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MLS LA Galaxy

LA Galaxy Earn 1-0 Shutout Win over Nashville SC in Front of Sell-Out Crowd at Dignity Health Sports Park on Saturday Night

April 24, 2022 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
LA Galaxy News Release


LOS ANGELES - Playing in front of a sell-out crowd of 26,674 fans at Dignity Health Sports Park, the LA Galaxy earned a 1-0 shutout victory over Nashville SC on Saturday night. Dejan Joveljić scored the game-winning goal, while Jonathan Bond registered his fourth shutout of the season.

LA Galaxy Unbeaten Run

The Galaxy extended their unbeaten run to five matches (4-0-1) across all competitions dating back to April 3, outscoring their opponents 7-2 during that span. Over the five-match unbeaten run, LA has gone 3-0-0 at Dignity Health Sports Park.

LA Galaxy Improved Defense

Through eight regular-season matches played during the 2022 campaign, the Galaxy have posted four shutouts and have faced the fifth fewest shots on goal (23) in MLS this year. LA has allowed only six goals through eight games played this year, while the club allowed 13 goals through the first eight games during the 2021 campaign.

Goal-Scoring Plays

Dejan Joveljić (Derrick Williams) 86th minute - After a Julián Araujo looped a cross into the box, Séga Coulibaly headed the ball down to Derrick Williams. Williams slid the ball over to the left side of the penalty area to Joveljić, whose low shot found the far corner of the net.

Postgame Notes

Saturday's match marked the first-ever meeting between the LA Galaxy and Nashville SC.

With the win over Nashville, the Galaxy moved up to third place in the Western Conference standings.

LA extended its unbeaten run to five matches (4-0-1) across all competitions dating back to April 3, outscoring its opponents 7-2 during that span.

In five matches played at Dignity Health Sports Park across all competitions this year, the Galaxy hold a record of 4-1-0.

Following the win, LA improved to 3-1-0 against Western Conference opponents this season.

The Galaxy have kept a clean sheet in four of their eight matches in league play this year, with only Orlando City SC (5) and Chicago Fire FC (5) posting more this season.

Dejan Joveljić tallied his first goal of the 2022 campaign.

Derrick Williams notched his first assist of the season.

Jonathan Bond ranks tied for third in the league in shutouts (4) in 2022.

As a team, LA ranks tied for second in the league in shots that have hit the woodwork (4) this season.

The match against Nashville marked Raheem Edwards' 100th MLS regular-season appearance.

Edwards finished the match with a game-high four tackles won.

Mark Delgado ended the match with a game-high three chances created and four interceptions.

Séga Coulibaly registered a game-high 12 possessions won.

Samuel Grandsir has played in 43 consecutive matches across all competitions for the Galaxy dating back to April 18, 2021.

Five different players have scored a goal in league play for the Galaxy this year.

The Galaxy sold out Dignity Health Sports Park for a fourth consecutive match to begin the 2022 MLS Regular Season.

Next Game

Next up, the Galaxy travel to face Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday, April 30. The April 30 match kicks off at 12:30 p.m. PT and will be streamed live on ESPN+. .

LA Galaxy (5-2-1, 16pts) vs. Nashville SC (3-3-2, 11pts)

April 23, 2022 - Dignity Health Sports Park (Los Angeles)

Goals by Half 1 2 3

LA Galaxy 0 1 1

Nashville SC 0 0 0

Scoring Summary:

Joveljić (Williams), 86

Misconduct Summary:

LA: Chicharito (caution), 89

LA: Joveljić (caution), 87

Lineups:

LA: GK Jonathan Bond; D Julián Araujo, D Séga Coulibaly, D Derrick Williams, D Raheem Edwards; M Samuel Grandsir (Douglas Costa, 58), M Mark Delgado, M Rayan Raveloson, M Efraín Álvarez; F Kévin Cabral (Dejan Joveljić, 78), F Javier "Chicharito" Hernández © (Sacha Kjlestan, 90)

Substitutes Not Used: GK Jonathan Klinsmann; D Nick DePuy, D Eriq Zavaleta, D Kelvin Leerdam; M Daniel Aguirre, M Jonathan Pérez

TOTAL SHOTS: 16 (Efrain Álvarez, Douglas Costa, 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 6 (Efrain Álvarez, Douglas Costa, 2); FOULS: 11 (Séga Coulibaly, 2) OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 5; SAVES: 1

NSH: GK Joe Willis; D Daniel Lovitz, D Dave Romney, D Jack Maher, D Walker Zimmerman ©; M Hany Mukhtar, M Alex Muyl, M Anibal Godoy (Brian Anunga, 77), M Sean Davis; F Randall Leal (Luke Haakenson, 87), F CJ Sapong (Ake Loba, 87)

Substitutes Not Used: GK Bryan Meredith; D Eric Miller, D Taylor Washington; M Ahmed Longmire; F Handwalla, F Ethan Zubak

TOTAL SHOTS: 4 (Four players tied, 1); SHOTS ON GOAL: 1 (Randall Leal, 1); FOULS: 8 (Three players tied, 2) OFFSIDES: 5; CORNER KICKS: 2; SAVES: 5

