May 15, 2025 - 86 Games Today

LA Galaxy Earn 5-2 Win over Vancouver Whitecaps FC at Dignity Health Sports Park on Saturday Night

August 14, 2022 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
LA Galaxy News Release

LOS ANGELES - Playing their 13th match at home during the 2022 MLS Regular Season, the LA Galaxy earned a 5-2 win at home over Vancouver Whitecaps FC before 21,465 fans at Dignity Health Sports Park on Saturday night. Samuel Grandsir tallied two goals, while Julián Araujo registered two assists on his 21st birthday in the victory against the Whitecaps.

LA Galaxy Players In Form

With an assist in the win over Vancouver, Dejan Joveljić has tallied at least one goal or one assist in seven consecutive matches played at home (8 goals, 3 assists) dating back to May 29. With a goal in victory against the Whitecaps, Efraín Álvarez has tallied one goal and four assists in his last seven appearances dating back to July 4. Javier "Chicharito" Hernández tallied a goal and an assist, including converting a penalty for a second consecutive match. Chicharito has tallied three goals and one assist in his last two matches played dating back to Aug. 6.

Goal-Scoring Plays

LA - Samuel Grandsir (Kévin Cabral, Julián Araujo), 12th minute: Kévin Cabral received a long pass down the right side of the of the penalty area. Cabral quickly passed the ball into the center of the penalty area to Samuel Grandsir, who blasted his shot into

LA - Chicharito (Penalty Kick), 20th minute: After Vancouver was whistled for a handball inside the box, Chicharito stepped up to the spot and chipped Whitecaps goalkeeper Cody Cropper to convert a penalty kick-goal for a second consecutive match.

LA - Víctor Vázquez (Chicharito), 30th minute: Julián Araujo won the ball off a Vancouver player on the right touchline and picked out Víctor Vázquez at the top of the box. Vázquez played a one-two pass with Chicharito, before curling his right-footed shot into the bottom far corner of the goal.

VAN - Ryan Gauld (Cody Cropper), 38th minute: Ryan Gauld received a long pass from Cody Cropper and fired his shot from just inside the 18-yard box into the back of the net.

LA - Samuel Grandsir (Julián Araujo, Mark Delgado), 40th minute: Mark Delgado's long pass released Julián Araujo down the right wing. Araujo delivered a pass to the top of the box to Grandsir, who took a touch and drilled his right-footed shot in off the far post to score his second goal of the night.

VAN - Toisant Ricketts (Cristian Dajome), 70th minute: Cristian Dajome dribbled towards the endline and cut a pass back to Toisant Ricketts, whose shot from close range was converted at the near post.

LA - Efraín Álvarez (Dejan Joveljić, Daniel Aguirre), 89th minute: After picking up the ball down the left flank, Dejan Joveljić dribbled past a defender down the left side of the penalty area. The Serbian international cut a pass back to Efraín Álvarez, whose first-time shot from the top of the six-yard box was lifted over Cody Cropper.

Postgame Notes

Following the win over Vancouver, the LA Galaxy (10-11-3, 33 points) moved into sixth place in the Western Conference standings, two points behind fourth-place Minnesota United FC (10-9-5, 35 points).

Saturday's match marked the 30th all-time meeting across all competitions between the Galaxy and Vancouver Whitecaps FC, with LA leading the series 15-9-6.

The Galaxy improved to 10-4-2 in 16 matches played at home against Vancouver in league play, outscoring the Whitecaps 28-11 in matches played at home.

LA improved to 9-1-1 this season when scoring the first goal of the match. The Galaxy are 6-0-0 when scoring the first goal of a match at home in league play this season.

The Galaxy scored five goals in an MLS regular-season match for the first time since a 5-2 win over Real Salt Lake at home on April 23, 2016.

Samuel Grandsir recorded his first career brace in the win over the Whitecaps.

In his 96th career appearance across all competitions for the Galaxy, Julián Araujo registered the fifth two-assist performance in his career in the win over Vancouver.

Araujo's six assists ranks tied for first on the team with Raheem Edwards.

