After 57 eventful minutes in which both teams had its chances, but the match still remained scoreless, it was Leon who had the breakthrough in the 58th minute. After a slow buildup Oscar Villa sent a ball over the Galaxy backline, Mena timed his run just right to keep himself onside and thus get behind the defense, Mena let the ball bounce inside the box before one-timing a shot past keeper Novak Micovic into the back net to give Leon the lead.
“I mean, it’s weak side defending, is what it is,” Vanney said. “And we talked about it going into this game. Their team that likes to cross their team. Their team likes to get switches of play. Guys on the weak side, and, this particular situation, Ra [Raheem Edwards], specifically, I think, Uri [Rosell] was kind of in that area, he was in that side. But as they switch and the players on the backside of it run through the line, we don’t track the run or manage the run. And when he runs through, he ends up unmarked and in on the goal.”
The Galaxy looked for the equalizer soon after. Its first chance coming the 63rd minute, as Raheem Edwards sent a ball into the penalty area, Dejan Joveljic got behind the Leon defense and touched a ball looking to sneak a ball past keeper Rodolfo Cota, but Cota’s quick reflexes enabled him to make the save. The Galaxy’s next best chance to level matters came in the 85th minute, as Riqui Puig sent a long ball into the penalty area, Kevin Leerdum get behind the Leon defense and was open inside the six-yard box, Leerdum shot for the near post, but hit the side netting.
“I was expecting a bit more just from the environment standpoint,” Galaxy defender Jalen Neal said. “Going up against Leon, we all knew it was going to be intense, all these Liga MX teams. The intensity was good. I liked it. I like these intense games; I like playing them. Fast paced, high intensity. I love it.”
While the first half saw no goals, it wasn’t for a lack of effort by either side. The Galaxy got its first chance two minutes in, as Douglas Costa found Boyd inside the penalty area on the left side, Boyd took the right-footed shot, but was saved by Cota. Leon got its first chance in the 12th minute, as Mena played a ball to Omar Fernandez, who then crossed into the penalty area, Brian Rubio sent a header right a goal, Micovic parried the ball away and Daniel Aguirre managed to clear the ball into the stands before Jaine Barreiro could come in for a potential rebound chance.
The opportunities kept coming for Leon and the Galaxy. Rubio had the next two chances for Leon, the first coming in the 17th minute, as Ivan Moreno sent a long ball forward, Galaxy center back Jalen Neal initially headed a ball, but it continued forward and Rubio tracked the ball, then sent a dangerous header that just missed the far post. Then in the 42nd minute received a ball from Osvaldo Rodriguez, Rubio sent the ball right at goal, but Micovic made the save and also held onto the ball before Ruiz could pounce on a rebound chance. The Galaxy had a chance themselves just before the half, as Puig played a ball forward, Boyd kept himself onside as did Aguirre, who was in the center lane, but Boyd chose to shoot the ball and missed at the near post.
