Will this stretch of matches go down as the week the Los Angeles Galaxy’s 2023 season turned around?
Capping off a busy week with its third game at home against the Houston Dynamo, the Galaxy, having defeated Chicago last Saturday, then going up north and staging a rally to defeat the San Jose Earthquakes on Wednesday, looked to make it a perfect week, and it almost happened, as both teams played to a standstill for 90 minutes, and while the Galaxy did not get the win, it still earned a points as a result of its 0-0 draw at Dignity Health Sports Park.
“It’s always good to have a clean sheet but at the same time we are a bit lucky today,” Galaxy defender Maya Yoshida said. “Could be 1-nil down, 2-nil down and we need to improve like I said last press conference we need to reduce the careless mistakes in the midfield that we conceded last game against San Jose and today we could focus very well, but unsteady probably but in the end we got a clean sheet.
The result keeps the Galaxy (7-10-8, 29 points) well in the playoff chase, as they are five points behind FC Dallas for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
“I think as a collective week, it was a great week,” Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney said. “I mean, you put seven points together in three game weeks and you aggregate that over the season, you’re going to win the Supporters Shield. But, the third one at home, we would have loved to get three points out of this one. But, I felt like it was a game of lost opportunities in our attacks. We were able to, I think, pretty consistently, get into the attacking half of the field on several occasions.”
The Dynamo had the better chances in the first half. Houston’s first attempt came in the 32nd minute, as Hector Herrera launched a right-footed volley from about 26 yards out, Herrera aimed for the far post, but it just missed. Houston’s best chance to score first came in the 43rd minute, as Amine Bassi threaded a ball through the Galaxy defense that freed up Corey Baird for an open chance inside the Galaxy penalty area, Baird shot for goal, but Bond denied the shot, sending the ball back into play.
The chances between the two sides equaled out in the second half. Houston had the first good look, as Bassi found himself with a ball inside the penalty area, Bassi took a touch, then tried to chip a ball over Bond, but the Galaxy keeper was not fooled, and calmly parried the ball. The Galaxy had the next two chances, the first coming in the 56th minute, as Marky Delgado crossed into the penalty area and Tyler Boyd one-timed a ball at goal, but keeper Andrew Tarbell managed to stop the ball short of the goal line. The Galaxy’s next chance, which came in the 75th minute, was perhaps their best chance, as Michael Barrios played a cross to the left side, Daniel Aguirre squared up and fired the right-footed shot outside the penalty area, Tarbell made the save, but Billy Sharp got the rebound for the Galaxy, then backheeled a ball to Barrios, who fired the shot towards goal, but Tarbell again came up big, parrying the ball away from goal and the ball was eventually cleared out.
The momentum then swung back towards Houston. Herrera again looked to score from long distance in the 76th minute, as he fired a volley similar to his attempt in the first half from about the same distance, with the main difference was that this attempt was on target, but Bond did not flinch, saving the ball off his right hand. Herrera played the role of initial facilitator on the Dynamo’s next chance in the 79th minute, as he threaded a through ball to Adalberto Carrasquilla, and he broke for goal despite the Galaxy’s claim that he was offside. Nevertheless, Carrasquilla played a ball into the six-yard box to Aliyu Ibrahim, but Ibrahim’s shot missed near post.
“They (Houston Dynamo) have a lot of pace, they are very clean when they do break away and just having Maya [Yoshida], Chris [Mavinga] we try to organize as much as possible behind the ball and I thought we did that very well today,” Bond said. “They tried it a lot like 95 percent of their counterattacks we stopped and that obviously comes from being in good positions in possession as well so when we do give the ball away then everyone is in the right position and we can win the ball back.”
The Galaxy will next host St. Louis City SC next Sunday.