With his penalty-kick goal, Javier "Chicharito" Hernández moved into a tie with Alan Gordon for 10th place all-time in Galaxy history in goals scored.

Chicharito registered a goal and an assist in a single match for the second time in his career for the Galaxy, and the first time since May 8, 2021.

Dejan Joveljić has tallied at least one goal or one assist in seven consecutive matches played at home (8 goals, 3 assists) dating back to May 29.

Chicharito tallied a goal and an assist for the second time as a member of the Galaxy.

Chicharito tallied his team-leading 10th goal during the 2022 MLS Regular Season.

Efraín Álvarez registered his third goal of the season. Álvarez has tallied one goal and four assists in his last seven appearances dating back to July 4.

Kévin Cabral tallied his second assist of the season in the win over Vancouver. In his last six appearances dating back to July 13, Cabral has tallied one goal and two assists.

In his first match played since July 16, Daniel Aguirre tallied an assist in four minutes played off the bench.

Mark Delgado recorded his first assist as a member of the Galaxy, and his first in league play since assisting for Toronto FC against Minnesota United FC on Sept. 29, 2021.

Next Game

Up next, the LA Galaxy play host to Seattle Sounders FC at Dignity Health Sports Park on Friday, Aug. 19. The Aug. 19 match kicks off at 7:00 p.m. PT and features a national television broadcast on ESPN and ESPN Deportes.

LA Galaxy (10-11-3, 33pts) vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC (8-11-6, 30pts)

Aug. 13, 2022 - Dignity Health Sports Park (Los Angeles)

Goals by Half 1 2 F

LA Galaxy 4 1 5

Vancouver Whitecaps FC 1 1 2

Scoring Summary:

LA: Grandsir (Cabral, Araujo), 12

LA: Chicharito (penalty kick), 20

LA: Vázquez (Chicharito), 30

VAN: Gauld (Cropper), 38

LA: Grandsir (Araujo, Delgado), 40

VAN: Ricketts (Dajome), 70

LA: Álvarez (Joveljić, Aguirre), 89

Misconduct Summary:

LA: Coulibaly (caution), 59

LA: Araujo (caution), 63

LA: Veselinovic (caution), 68

LA: Edwards (caution), 71

VAN: Dajome (caution), 72

VAN: Dajome (second caution, ejection), 79

LA: DePuy (caution), 90+3

Lineups:

LA: GK Jonathan Bond; D Julián Araujo, D Séga Coulibaly, D Nick DePuy, D Raheem Edwards; M Gastón Brugman (Sacha Kljestan, 74), M Mark Delgado, M Kévin Cabral (Daniel Aguirre, 86), M Víctor Vázquez (Efraín Álvarez, 69), M Samuel Grandsir (Douglas Costa, 69), F Javier "Chicharito" Hernández © (Dejan Joveljić, 69)

Substitutes Not Used: GK Jonathan Klinsmann; D Chase Gasper, D Kelvin Leerdam, D Eriq Zavaleta

TOTAL SHOTS: 13 (Four players tied, 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 7 (Samuel Grandsir, 2); FOULS: 12 (Three players tied, 2); OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 3; SAVES: 2

VAN: GK Cody Cropper; D Rank Veselinovic, D Javain Brown, D Jake Nerwinski (Tristan Blackmon, 46), M Julian Gressel (Alessandro Schopf, 69), M Andres Cubas (Marcus Godinho, 83), M Ryan Gauld, M Ryan Raposo, M Russell Teibert, M Easton Ongaro (Tosaint Ricketts, 46), M Pedro Vite (Cristian Dajome, 46)

Substitutes Not Used: GK Thomas Hasal, D Florian Jungwirth; M Sebastian Berhalter, M Leonard Owusu

TOTAL SHOTS: 11 (Ryan Gauld, Tosaint Ricketts, 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 4 (Ryan Gauld, Toisant Ricketts, 2); FOULS: 13 (Three players tied, 2); OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 5; SAVES: 2

Referee: Michael Radchuk

Assistant Referees: Kyle Atkins, CJ Morgante

Fourth Official: Joe Dickerson

VAR: Geoff Gamble

Weather: Clear, 75 degrees

Attendance: 21,465

All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial

Postgame Media Assets

LA Galaxy postgame soundbites from media availability and match photos can be found below.

