The absence of Gabriel Pec, along with the transitional defensive struggles, proved disastrous for the LA Galaxy (1-2-1) in its 2-1 loss against Sporting Kansas City (1-2-1). The Brazilian forward was not eligible to play due to serving a red-card suspension from LA’s match against the Colorado Rapids. The Galaxy finished the match with 10 corner kicks, five shots on target, and 15 shots in total. “I mean, if you look at the stats, more shots on goal, more possession. I think we controlled the game for almost 90 minutes and gave up almost nothing,” LA Galaxy Midfielder Erik Thommy said. “I think [we had] 20 shots, and you need to finish them. Then the game looks completely different. Despite LA’s Marco Reus’ late goal efforts, the goal was not enough to avoid a loss at Dignity Health Sports Park. The Galaxy’s only goal came from a wild sequence that started with LA Galaxy midfielder Edwin Cerrillo. Cerrillo’s shot hit the side of the post that then deflected towards Galaxy’s Matheus Nascimento, whose shot was saved by Kansas City’s goalkeeper, who later hit the crossbar. In the right place, at the right time, Reus scored his first goal of 2026 with a header to cut Kansas City’s lead to 2-1. Just before half time, the Galaxy allowed Kansas City’s Dejan Joveljić to score during a transitional attack after the Serbian striker cut inside with a shot that snuck past LA’s Novak Mićović in stoppage time. Kansas City doubled its lead after another transitional attack towards LA’s goal after Joveljić’s creative play set up an unmarked Lasse Berg Johnsen to score in the 74th minute.
The Galaxy have three matches so far this season where they did not score in the first half.
“We needed to score in the first half. Big opportunities in the second half. Instead, [Kansas City] have only three, four shots on target, and they score two. It was very soft, as well,” Galaxy Defender Maya Yoshida said. “We shouldn't have lost today. We played well and dominated the game and played almost double [the amount of] time passing against them, but finishing is the most difficult and important part of soccer.” The Galaxy has allowed seven goals so far in the 2026 season. The majority of the goals against the Galaxy have come from a disadvantage in numbers when in transition, leading to players being out of position or large pockets of spaces within the backline. “The biggest thing ideally is you've got to manage transition moments, and you've got to get ahead in those games,” Galaxy Head Coach Greg Vanney said. “When [Kansas City] go back to five in the back, with our crew, it's how do we recognize that and get an extra number up high but still be able to control the counterattack situations. We still have to be able to defend the counterattack.” LA Galaxy will go into the second leg of their Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16 match against Mount Pleasant with a 3-0 advantage in Kingston, Jamaica, on March 19 at 6:00 p.m. CST.
The Galaxy have three matches so far this season where they did not score in the first half.
“We needed to score in the first half. Big opportunities in the second half. Instead, [Kansas City] have only three, four shots on target, and they score two. It was very soft, as well,” Galaxy Defender Maya Yoshida said. “We shouldn't have lost today. We played well and dominated the game and played almost double [the amount of] time passing against them, but finishing is the most difficult and important part of soccer.” The Galaxy has allowed seven goals so far in the 2026 season. The majority of the goals against the Galaxy have come from a disadvantage in numbers when in transition, leading to players being out of position or large pockets of spaces within the backline. “The biggest thing ideally is you've got to manage transition moments, and you've got to get ahead in those games,” Galaxy Head Coach Greg Vanney said. “When [Kansas City] go back to five in the back, with our crew, it's how do we recognize that and get an extra number up high but still be able to control the counterattack situations. We still have to be able to defend the counterattack.” LA Galaxy will go into the second leg of their Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16 match against Mount Pleasant with a 3-0 advantage in Kingston, Jamaica, on March 19 at 6:00 p.m. CST.
