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MLS LA Galaxy

LA Galaxy Fall 2-0 at Dignity Health Sports Park to Sporting Kansas City on Sunday Night

July 5, 2021 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
LA Galaxy News Release


LOS ANGELES - Playing the first of two games in four days, the LA Galaxy fell 2-0 at home to Sporting Kansas City on Sunday night.

LA Galaxy on July 4

Sunday's match marked the 25th MLS regular-season match held on July 4 at Dignity Health Sports Park, with the Galaxy holding a 13-7-5 record on games played on Independence Day.

LA Galaxy Debut

Rayan Raveloson made his debut for the Galaxy, starting and playing 90 minutes in the loss against Sporting KC. Raveloson signed with the club on May 20 after leading ES Troyes AC to the 2020-21 French Ligue 2 title. Notably, Raveloson is the 11th Galaxy player this season to make his debut for the club.

Goal-Scoring Plays

SKC - Johnny Russel, 81st minute: Following a turnover in midfield, Johnny Russel picked the ball up just outside the 18-yard box and unleashed a shot that forced Jonathan Bond into a save. Russel was first to the rebound and his looping, first-timed header found the back of the net.

SKC - Khiry Shelton (Gianluca Busio), 90+5: After latching onto a pass behind the LA backline from Gianluca Busio, Khiry Shelton dribbled around Bond and slotted his finish home.

Postgame Notes

Following the result, LA is 7-4-0 (21 pts.) this season, sitting in third place in the Western Conference standings behind only first place Sporting KC (8-3-2, 26 pts.) and second place Seattle Sounders FC (7-0-5, 26 pts.).

Sunday's match marked the 64th MLS regular-season meeting between LA and SKC, with the Galaxy leading the series 25-24-15.

In 73 combined MLS regular season and postseason matches between the two teams, the Galaxy lead the series 30-27-16

The Galaxy wore their Community Kit for the fifth time this season in the match against SKC. LA is 4-1-0 in five games played in the jersey in 2021.

Sunday's match marked the 25th MLS regular-season match held on July 4 at Dignity Health Sports Park, with the Galaxy holding a 13-7-5 record on games played on Independence Day.

In 31 MLS regular-season meetings at home against Sporting KC, LA holds a 16-8-7 record.

In their last four meetings dating back to Oct. 6, 2018, LA holds a 2-1-1 record and has outscored SKC 10-5.

The Galaxy are 4-2-0 in six MLS regular-season matches played at Dignity Health Sports Park in 2021.

Rayan Raveloson made his MLS and Galaxy debut, starting and playing 90 minutes.

Raveloson is the 11th Galaxy player this season to make his debut for the club.

Víctor Vázquez finished the match with a game-high six chances created.

Adam Saldaña finished the game with a game-high 96.4% passing accuracy on 56 passes attempted.

Samuel Grandsir led both teams with three shots on goal in the match against SKC.

Next Game

Playing their second game in four days, the Galaxy play host to FC Dallas at Dignity Health Sports Park on Wednesday, July 7. The July 7 match kicks off at 7:30 p.m. PT and features a regional television broadcast on Spectrum SportsNet.

LA Galaxy (7-4-0, 21pts) vs. Sporting Kansas City (8-3-2, 26pts)

July 4, 2021 - Dignity Health Sports Park (Los Angeles)

Goals by Half 1 2 F

LA Galaxy 0 0 0

Sporting Kanas City 0 2 2

Scoring Summary:

SKC: Johnny Russell, 81

SKC: Khiry Shelton (Gianluca Busio), 90+5

Misconduct Summary:

SKC: Dániel Sallói (caution), 32

LA: Jorge Villafaña (caution), 45+3

Lineups:

LA: GK Jonathan Bond; D Julian Araujo (Jonathan Perez, 86), D Séga Coulibaly (Adam Saldaña, 40), D Nick DePuy, D Jorge Villafaña; M Sebastian Lletget, M Rayan Raveloson, M Victor Vázquez ©; F Samuel Grandsir (Sacha Kljestan, 86), F Ethan Zubak (Cameron Dunbar, 68), F Kevin Cabral