SOUNDBYTES: https://mlssoccer.box.com/s/rsjpc45yhhodqm7y8v04i51cz40rb789

LA Galaxy Head Coach Greg Vanney (English)

LA Galaxy Goalkeeper Víctor Vázquez (English & Spanish)

*Please credit LA Galaxy for any use

PHOTOS: https://mlssoccer.box.com/s/rsjpc45yhhodqm7y8v04i51cz40rb789

*Please credit LA Galaxy for any use

LA GALAXY POSTGAME QUOTES

LA GALAXY HEAD COACH GREG VANNEY

On tonight's performance, and how at this time in the season, a performance like this proves they are in the fight:

"I thought it was good. Again, I thought, the emphasis for us tonight was controlling the midfield and controlling the ball. Not putting ourselves in difficult situations, but also getting the ball moving a little bit quicker. Defending as a unit. Making sure we were connected as a group and moving together. A lot of things that we've done well in spurts during the season, but I thought we did well for larger stretches of the game tonight, which is key. You can't just do it for five here or five there. Today we put it together. And we took our chances. Which got us on top of the game, which has been a positive formula for us when we get the first goal, then we tend to roll a little bit better."

On the challenge of finding a way to replicate this next week against Seattle Sounders FC:

"Yeah, of course. I mean, we'll set up again for next week. Another tough opponent. Every game in this league is difficult. I think just respecting - as a group - the work that it takes to get a result every game. Doing it for 90 minutes. I thought that we... the ball moved nicely, and moved from guy to guy quickly, which is when we're at our best. And, again, defensively, we moved together as a group through large stretches of it. And we executed when we got our opportunities on the counter or break. We executed the goals and got ahead of the game. So, things came together. But, I think our team is... the group is very confident in what they're capable of doing. Today, I thought they did a nice job of controlling the midfield, especially with the ball, which is something that we talk about a lot. And we're getting a little bit healthier. Riqui [Puig] will come into the equation next week. And Víctor [Vázquez] was feeling a lot better tonight. He had the last couple weeks to recover and felt a lot better today and this week. And those types of players make a big difference for us in our ability to be connected in midfield, and make good, solid decisions. And Gastón [Brugman] is getting more fit. Now that he's getting in, he's settling in. And Marky [Delgado] is doing Marky. And when all that happens, it's good for us."

On Samuel Grandsir's performance, and if he thought it was one of his best performances:

"I did, yeah. You know, Sam [Grandsir], over the course of his time here, he's gotten himself in a lot of those types of positions, and, unfortunately, or, lack of execution sometimes, in some of those moments, but he's been able to get in those positions. Like the second goal when he's able to curl things to the back post, and he just missed, or things like that. And tonight he found the back of the net, on the transition. He's probably one of the few guys that can keep up with Kévin [Cabral], so, he was able to get to the back side. And, great look from Kévin to put the in front of Sam. And, good finish. Because that's not an easy finish. The goalkeeper coming across the goal like that. The goal could be put a little bit higher as the goalkeeper is going low. It's a good finish. Sam has been putting in good shifts. And, I think as he continues to mature, and his game is maturing, he's having less of the emotional breaks and little things in the game, and he stays connected. He's a good player. And, so just, again, a little bit of that final run up for him, and I think he can be highly effective in the league."

On the Vancouver Whitecaps creating a situation where his squad could run, but also the team's passing being so good it was effective overall:

"Yeah. You know, they play in a pretty strict 3-4-3. And so, their wingbacks don't typically find the backline too much, which means their three back centerbacks cover a lot of territory as a line of three. So if you can move them around and you can hit some of those passes to your winger sand guys from better positions, then it becomes more difficult for them if you can counter and get behind their midfield group. And it becomes difficult for their three a little bit. And we found some joy in both of those. Again, one of the keys for me through the game, is being reliable in our possession. Not having turnover right in front of our backline. Or, we had a couple, but our reactions to deal with it were good. If you're going to do that in the possession style, you're going to have those moments, but we had fewer tonight and we reacted better in the moments that we did."

