LA Galaxy Still Seeking Road Win After Wasted Portland Chance

PORTLAND — It’s no secret the LA Galaxy hasn’t been great on the road.

Against their Matchday five opponent, Portland Timbers, they’ve been even a bit worse in recent memory. 

The Galaxy hasn’t won away against the Timbers since April 2022.

A red card to Portland’s Kamal Miller in the 20th minute of the Timbers vs. Galaxy match gave LA their biggest opportunity since they had five stars to break that streak. 

But the hosts held on resolutely for over 70 minutes at Providence Park on Sunday, March 22nd. The Timbers rode a standout performance by Goalkeeper James Pantemis, who made six saves, to preserve a 1-1 scoreline and ensure that the Timbers would steal a point despite being down to 10 men for a majority of the contest. 

+1 on the road pic.twitter.com/JOqtoiXUdS

— LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) March 22, 2026

“Yeah. I mean, it’s a huge opportunity lost, right, missed,” LA Galaxy Head Coach Greg Vanney confessed in a post match press conference after the 1-1 draw. 

“And so it doesn’t, doesn’t, it doesn’t sit well because the amount of time that we’re up and we were into some really good positions and and we don’t take advantage of some of those situations.”

The tie means the Galaxy still seek their first win on the road since Wednesday, October 2, 2024, where they beat the Rapids 3-1 away. In a season full of unwanted records, the 2025 Galaxy didn’t win once as a visitor the entire season. 

And the chance to get a win on the road against a Portland team that has played poorly this year, that was down to 10 men, and come away with only one point, was a chance wasted.

LA Galaxy Midfielder Edwin Cerrillo urged his teammates on after the draw. 

“This is time for us to win. And every time we don’t come out with something, or we don’t come out winning, we’re disappointed, and I think that’s only going to help us, especially going forward,” Cerrillo told The Sporting Tribune. The FC Dallas product explained that the entire locker room feels let down after the missed chance.

“I know within the team, you know we’re all disappointed, and we’re all hard on each other, and we know each of us has to go out there and and give a little bit more.”

Vanney for his part shared with The Sporting Tribune that he and the team aren’t focused on the Galaxy’s poor road form that bled into this year.

“I don’t think the team thinks about it, because this team is, is a different team than last year, and it’s an early part of of the season, so there’s, I don’t think there’s enough, enough in it for us this year to be too concerned about that,” Vanney explained.

But he did confess he was more worried about the performance itself.

After Antony fed Kristoffer Velde for Portland’s newest designated player to get his first goal for his new team in the 13th minute, the game would flip just seven minutes later. The Galaxy would equalize through a lovely Marco Reus backheel that found Joao Klauss for a 30th minute goal.

But try as they might, the G’s just couldn’t find the winning goal, and as a result, leave two more points on the MLS cutting floor. 

“I think it goes back to what I said before, right? Everything, that you’re doing on the road has to be better,” Vanney said of the road draw. 

“Mentality, stronger, better decisions, like it’s just things that sometimes flow naturally at home, or you just have to work for a little bit better on the road. And I feel like that’s something, again, this team needs to keep, keep digging for, it’s there.”

The Galaxy’s next road test is an even bigger challenge. 

They will travel to Mexico to face Liga MX Champions, Toluca, in the Quarterfinal round of the Concacaf Champions Cup. And they most likely won’t play up a man for 70 minutes.

“We’ve got to just, we’ve got to be, as I said to the guys, we’ve got to be better at being like killers when it comes to meaning, to use that word loosely on this, but when it comes to, like, winning games and taking points,” Vanney said of the upcoming tie.