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LA Galaxy

LA Galaxy Earn 0-0 Shutout Draw Against Charlotte FC at Bank of America Stadium on Saturday Night

May 18, 2024 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
LA Galaxy News Release


CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Playing in their ninth road game through the first 14 games played to begin the 2024 campaign, the LA Galaxy earned a 0-0 shutout draw against Charlotte FC before 29,099 fans at Bank of America Stadium on Saturday night.

Road Form

In nine road matches played during the 2024 MLS Regular Season, the LA Galaxy hold a record of 3-2-4 (14 GF, 12 GA). Additionally, the Galaxy are unbeaten in their last three matches played on the road (0-0-3, 2 GF, 2 GA) dating back to May 5, and have posted two shutouts during that span.

Goal-Scoring Plays

None

Postgame Notes

Through 14 matches played during the 2024 MLS Regular Season, the LA Galaxy hold a 5-2-7 record (25 GF, 21 GA; 21 points).

Saturday's road match at Bank of America Stadium marked the third all-time regular season meeting between the Galaxy and Charlotte FC, with the series tied 1-1-1 (1 GF, 1 GA).

In two all-time matches played at Bank of America Stadium, the Galaxy hold an unbeaten record of 1-0-1 (1 GF, 0 GA).

In nine road matches played during the 2024 MLS Regular Season, the LA Galaxy hold a record of 3-2-4 (14 GF, 12 GA).

Additionally, the Galaxy are unbeaten in their last three matches played on the road (0-0-3, 2 GF, 2 GA) dating back to May 5, and have posted two shutouts during that span.

The Galaxy completed 704 of 754 passes (93.4%) in the match against Charlotte, and held a 66.6% possession advantage.

In his first start for the Galaxy during the 2024 campaign, goalkeeper Novak Mićović recorded two saves and posted his first career shutout for LA in the match against Charlotte.

Riqui Puig attempted a MLS season-high 147 passes, completed 134 passes (91.2%), won four of six duels and was fouled twice in the draw against Charlotte.

Jalen Neal won three of four tackles, four of five duels and two possessions, recorded three clearances and completed 86 of 89 passes (96.6%) in the draw at Charlotte.

Maya Yoshida won three of four duels, three of three arial duels and four possessions and registered a game-high six clearances against Charlotte.

Next Game

Next up, the LA Galaxy play host to Houston Dynamo FC at Dignity Health Sports Park on Saturday, May 25 (7:30 p.m. PT, MLS Season Pass on Apple TV).

2024 MLS Regular Season

LA Galaxy (5-2-7, 22pts) at Charlotte FC (6-5-3, 21pts)

Saturday, May 18, 2024 - Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte, N.C.)

Goals by Half 1 2 F

LA Galaxy 0 0 0

Charlotte FC 0 0 0

Scoring Summary:

None

Misconduct Summary:

LA: Aude (caution), 29

CLT: Dejaegere (caution), 31

CLT: Bronico (caution), 82

Lineups:

LA: GK Novak Mićović; D Miki Yamane, D Maya Yoshida ©, D Jalen Neal, D Julián Aude (John Nelson, 63); M Mark Delgado (Gastón Brugman, 63), M Edwin Cerrillo (Daniel Aguirre, 63), M Riqui Puig, F Gabriel Pec, F Diego Fagundez, F Dejan Joveljić

Substitutes Not Used: GK John McCarthy; D Mauricio Cuevas, D Martin Cáceres, D Emiro Garces; M Jonathan Pérez, F Miguel Berry

TOTAL SHOTS: 18 (Dejan Joveljić, Gabriel Pec, 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 5 (Gabriel Pec, 2); FOULS: 9 (Three players tied, 2); OFFSIDES: 2; CORNER KICKS: 7; SAVES: 2

CLT: GK Kristijan Kahlina; D Nathan Byrne, D Joao Pedro, D Adilson Malanda; M Ashley Westwood ©, M Brecht Dejaegere (Tyger Smalls, 64), M Brandt Bronico, M Djibril Diani (Nikola Petkovic, 65), M Andrew Privett; F Kerwin Vargas (Iuri Tavares, 86), F Patrick Agyemang (Scott Arfield, 79)

Substitutes Not Used: GK David Bingham; D Hamady Diop, D Jaylen Lindsey, D Bill Tuiloma; M Junior Urso