On scoring four goals in the first half being as good a half as we've seen from this team:

"Yeah. Solid. Mature. Controlled. I thought it was good. Again, I think we've been through a tough stretch. And, a lot of it came out of the international window, from my perspective, and we had a midfield that has been a little bit decimated over this stretch. For varying reasons. And I think what it means for us, is we get guys healthy, we get Riqui [Richard Puig] in. We get our options in the midfield which allows us to play a little bit more within our vision, our style of having the ball. And that worked out for us tonight. Now we have to get back to preparation for a tough game next week, and find the solutions. We need to play a very mature game against a really good Seattle team. And, we've got to do it one at a time for 10 more games. That's kind of our approach right now."

LA GALAXY GOALKEEPER VÍCTOR VÁZQUEZ

On the team's performance tonight:

"It was great performance for everyone. Even then I think you can see that when we get the casual, we concede goals so easy, you know? Of course the performance was amazing. All the guys were working really hard. We knew that it is 11 games, that it was 11 games left to go and we have to win at home because we were conceding many goals at home, we were losing many games at home. And today, we showed that we are there, that we are a great team. We are a good team, but we have to start the games this way, aggressive with confidence and trusting each other. We're going to make mistakes. [Not everything will be like] you want it, but today was a great performance from everybody.

On the team's formation today and Kévin Cabral and Samuel Grandsir's play:

"What we try always is, we want to dominate the midfield, you know, and the last few games, I think we were playing more like, with many strikers, maybe, you know, and because I wasn't there. Also other guys were injured or whatever, but when we are, like, three players on the midfield, I think we've played more comfortable. We play faster. We move the ballast faster. And also the strikers, they get more time. And then also they can make this kind of runs like Kévin [Cabral] and Samuel [Grandsir] did today and then everyone is playing like more free. Because we feel like this is our way. Also Greg [Vanney], he knows already and we know already he prefers to play with three midfielders. Because that's the way we want to do it. And today works and hopefully now also with Riqui [Puig], it's going to be even better."

On what the team's attitude was like in the locker room:

"Yeah, the talk in the end is always the same. We have to believe in each other and when you are like, we got these tough losses in Dallas, and then in Kansas, that again, you are trying to come up, but then you drop again, it's hard because the confidence, you lose the confidence again and I know it's hard because it's almost not the end of the season, but it's only 10 games left to go. And what I say always, we have to keep believing on us. It's all about us. It's not about the other teams. It's about us. If you perform good. You want to win games. And today, we show it again."

On having his son at the stadium today and scoring his first goal of the season:

"Yeah, for me, you know, this is the first time to have my son here. I'm so proud. Also [he brought me luck]. First time he's here, I scored my first goal of the season and yeah, I am so happy. So happy to have him, to be with him around here, to spend time with him because it's hard when you have your son back in Barcelona. It's so far. It's the first time that we are not together and it's hard. But now, it's time to enjoy together. We are enjoying together, he's enjoying and when he is happy I am happy."

On Riqui Puig and what he will bring to the team:

"Of course, everyone knows Riqui Puig very well. He is one of the talented players that Barcelona brought the last couple of years. He's going to bring a lot of great things. He's a young player with a lot of hunger. He's intelligent, he's smart, he plays fast, he's going to be great for all of us. We need some players like that on the team because the way we are playing soccer, is the way that Riqui also likes. It's a good addition, for sure. Hopefully, next week, he can get some minutes and for sure we are so happy to have him here and we're going to try to help him as fast as possible because there's only 10 games left. And yeah, that's it. Hopefully, he brings this quality to the team, and this hunger and he's also coming from Barcelona so for sure he's going to come with a lot of energy and a lot of belief and everything."