Referee: Allen Chapman

Assistant Referees: Cameron Blanchard, Oscar Mitchell-Carvalho

Fourth Official: JC Griggs

VAR: Kevin Stott

Weather: Clear, 66 degrees

Attendance: 26,674

All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial

LA GALAXY POSTGAME QUOTES

LA GALAXY HEAD COACH GREG VANNEY

On the three points and the amount of work his side put in to earn those:

"That's sometimes the way it is, when you play a good team with five in the back. Especially three centerbacks who do a good job of protecting their goal. They're big, so you can't just put crosses in, it doesn't make any sense. You have to be patient. You got to try and move those guys. You got to try to get from side to side and build your attacks from the outside because there's just so much density in the middle. I thought the way the game looked in the second half was probably the way the game was going to look, in my opinion. If we could establish possession, we would just force them into a defensive posture and the question is, could we break them down, could we get the good look on goal. And, it took a little while, but I'm proud of our guys. Also, the way the group defended in the transition moments, because they can be dangerous when you're pushing that many numbers to try to create something in the attack. You can be very vulnerable on the defensive side. But, guys dealt with stuff really well. So, I'm pleased. I know the guys were proud of that performance. We knew this was going to be a challenge, because Nashville doesn't give up many goals. And, they showed us why. They're a stingy group, and they've a veteran group. And they protect the face of the goal. They block things. They get in the way. They do a lot of things that make it difficult to get goals."

On Sega Coulibaly and how comfortable he seemed on the field this game, and what he has seen from him this year:

"Just much more confident. The last year, he came in, and I thought his first few games, he came in really confident, and then sometimes things don't go well for you for one reason or another and the question is can you bounce back and remain confident and stay big. And, especially in that centerback role. And, this year, I feel like he's come in confident, and he's remained confident. And this is a game that's built for him. He's an open field defender. He can cover ground. He can 1-on-1 defend. With his athleticism and all that kind of stuff. This was a game, and it's transitions, it's good. It's not a bad thing for him, to be able to have these moments. It's one of the reasons why he's here. And, so, I thought he had a really nice game. And, again, I think for Derrick [Williams] and for all of them, I think, again, it's not easy when you have that quantity of possession to not end up vulnerable at least a couple times, and I thought we managed quite well."

On his thinking behind bringing Dejan Joveljić on:

"I brought Dejan [Joveljić] to put him in as a second striker, but before I wanted to go to that, I wanted to see what that looked like with Kévin [Cabral] as the winger to see what Douglas [Costa] looked like on the inside position before I made that switch. I wanted to see if Douglas got more involved being central, what that could unlock with him and Efra [Álvarez] working together and those guys. Dejan is not really a winger, so I was a little hesitant to make that change right off the bat. But, as I saw again, us having so much control, that half space if you will on that side where Kévin was, it was a lot of opportunity. I thought if Dejan can get facing forward with his finishing ability, he would have a good look on goal. And I did want to take Douglas out of the middle, because I thought the fluidity of the movement, some of the things that were going to unlock the defense were happening when he came inside. And, so, I got to a point where, in talking with the staff, let's just put Dejan on as the left winger, because maybe he can get himself facing forward. It's an inside position anyway, based on what we were doing, it's just not going to be natural to him when it comes to defending if we happen to have to sit in a lower block. Which isn't something, not a lower block, if they could establish any possession. So, that is something I was trying to balance out. But, putting him in, I was so happy for him, because he's a kid that works really hard. He's a hell of a finisher. We've been talking a lot over the last two weeks just about how when we have a lot of possession, just how he can still be a goal scorer and impact the game. We had a lot of possession, and, again, he was able to face forward, I think because he was a little bit in the half space and not necessarily as a striker, and he showed his quality when he had that look. And, again, I'm really happy for the kid because he busts his butt and he cares. And that's important."

LA GALAXY FORWARD DEJAN JOVELJIÆ

On scoring the game-winning goal:

"It's always a pleasure to play in front of these amazing fans. I didn't play a lot; I didn't get a lot of minutes. Since we started, I've played just a few games, five to ten minutes, and I managed to score in this game. I'm very happy, very satisfied. I mean, it's not about me, it's about us, we played a good game, we deserve to win."

On whether or not he planned to go into the crowd for his goal celebration and what it means to him:

"I did. The best feeling in the world is when you score. That's something that you cannot describe. You just need to feel it."

On what he saw during his goal:

"I was searching for the ball before that to someone across the ball and it bounced Derek. He just played it to me and I found a great place."

On how it feels to score after not playing much this season:

"It's hard for sure. I don't want to say that I'm frustrated, but I'm not satisfied for sure because I'm not playing. I know the show is getting finished and indeed was that we're good? I know that in my position is the best striker in this league and I'm going to have a little minutes alongside him, but I need to wait for my chance and tonight I showed that I need to get more minutes more than five."

On playing alongside Chicharito:

"It's my pleasure that I like to train with Chicharito and it's an amazing feeling to be with him on the field. I'm always happy and I want to play with him with two strikers, why not?"

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