TOTAL SHOTS: 12 (Brandt Bronico, 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 2 (Djibril Diani, Nikola Petkovic, 2); FOULS: 8 (Joao Paolo, 2); OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 2; SAVES: 5

Referee: Joe Dickerson

Assistant Referees: Jeffrey Swartzel, Walt Heatherly

Fourth Official: Marcos DeOliveira

VAR: Alejandro Mariscal

Weather: Partly Cloudy, 76 degrees

Attendance: 29,099

All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial

LA GALAXY POSTGAME QUOTES

LA GALAXY HEAD COACH GREG VANNEY

On tonight's match and not getting offensive production:

"Our possession play was pretty solid. We were able to move the ball around. We were able to get to two-thirds maybe of the field to good spots. Sometimes when we got into the final action, I feel like we rushed crosses or rushed moments that weren't really great. We didn't really give ourselves a chance to get numbers in the box and some of those attacks just kind of died. And then I thought in the grand scheme of things, we also had the chance to win the game. Gabe (Gabriel Pec) has an incredible chance there at the end, but I think he's got to finish and he would probably tell you the same thing. Maya (Maya Yoshida) has a header; the defender does a good job to get a good piece of him -- that he's trying to get a piece of. There were not a ton of really great clean chances, but we were in good spots. To be fair, we were also, with our possession, forcing them into a lower block and they had numbers in their half of the field, and it became an exercise of breaking down what was a pretty tight group. I thought we didn't concede many moments where we were in turnovers in these huge transitions. Having said that, I feel like it's too easy to get into our half of the field and we are dealing with things around the top our box and that's when we are getting really compact and managing stuff. I feel like we've got to do a little bit more in the transition phases to really reconnect and take away the verticality of the game so that the opposition doesn't so quickly and sometimes easily get to our half of the field. Some of that is how we finish the attacks and some of is just our reactions and ability to reconnect a little bit faster. By and large, third game this week and two on the road all the way across the Eastern Conference. I give the guys a lot of credit. I thought we controlled a lot of the match, even though we were doing things defensively a little lower, I thought we were in control of things. It's a good point."

On the team managing the long road trip:

"I thought we managed the road trip pretty well. I think midweek, first half, we looked a little sluggish and didn't look so good in parts there. I felt like we just were a little bit behind the pace of things. They had the weekend off and we got to the weekend with having played -- or got to midweek having played on the weekend. I felt like we were a little bit behind the pace. Having said that, we came out in the second half and got the lead. Obviously wish we would have closed that one out and dealt with the situation because then we would have snagged three points. Nevertheless, we got back to this game which is a lot of time in hotels and laying around and trying to keep guys busy. It's easy to sometimes on these trips just feel like really lazy and lethargic and I thought the guys came out with good energy. I thought we found nice solutions. Everyone who was called upon stepped up and did what they were asked to do. I thought we managed things pretty well. The two things, we dropped two points at home, which is where we have to be getting our results. I would have loved us to close out Minnesota because there was not a ton of time on the clock. I wish we would have shut that one down. Some points to go, but we also played with eight or nine games on the road so far and like five at home; it's not the easiest to catch momentum when you are playing on the road so much. Now we turn around and have four or five at home, or something like that, coming up. This is a big phase for us to really build some momentum in all ways being in front of our fans and being at home for this next stretch. Obviously we've got to go on the road once more, but hopefully build on the momentum and get some points."

On forward Joseph Paintsil's status:

"Joe (Joseph Paintsil), slight hamstring strain. It's not horrible. So obviously (will) be a few weeks is where we are at right now. We'll see. Going to see how quickly he responds to certain things, but we'll see where he's at. It's not big, but it's significant. It's tough on Joe because coming off the season he's had, he's already played 44, 45 games in this season from starting in August with his club to where he is now, which is the end of the European season. Unfortunately, in that last game, he took something. We were trying to get him to June to give him rest and know that it's going to start accumulating. Now, he takes forced rest and it won't hurt him. He needs a break, anyway, to recharge as we go into the middle third and final third of season."

