start to look towards the weekend."
LA GALAXY FORWARD JOSEPH PAINTSIL
On playing in tonight's game:
"I feel really happy joining my colleagues. Was a long trip for me with my visa and everything. I'm really happy to be back and joining my team. With this heavy loss it's really hard for us to take. This is not what we planned for. This is football. We need to take it sometimes and work towards the next game. Now we have everything in our hands. First, we need to focus on the game that's ahead of us, especially this game. We need to just put it behind us and focus on the next game. It's really important as you can see. Miami also dropped points. LAFC dropped points. It's a good thing for us. But it was really something that is really unacceptable today. We're all disappointed, especially the players and everything. This is football. We did our part, but what needs to come out is what has just happened, and we need to do everything possible to come back stronger."
On potential arrogance going into tonight's match after Saturday's win and the loss:
"Nobody has that kind of mindset or anything like this. As I said, losing is part of the game. We need to accept. We need to accept it in good faith and work towards it. Because we losing this, if we really tune our mind and just think about this game it's going to affect us in the four games we have. We need to win roughly three or four games if possible; and we are capable of doing that. We can do everything. Everything is possible. Yeah, we will do whatever it takes to win these games, but everyone is really disciplined and focus on the next game to make it happen."
On his mental and physical health:
"Physically, mentally I'm really fine. I'm really good. Just this couple of few days I was flying a lot, especially moving from LA to New York, from New York to from Guana, from Guana back from Amsterdam, from Amsterdam back to Vancouver; stayed there two days. I came again I think on Friday or Saturday. I train on Saturday and I had a rest on Sunday, Monday. I feel good, even though was a lot of travel and hours. But, I still feel good. I did what I needed to also to help the club even though it wasn't enough for us to have these three points. I feel really blessed and happy it join my colleagues."
On team's confidence:
"I think it's just a one-time thing that has just happened. With this loss we need to take it. It's really hard for us to take it in our hands, but it's really a bad loss for us because our mentality and focus was to win this game to make the gap really big. But we still have the chance. We have five points or four points different. We still got everything in our hands. As I said, we need to just focus. Let this game go and just focus on the next game and just prove our point, especially we're playing home. We haven't lost a home game. It's going to be a hell of a different kind of game, football against Vancouver on Saturday. I think we going to win and just go up again with another three points."
On the team's forward line:
"We are a little bit distracted because we lost this game, but we are not really distracted in the coming games because we know it's -- we were happy when we won our game LAFC, so if something like this has happened to us, we just need to take it at hand and just focus on the next game. Our front line, we still have the hope, the feeling, the ability to be really dangerous in the front line with Riqui (Puig), Marco (Reus), Pec (Gabriel Pec) and Berry (Miguel Berry). We are really focused and everybody is willing to give everything. As you can see, we do everything possible. Our front line, it's really unstoppable for a team to stop us. So we will just focus and keep believing in each other and I think everything will be possible."
LA GALAXY GOALKEEPER JOHN MCCARTHY
On tonight's game:
"You never want to give up a goal, let alone four. So it's one of those frustrating ones where I think they're preventable goals. We know that and Greg (Vanney) spoke it a briefly after the game. It's something we have to learn and grow from and get better. We have to quickly forget about this one and bounce back for a home game against Vancouver. Definitely frustrating, but sleep on it, get over it, and move on.”
On keeping track of standings:
"Obviously you know the standings and stuff like that. I check them after games. We knew where we were before the game and we knew where we were after the game. The only thing that matters is us. We can't control how other teams play or how other teams win or lose. We got to go out and perform and give it our best and win every game. That's the only thing we can control. It's on us. Our game is what will define us. That is how we get our winds. We can't worry about anything else."
On the team's scoring chances:
"I'm a goalkeeper. Guys are going to create chances and guys are going to get chances. It's my job to try keep the ball out of the net as best I can. Some nights they'll fall for us; some nights they won't. I thought we had a fair amount of chances in the game. That's just how it goes."
On tonight's loss as a "reality check":
"It was another game. You have to forget about, and we did forget about LAFC as soon as we got here and we're ready to go. You have to take it game by game, step by step, day by day. You can't look in the past and you can't look far ahead. I think I've said that before in a couple interviews. I'm a big believer in that. It's truly a day by day thing. We have to get our bodies right, getting in the facilities, and then look forward to Friday and then Saturday with Vancouver. Has to be day by day and game by game process, and you can't look back and can't look too far ahead."
On the team's mistakes in tonight's game:
"Mistakes are going to get made. That's life. It's a game of trying to limit your mistakes and as get as many opportunities as possible. Portland got the best of us today obviously with the three points. Mistakes will be made. Nobody is perfect. Everyone tries to hold them to the highest standard possible and push to be the best they can be. It can get frustrating, but it's just part of the game. We try to eliminate them as much as possible. We'll learn from it and move on together. That's the most important thing."
On the midfield being disconnected tonight:
"No, I think I'll piggyback on what Greg said. I think it did turn into maybe rushing going forward and turned into back and forth a little bit, and as a group we knew that. It's one of those things where everyone from myself, including to the forwards up front, there are moments we have to pick and chose. That comes down to a collective unit, picking and choosing moments to go forward. So it's one of those things where it turned into a bit of a track meet and played into Portland's favor. They're a very, very good team on the counterattack and they were able to catch us a few times get behind us. That's something we tried to prevent but Portland got the best of us tonight."
