Galaxy's defense stands tall in victorious return to action against Club América
Sergio Gonzalez
Host · Writer
Nearly two months ago before the World Cup break began, the LA Galaxy had started to come together in looking more and more like a complete team.
In Saturday’s friendly match against Club América, the team’s first game action since the end of May, the Galaxy picked up where they left off against one of Liga MX’s finest in a 1-0 clean sheet victory at home.
The international club friendly meant the Galaxy’s objective going into the game was simple — build a foundation of momentum ahead of their El Tràfico match against LAFC this upcoming Friday.
For Head Coach Greg Vanney, Saturday’s effort marked a positive step forward towards the team’s return to league action. The hard-fought victory served as an ideal warm-up match, as he even held steady on substitutions with the game’s pressure.
“Building that sort of resiliency down the stretch like that, you can’t do that in training with the emotion that was in the game,” Vanney said. “You can’t do it, so we just left the guys and let them work through it, and they did a great job.”
A defensive line that was not at its full strength stepped up to hold off a Club América squad that was backed by a sea of yellow in the stands. With a second half lead, the team fell back defensively to hold off multiple threats.
Even with the absence of starting goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski and defenseman Harbor Miller, the Galaxy defense stood tall. Vanney said the two were both sidelined due to injuries suffered in training, but both will be ready to play against LAFC on Friday.
The Galaxy defense backed the team’s lone goal from Joseph Paintsil, who put the team ahead at the 25th minute when he controlled a loose ball with space on the right side and pocketed the ball into the net.
Playing just the first 45 minutes, Paintsil looked dominant on the right wing in creating space multiple times against the Eagles. Most importantly, he looked very comfortable in the position he once called home over a couple of years ago.
“It feels so good to be back on the field of play and to play again on the right side,” Paintsil said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve played there.”
Not only was Paintsil’s presence in the first half dominant, it was also huge for the Galaxy after they lost Gabriel Pec via transfer last week, who had been anchor for the right wing.
Paintsil understands the task and opportunity at hand, a vowing to take on the offensive load Pec carried at the position.
“I promise to take care of what he left, even though it is going to be a heavy task for me, but I know with the help of Marco (Reus), with the help of the team, no matter what, I think we are going to pull a lot of surprises,” Paintsil said.
Vanney had a lot of positives to take away from Saturday’s effort, presenting a rare chance to grow within game action rather than training ahead of one of the Galaxy’s most important matchups of the year looming.
Looking ahead to El Tràfico, Vanney put his feelings clear towards the team’s trajectory and overall readiness to hop back into league action, fresh off of a high-note victory.
“It’s hard to say. I feel like the group is ready,” Vanney said. “I mean, tonight is a big step forward. I feel good because you get to see where guys are tonight in a real game.”
