Photos courtesy of LAFC.
Carlos Vela made his return to the LAFC lineup on Saturday afternoon.
Not much good things had come the LA Galaxy’s way in 2020.
The Galaxy went winless in its first two regular season matches before the shutdown, then in the MLS is back tournament, the Galaxy exited Orlando without a single win in its three group stage matches, with one of those losses being a 6-2 loss to cross-town rival LAFC.
So heading into the restart of the regular season against that same LAFC that was also welcoming back reigning league MVP Carlos Vela, and facing them on the road, one would assume that the Galaxy’s bad fortunes would continue.
Instead, the Galaxy pulled off the upset that could serve as a jumpstart to their season. Ethan Zubak and Julian Araujo led the way for the Galaxy, as Zubak’s opening goal and Araujo’s two assists enabled the Galaxy to leave Banc of California season with a 2-0 win.
“I think we saw the game, we analyzed the other team, and we worked hard the last two or three weeks after Orlando,” Galaxy head coach Guillermo Barros Schelotto said. “We always try to give 100 percent. But I didn’t feel the pressure to win or something else, because we know what we are doing. We know what moment we are on.”
The moment came for Zubak, the Galaxy Academy product, in the 26th minute. The Galaxy went short on a corner, Araujo sent a ball into the six-yard box and Zubak headed the ball past Keeper Ken Vermeer into the back net to stake the Galaxy to the lead.
“I am ecstatic to score the first goal in my career, but I want to shout out my whole team too because they made it all possible,” Zubak said. “For me to get a goal, it was a product of the whole team doing amazing, from every position. It was an awesome day and it made they made it very easy for me.”
The Galaxy carried the lead into the second half, then doubled it in the 54th minute, with Zubak and Araujo leading the way. Zubak sprung Araujo from the right side, Araujo then crossed into the penalty are and Sebastian Lletget fired a ball off the turf and past Vermeer, beating him far post.
Vela, who did not participate in the MLS is Back Tournament as he was awaiting the birth of his second child, played his first match for LAFC since March 8. The rust showed early in the second half, as he suddenly came up limping in the 58th minute and was eventually subbed off.
“Of course, when a player is out for a period of time, doesn’t get matches, even when you work hard, it’s not possible to be in top form,” LAFC head coach Bob Bradley said. “Carlos, with his experience, he was so excited to play, but he knows that how we need to get him back, and now we’ve had a little setback today with the possible MCL.”
Saturday’s match marked the beginning of a busy week for both the Galaxy and LAFC. The Galaxy will its first home match of the restart on Wednesday against Seattle, while LAFC travels to Utah to face Real Salt Lake, also on Wednesday.
