Carson, California. The LA Galaxy defeated the New York Red Bulls 2-1 on Saturday to win their record sixth MLSCup title, thanks to goals from Joseph Paintsil and Dejan Joveljic in the first half.
The Galaxy raised their league’s biggest trophy for the first time since 2014 after scoring twice in the opening 13 minutes of the final thanks to goals from their star forwards. They maintained their lead through a scoreless second half.
The most successful team in Major League Soccer suffered throughout the most of the following ten years, even placing 26th out of the league’s 29 teams last season. With a high-scoring new roster that finished second in the Western Conference and then dominated the playoffs with an incredible 18 goals in five games to win another championship, the Galaxy, however, completely changed their fortunes this season.
One victory short of their first Cup title, the seventh-seeded Red Bulls’ unlikely playoff run came to an end thanks to a goal from Sean Nealis. Under first-year German coach Sandro Schwarz, New York, with the league’s youngest roster, narrowly missed becoming the lowest-seeded team to win the MLS postseason tournament.
John McCarthy, the Galaxy’s goalie, won his second MLS championship in three seasons with four saves. He was named the 2022 MLS Cup Final MVP for Los Angeles FC, the Galaxy’s crosstown rival.
Without what may have been their most crucial player, the Galaxy won this championship. In the Western Conference final last week, Barcelona’s playmaking midfielder Riqui Puig, who led their offense brilliantly the whole season, tore a ligament in his knee.
Even though Puig was wearing a suit, his teammates weren’t forgetting him. Paintsil showed up Puig’s shirt to their supporters during the celebration after his replacement, Gast n Brugman, set up LA’s first goal with a spectacular ball.
In the ninth minute of the Galaxy’s incredible debut season, Paintsil scored his 14th MLS goal—including four in the playoffs—after sprinting onto that incredible feed from Brugman.
Joveljic scored his 21st goal of the Galaxy’s stellar season just four minutes later after racing past four New York defenders.
After a corner, Nealis volleyed home a ball that had gotten loose in LA’s penalty area to put New York on the scoreboard in the 28th minute. Before reaching halftime with a slim advantage, the Galaxy’s typically fragile defense handed up a few more decent chances.
Despite being scoreless, the second half was exciting. In the 72nd minute, Red Bulls captain Emil Forsberg struck the outside of the post, and a few seconds later, Gabriel Pec and Galaxy substitute Marco Reus came close to scoring.
In the third minute of extra time, the Galaxy’s penalty area saw another lost ball, but two Red Bulls were unable to finish. In the seventh minute of injury time, the Galaxy bench hurried onto the field and celebrated an early victory, only to be repelled for another half-hour of play.
With a sellout audience of 26,812 for the final, the Galaxy ended 17-0-3 this season at its often-renamed suburban stadium. Among the enthusiastic cheering sections were traveling Red Bulls fans hoping to witness their New Jersey-based team’s debut on the grandest platform in Major League Soccer.
Greg Vanney of the Galaxy became the fourth coach to lead two teams to an MLS championship. In 2017, the former Galaxy player won the championship with Toronto as also.
This season, the team that was known for hiring international stars like David Beckham, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Robbie Keane, and Javier Chicharito Hernandez rebuilt itself using lesser-known young players from all around the world.
Together with the current Serbian striker Joveljic, the Galaxy acquired Ghanaian Paintsil from Belgium and Pec from Brazil, creating a formidable assault that could outscore nearly any MLS opponent.
However, the Galaxy also made extensive use of Puig, one of the top players in MLS and their Catalan catalyst. After suffering a knee injury, Puig continued to play in last week’s match and even gave Joveljic the game-winning assist that resulted in the game’s lone goal.
Greg Beacham, Sports Writer for AP
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