On forward Gabriel Pec:

"I thought he got a lot of the ball and I thought he was in the best position to make a difference tonight in terms of opportunities, in terms of space to run. Their left back was really narrow and they gave Gabriel a real opportunity to dive in behind him and tried to create some problems, whether that's to finish or whether that was to get to crossing positions. I thought the opportunities were there for him to make a difference. I'd still like to see him run without the ball a little more to really build speed and angle his runs in towards the goal because I think he'll have more opportunities on goal, especially on a night like tonight. And then he had one that came across the field that was really set up for him and I know he's going to tell you he should finish that and he should. I felt that he had the position on the night to really make a difference based on where the space was and where the opportunities existed but unfortunately, he wasn't able to make that final difference. I thought it was a pretty solid performance but I think we'll both say, he and I, that he could have made the difference in the game and we could have gone home with the three points."

On goalkeeper Novak Mićović's first start of the season:

"It was preplanned, road trip, third game in the week, Eastern Conference. But courtesy of MLS, we don't have the Open Cup this season to be able to get both of our keepers games. So we have to manufacture some experience because the kid's got a lot of talent, and we've got to bring him along and he's got to play in order to do some of that. So, we look in the schedule. This was a clear one and an easy one to get him the opportunity. I thought -- minus the concentration brain fart there at the end when he went to control the ball, it rolled under his foot -- I thought he had a very solid game. I thought his choices, they didn't have to deal with a ton of super high press, but I thought the choices in his build were very good. His distribution choices I thought were smart and good. And he made the saves that he needed to make and there wasn't a ton of big crazy saves that he had to make but I thought he managed the box and managed all his situations well. I thought it was a very solid night for him and he deserved the start. Happy for him."

On tempo and control of the game:

"I think from a control standpoint, I felt like our positional awareness was really good. Even though guys were doing a little bit of place changing and there were some rotations happening, I felt like we were in good spots. I thought our general discipline in terms of our choices and being solid in possession, even though spaces were a little bit tight when we forced them into a lower block, I thought we were pretty responsible with the ball for the night which really limited their chances of breaking out and trying to counter against us with the size and speed they had. We really minimized those. I thought the collective awareness and positioning was really good and that meant that there were solutions all over the field for us in the possession phase. Now the next key is just transitioning out of possession to create the attack to get the guys to where they need to be in the final action, and that was maybe a little bit that wasn't quite as sharp through the whole night. Again, we had a couple chances to maybe win the game. The one thing we worked on or we just talked about at halftime was getting Miki (Yamane) to come inside and narrow up his position a little bit more after we built the initial part of the attack, just getting him really inside so that when we needed to counter press, we closed up the field a little bit more and he made the adjustment. I thought we were more stable in that way as well."

LA GALAXY GOALKEEPER NOVAK MIÆOVIÆ

On playing his first game of the season:

"I'm happy to have my first game in the season and I hope to play more in the season."

On his comfort level coming in to play in the middle of a road trip:

"In the game, first ten minutes, I'm good, I'm good. But first game in the season for me, and great, great feeling."

On the defense:

"Great stuff for Maya (Yoshida), for Jalen (Neal). I hope next time, the same. Same stuff."

On the long road trip:

"Good to earn points on the road but next time, next week, important game at home. Important three points."

LA GALAXY DEFENDER MAYA YOSHIDA

On tonight's match and not getting a win:

"Of course we wanted to win this game because we didn't win in a long time. And probably we could win today. We had so much opportunity and we dominated the game. Unfortunately, we couldn't score. Good point is we made another clean sheet, which is very important to build up our confidence for the defender, the defense. So that's the good part. But to be fair, as Coach (Greg Vanney) already mentioned, we travel(ed) like 4,500 miles this week, very tough for me, maybe easier for young players. Now we have many home games coming up. We need to get those three points as much as possible to stay in the good place in the table."

On the team not winning in now five consecutive matches:

"It's a tough period for us now. It's not a disaster but obviously not (a) great moment, to be honest. We are on the edge. It could be worse; could be better. We hope to be better for sure. That's why (the) next home games (are) very important. We go right back to L.A. and refresh and prepare for the good game at home. It's going to be a must (win) game for us, great opportunity, and will be a great atmosphere in the stadium. So, we'll see."

On clean sheets and improvements:

"I think we still need to improve. Today, they drop a lot and they didn't press high. We could dominate most of the time in the game. So only a few moments, opportunity they had from our mistakes. So very solid, good solidarity. Even though -- for the other players, it's very important for us to build up the confidence. As I (said), the last game, we conceded the last game with set piece, and we still need to improve things from defending side and attacking side. We still have a long way to improve, a lot."

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