*** Part 1.1 - UTF-8

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Galaxy Communications

Vicky Mercado (310) 630-2215 - vmercado@lagalaxy.com

Kevin Acevedo (310) 630-4623 - kacevedo@lagalaxy.com

*** Part 1 - UTF-8

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Galaxy Communications

Vicky Mercado (310) 630-2215 - vmercado@lagalaxy.com

Kevin Acevedo (310) 630-4623 - kacevedo@lagalaxy.com

LA Galaxy Postgame Media Assets, Notes and Quotes: LA Galaxy earn 5-2 win over Vancouver Whitecaps FC at Dignity Health Sports Park on Saturday night

LOS ANGELES (Saturday, Aug. 13, 2022) - Playing their 13th match at home during the 2022 MLS Regular Season, the LA Galaxy earned a 5-2 win at home over Vancouver Whitecaps FC before 21,465 fans at Dignity Health Sports Park on Saturday night. Samuel Grandsir tallied two goals, while Julián Araujo registered two assists on his 21st birthday in the victory against the Whitecaps.

LA Galaxy Players In Form With an assist in the win over Vancouver, Dejan Joveljić has tallied at least one goal or one assist in seven consecutive matches played at home (8 goals, 3 assists) dating back to May 29. With a goal in victory against the Whitecaps, Efraín Álvarez has tallied one goal and four assists in his last seven appearances dating back to July 4. Javier "Chicharito" Hernández tallied a goal and an assist, including converting a penalty for a second consecutive match. Chicharito has tallied three goals and one assist in his last two matches played dating back to Aug. 6.

Goal-Scoring Plays LA - Samuel Grandsir (Kévin Cabral, Julián Araujo), 12th minute: Kévin Cabral received a long pass down the right side of the of the penalty area. Cabral quickly passed the ball into the center of the penalty area to Samuel Grandsir, who blasted his shot into

LA - Chicharito (Penalty Kick), 20th minute: After Vancouver was whistled for a handball inside the box, Chicharito stepped up to the spot and chipped Whitecaps goalkeeper Cody Cropper to convert a penalty kick-goal for a second consecutive match.

LA - Víctor Vázquez (Chicharito), 30th minute: Julián Araujo won the ball off a Vancouver player on the right touchline and picked out Víctor Vázquez at the top of the box. Vázquez played a one-two pass with Chicharito, before curling his right-footed shot into the bottom far corner of the goal.

VAN - Ryan Gauld (Cody Cropper), 38th minute: Ryan Gauld received a long pass from Cody Cropper and fired his shot from just inside the 18-yard box into the back of the net.

LA - Samuel Grandsir (Julián Araujo, Mark Delgado), 40th minute: Mark Delgado's long pass released Julián Araujo down the right wing. Araujo delivered a pass to the top of the box to Grandsir, who took a touch and drilled his right-footed shot in off the far post to score his second goal of the night.

VAN - Toisant Ricketts (Cristian Dajome), 70th minute: Cristian Dajome dribbled towards the endline and cut a pass back to Toisant Ricketts, whose shot from close range was converted at the near post.

LA - Efraín Álvarez (Dejan Joveljić, Daniel Aguirre), 89th minute: After picking up the ball down the left flank, Dejan Joveljić dribbled past a defender down the left side of the penalty area. The Serbian international cut a pass back to Efraín Álvarez, whose first-time shot from the top of the six-yard box was lifted over Cody Cropper.

