Photo courtesy of the LA Galaxy.
Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez was the star again for the Galaxy on Sunday afternoon against NYCFC.
Chicharito to the rescue again for the Los Angeles Galaxy.
Any thought, any notion that the season Javier Hernandez had in 2021 in which he scored 17 goals despite missing 13 games due to injury were declared null and void for the opening week of the MLS season. Chicharito was the man again for the Galaxy on Sunday against reigning champion New York City FC, as his last-minute score got the Galaxy over NYCFC on Sunday afternoon at Dignity Health Sports Park.
“I thought it was a hard fought game,” LA Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney said. “I don’t think there was a ton of space for either team through large stretches. Neither team had a ton of chances. For us, it looked a little bit like our first competitive game, just in terms of the work was there, the competition was there. Some things just needed to be a little sharper, a little more dynamic. I think us still getting our 90 minutes of MLS match fitness is still a work in progress for everybody.”
The moment finally came for Chicharito and the Galaxy in the 90th minute. Raheem Edwards intercepted a pass from Keaton Parks and found Chicharito on a short pass inside the penalty area. Chicharito deked Maxime Chanot before firing the shot past keeper Sean Johnson far post. New York did have one golden chance to snatch the points right back from the Galaxy in stoppage time when Parks won a ball that ended up at the feet of Heber, who then fired a shot that got past keeper Jonathan Bond, but just barely missed the far post.
“I thought in the split of a second that I had the opportunity to shoot with my left and because in the other chance that the goalkeeper saved, the shot that I did with the first touch, so I thought that the defender was going to dive trying to, to, to stop the shot you know. But then I was lucky enough to that the other defender just had a slight touch of the ball,” Chicharito said.
The match saw the debut of the Galaxy’s latest high-profile acquisition in Brazilian midfielder Douglas Costa. Costa had his first scoring chance in a Galaxy shirt in the 6th minute, as he received a ball from Victor Vazquez, made a deke move outside, then fired a left-footed volley that curled dangerously towards goa, but Johnson calmly parried the ball away from goal. In the 33rd minute, Costa fought off a challenge from Malte Amundsen, then played Kevin Cabral into the penalty area, Cabral fired the shot, but Johnson was able to make the save.
Photo courtesy of the LA Galaxy.
Galaxy fans finally got to see Douglas Costa play in a Galaxy shirt on Sunday.
If anything was taken out of Sunday’s game, it was that the main formula will be as Chicharito goes, so does the LA Galaxy. After a disappointing first season in a Galaxy shirt in 2020, Chicharito reestablished his reputation as one of the world’s best soring threats in 2021, as he scored 10 goals inside the first two months of the 2021 season, and the Galaxy rode Chicharito’s hot start to a top four spot in the Western Conference standings, where they remained for a lot of the season. Things however shifted dramatically for both player and team, as Chicharito missed all of July and August with a hamstring injury, and his absence was ultimately felt. The team initially maintained its playoff position, but then went through a two-month winless that saw the Galaxy go from a surefire playoff berth to suddenly fighting for its playoff lives.
Not even Chicharito’s return to the starting 11 and with it his goal-scoring touch, was enough to keep the Galaxy out of the playoff picture for the fourth time in five seasons. The Galaxy are hoping the addition of Douglas Costa will take some of the burden off Chicharito’s shoulders. While not known as a goal scorer, the Galaxy do hope Costa’s playmaking abilities could at the very least give Chicharito, as well as other players on the Galaxy, more chances to score goals.
“You see his quality and some of his actions on the ball. Some of the moments that he does things,” Vanney said of Costa’s play. “You see quality and he’s an intelligent player. Again, this is the first match he’s played in a long time. He didn’t have a lot of preseason matches. The only way we’re going to get him with continuity in the group and get his legs under him, is to get him out, and have him playing.”
The Galaxy will next get their first look at expansion side Charlotte FC next Saturday in its first ever trip to North Carolina.
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