Postgame Notes

* Following the win over Vancouver, the LA Galaxy (10-11-3, 33 points) moved into sixth place in the Western Conference standings, two points behind fourth-place Minnesota United FC (10-9-5, 35 points). * Saturday's match marked the 30th all-time meeting across all competitions between the Galaxy and Vancouver Whitecaps FC, with LA leading the series 15-9-6. * The Galaxy improved to 10-4-2 in 16 matches played at home against Vancouver in league play, outscoring the Whitecaps 28-11 in matches played at home. * LA improved to 9-1-1 this season when scoring the first goal of the match. The Galaxy are 6-0-0 when scoring the first goal of a match at home in league play this season. * The Galaxy scored five goals in an MLS regular-season match for the first time since a 5-2 win over Real Salt Lake at home on April 23, 2016. * Samuel Grandsir recorded his first career brace in the win over the Whitecaps. * In his 96th career appearance across all competitions for the Galaxy, Julián Araujo registered the fifth two-assist performance in his career in the win over Vancouver. * Araujo's six assists ranks tied for first on the team with Raheem Edwards. * With his penalty-kick goal, Javier "Chicharito" Hernández moved into a tie with Alan Gordon for 10th place all-time in Galaxy history in goals scored. * Chicharito registered a goal and an assist in a single match for the second time in his career for the Galaxy, and the first time since May 8, 2021. * Dejan Joveljić has tallied at least one goal or one assist in seven consecutive matches played at home (8 goals, 3 assists) dating back to May 29. * Chicharito tallied a goal and an assist for the second time as a member of the Galaxy. * Chicharito tallied his team-leading 10th goal during the 2022 MLS Regular Season. * Efraín Álvarez registered his third goal of the season. Álvarez has tallied one goal and four assists in his last seven appearances dating back to July 4. * Kévin Cabral tallied his second assist of the season in the win over Vancouver. In his last six appearances dating back to July 13, Cabral has tallied one goal and two assists. * In his first match played since July 16, Daniel Aguirre tallied an assist in four minutes played off the bench. * Mark Delgado recorded his first assist as a member of the Galaxy, and his first in league play since assisting for Toronto FC against Minnesota United FC on Sept. 29, 2021.

Next Game Up next, the LA Galaxy play host to Seattle Sounders FC at Dignity Health Sports Park on Friday, Aug. 19. The Aug. 19 match kicks off at 7:00 p.m. PT and features a national television broadcast on ESPN and ESPN Deportes.

LA Galaxy (10-11-3, 33pts) vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC (8-11-6, 30pts) Aug. 13, 2022 - Dignity Health Sports Park (Los Angeles)

Goals by Half 1 2 F LA Galaxy 4 1 5 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 1 1 2

Scoring Summary: LA: Grandsir (Cabral, Araujo), 12 LA: Chicharito (penalty kick), 20 LA: Vázquez (Chicharito), 30 VAN: Gauld (Cropper), 38 LA: Grandsir (Araujo, Delgado), 40 VAN: Ricketts (Dajome), 70 LA: Álvarez (Joveljić, Aguirre), 89

Misconduct Summary: LA: Coulibaly (caution), 59 LA: Araujo (caution), 63 LA: Veselinovic (caution), 68 LA: Edwards (caution), 71 VAN: Dajome (caution), 72 VAN: Dajome (second caution, ejection), 79 LA: DePuy (caution), 90+3

Lineups: LA: GK Jonathan Bond; D Julián Araujo, D Séga Coulibaly, D Nick DePuy, D Raheem Edwards; M Gastón Brugman (Sacha Kljestan, 74), M Mark Delgado, M Kévin Cabral (Daniel Aguirre, 86), M Víctor Vázquez (Efraín Álvarez, 69), M Samuel Grandsir (Douglas Costa, 69), F Javier "Chicharito" Hernández © (Dejan Joveljić, 69)

Substitutes Not Used: GK Jonathan Klinsmann; D Chase Gasper, D Kelvin Leerdam, D Eriq Zavaleta

TOTAL SHOTS: 13 (Four players tied, 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 7 (Samuel Grandsir, 2); FOULS: 12 (Three players tied, 2); OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 3; SAVES: 2

VAN: GK Cody Cropper; D Rank Veselinovic, D Javain Brown, D Jake Nerwinski (Tristan Blackmon, 46), M Julian Gressel (Alessandro Schopf, 69), M Andres Cubas (Marcus Godinho, 83), M Ryan Gauld, M Ryan Raposo, M Russell Teibert, M Easton Ongaro (Tosaint Ricketts, 46), M Pedro Vite (Cristian Dajome, 46)

Substitutes Not Used: GK Thomas Hasal, D Florian Jungwirth; M Sebastian Berhalter, M Leonard Owusu

TOTAL SHOTS: 11 (Ryan Gauld, Tosaint Ricketts, 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 4 (Ryan Gauld, Toisant Ricketts, 2); FOULS: 13 (Three players tied, 2); OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 5; SAVES: 2

Referee: Michael Radchuk Assistant Referees: Kyle Atkins, CJ Morgante Fourth Official: Joe Dickerson VAR: Geoff Gamble Weather: Clear, 75 degrees Attendance: 21,465

All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial

Postgame Media Assets LA Galaxy postgame soundbites from media availability and match photos can be found below.

SOUNDBYTES: https://mlssoccer.box.com/s/rsjpc45yhhodqm7y8v04i51cz40rb789

* LA Galaxy Head Coach Greg Vanney (English) * LA Galaxy Goalkeeper Víctor Vázquez (English & Spanish)

*Please credit LA Galaxy for any use

PHOTOS: https://mlssoccer.box.com/s/rsjpc45yhhodqm7y8v04i51cz40rb789 *Please credit LA Galaxy for any use

LA GALAXY POSTGAME QUOTES LA GALAXY HEAD COACH GREG VANNEY On tonight's performance, and how at this time in the season, a performance like this proves they are in the fight: "I thought it was good. Again, I thought, the emphasis for us tonight was controlling the midfield and controlling the ball. Not putting ourselves in difficult situations, but also getting the ball moving a little bit quicker. Defending as a unit. Making sure we were connected as a group and moving together. A lot of things that we've done well in spurts during the season, but I thought we did well for larger stretches of the game tonight, which is key. You can't just do it for five here or five there. Today we put it together. And we took our chances. Which got us on top of the game, which has been a positive formula for us when we get the first goal, then we tend to roll a little bit better."

On the challenge of finding a way to replicate this next week against Seattle Sounders FC: "Yeah, of course. I mean, we'll set up again for next week. Another tough opponent. Every game in this league is difficult. I think just respecting - as a group - the work that it takes to get a result every game. Doing it for 90 minutes. I thought that we... the ball moved nicely, and moved from guy to guy quickly, which is when we're at our best. And, again, defensively, we moved together as a group through large stretches of it. And we executed when we got our opportunities on the counter or break. We executed the goals and got ahead of the game. So, things came together. But, I think our team is... the group is very confident in what they're capable of doing. Today, I thought they did a nice job of controlling the midfield, especially with the ball, which is something that we talk about a lot. And we're getting a little bit healthier. Riqui [Puig] will come into the equation next week. And Víctor [Vázquez] was feeling a lot better tonight. He had the last couple weeks to recover and felt a lot better today and this week. And those types of players make a big difference for us in our ability to be connected in midfield, and make good, solid decisions. And Gastón [Brugman] is getting more fit. Now that he's getting in, he's settling in. And Marky [Delgado] is doing Marky. And when all that happens, it's good for us."

On Samuel Grandsir's performance, and if he thought it was one of his best performances: "I did, yeah. You know, Sam [Grandsir], over the course of his time here, he's gotten himself in a lot of those types of positions, and, unfortunately, or, lack of execution sometimes, in some of those moments, but he's been able to get in those positions. Like the second goal when he's able to curl things to the back post, and he just missed, or things like that. And tonight he found the back of the net, on the transition. He's probably one of the few guys that can keep up with Kévin [Cabral], so, he was able to get to the back side. And, great look from Kévin to put the in front of Sam. And, good finish. Because that's not an easy finish. The goalkeeper coming across the goal like that. The goal could be put a little bit higher as the goalkeeper is going low. It's a good finish. Sam has been putting in good shifts. And, I think as he continues to mature, and his game is maturing, he's having less of the emotional breaks and little things in the game, and he stays connected. He's a good player. And, so just, again, a little bit of that final run up for him, and I think he can be highly effective in the league."

On the Vancouver Whitecaps creating a situation where his squad could run, but also the team's passing being so good it was effective overall: "Yeah. You know, they play in a pretty strict 3-4-3. And so, their wingbacks don't typically find the backline too much, which means their three back centerbacks cover a lot of territory as a line of three. So if you can move them around and you can hit some of those passes to your winger sand guys from better positions, then it becomes more difficult for them if you can counter and get behind their midfield group. And it becomes difficult for their three a little bit. And we found some joy in both of those. Again, one of the keys for me through the game, is being reliable in our possession. Not having turnover right in front of our backline. Or, we had a couple, but our reactions to deal with it were good. If you're going to do that in the possession style, you're going to have those moments, but we had fewer tonight and we reacted better in the moments that we did."

On scoring four goals in the first half being as good a half as we've seen from this team: "Yeah. Solid. Mature. Controlled. I thought it was good. Again, I think we've been through a tough stretch. And, a lot of it came out of the international window, from my perspective, and we had a midfield that has been a little bit decimated over this stretch. For varying reasons. And I think what it means for us, is we get guys healthy, we get Riqui [Richard Puig] in. We get our options in the midfield which allows us to play a little bit more within our vision, our style of having the ball. And that worked out for us tonight. Now we have to get back to preparation for a tough game next week, and find the solutions. We need to play a very mature game against a really good Seattle team. And, we've got to do it one at a time for 10 more games. That's kind of our approach right now."

LA GALAXY GOALKEEPER VÍCTOR VÁZQUEZ On the team's performance tonight: "It was great performance for everyone. Even then I think you can see that when we get the casual, we concede goals so easy, you know? Of course the performance was amazing. All the guys were working really hard. We knew that it is 11 games, that it was 11 games left to go and we have to win at home because we were conceding many goals at home, we were losing many games at home. And today, we showed that we are there, that we are a great team. We are a good team, but we have to start the games this way, aggressive with confidence and trusting each other. We're going to make mistakes. [Not everything will be like] you want it, but today was a great performance from everybody.

On the team's formation today and Kévin Cabral and Samuel Grandsir's play: "What we try always is, we want to dominate the midfield, you know, and the last few games, I think we were playing more like, with many strikers, maybe, you know, and because I wasn't there. Also other guys were injured or whatever, but when we are, like, three players on the midfield, I think we've played more comfortable. We play faster. We move the ballast faster. And also the strikers, they get more time. And then also they can make this kind of runs like Kévin [Cabral] and Samuel [Grandsir] did today and then everyone is playing like more free. Because we feel like this is our way. Also Greg [Vanney], he knows already and we know already he prefers to play with three midfielders. Because that's the way we want to do it. And today works and hopefully now also with Riqui [Puig], it's going to be even better."

On what the team's attitude was like in the locker room: "Yeah, the talk in the end is always the same. We have to believe in each other and when you are like, we got these tough losses in Dallas, and then in Kansas, that again, you are trying to come up, but then you drop again, it's hard because the confidence, you lose the confidence again and I know it's hard because it's almost not the end of the season, but it's only 10 games left to go. And what I say always, we have to keep believing on us. It's all about us. It's not about the other teams. It's about us. If you perform good. You want to win games. And today, we show it again."

On having his son at the stadium today and scoring his first goal of the season: "Yeah, for me, you know, this is the first time to have my son here. I'm so proud. Also [he brought me luck]. First time he's here, I scored my first goal of the season and yeah, I am so happy. So happy to have him, to be with him around here, to spend time with him because it's hard when you have your son back in Barcelona. It's so far. It's the first time that we are not together and it's hard. But now, it's time to enjoy together. We are enjoying together, he's enjoying and when he is happy I am happy."

On Riqui Puig and what he will bring to the team: "Of course, everyone knows Riqui Puig very well. He is one of the talented players that Barcelona brought the last couple of years. He's going to bring a lot of great things. He's a young player with a lot of hunger. He's intelligent, he's smart, he plays fast, he's going to be great for all of us. We need some players like that on the team because the way we are playing soccer, is the way that Riqui also likes. It's a good addition, for sure. Hopefully, next week, he can get some minutes and for sure we are so happy to have him here and we're going to try to help him as fast as possible because there's only 10 games left. And yeah, that's it. Hopefully, he brings this quality to the team, and this hunger and he's also coming from Barcelona so for sure he's going to come with a lot of energy and a lot of belief and everything."

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