Substitutes Not Used: GK Jonathan Klinsmann; F Augustine Williams

TOTAL SHOTS: 18 (Víctor Vázquez, Samuel Grandsir, 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 7 (Samuel Grandsir, 3); FOULS: 11 (Three players tied, 2) OFFSIDES: 0; CORNER KICKS: 4; SAVES: 4

SKC: GK Tim Melia; D Graham Zusi, D Ilie Sanchez, D Andreu Fontàs, D Luis Martins; M Roger Espinoza, M Gianluca Busio, M Felipe Hernandez, F Johnny Russell © (Nicolas Isimat-Mirin, 90+1), F Dániel Sallói

Substitutes Not Used: GK John Pulskamp; D Amadou Dia, D Roberto Puncec; M Cameron Duke; F Grayson Barber, F Wilson Harris

TOTAL SHOTS: 12 (Johnny Russel, Khiry Shelton, 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 6 (Johnny Russel, Khiry Shelton, 2); FOULS: 14 (Johnny Russell, 4) OFFSIDES: 2; CORNER KICKS: 3; SAVES: 7

Referee: Alex Chilowicz

Assistant Referees: Adam Garner, Apolinar Mariscal

Fourth Official: Kevin Broadley

VAR: Victor Rivas

Weather: Clear, 67 degrees

Attendance: 23,556

All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial

LA GALAXY POSTGAME QUOTES

LA GALAXY HEAD COACH GREG VANNEY

On the game:

"I thought for the 78 minutes it was arguably the best game we've played all year. I thought our ball circulation, our bold movements, our positional play, our relationships on the field, our chance creation on the field... I thought it was all outstanding. The part that missed was to put the ball in the back of the net. The piece where you create so many chances. We have to score because it doesn't matter how well you play. In some ways, we are in a process and we are trying to teach everybody and get on the same page and we're bringing new guys in. Rayan [Raveloson], a new player, today in the mix so there is something to take away from the game because we did do a lot of things well over the course of the game. But at the end of the day, we want to win the game. Right? We don't want to keep talking about moral performance victories. However, there are some really good takeaways but we need to score. We deserve to take something out of this game. We said it after the Seattle game and now this is two home games in a row where we felt like we've outperformed another very good team and didn't come away with the win so I want them to recognize the good things in the game, but also to be frustrated."

On Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez's injury:

"I don't know. Tomorrow, we'll get a better look at the irritation there. It is calf related. We'll see. It was bothering him [a little bit] during the week. Towards the end of the week, he was feeling better. We had modified him over the course of the week and in the warm up he felt it too much to just put him out there. So some of it is a precaution because there is something that he is feeling. We'll know more tomorrow. We will check it out, take a deeper look and have a better sense of what we're looking at timeline. Hopefully, nothing and hopefully we caught it before anything and we can move forward, but we won't know anything until tomorrow."

On the performance of Rayan Raveloson in his debut:

"Candidly, I thought Rayan was outstanding. I thought both in the defensive midfield position, just his movements, smart and very calm, brought a certain composure to the game that we need in the way we would like to play. I think that position is, pun intended, pivotal in terms of helping us do what we want. And he knows when to clear space, when to use space, he knows where the ball needs to go... The range of passing... I thought his defensive presence was very good. He showed the versatility to move in the back line. He was excellent there. He disguises some passes that he was slipping into the midfield from 30 yards away that we have not seen in who knows how long and so just a lot of quality and to be fair, there was not a plan for him to go 90 minutes today. We really only wanted him to go to 60 but given the circumstances, the only reason he probably got through the game is because a lot a good chunk of it was at center back and he did not have to cover quite as much ground, but I thought he did an incredible job and was a warrior dealing with the size and speed of [Khyri] Shelton is not an easy task and I thought he did an incredible job and showed this quality. He's going to help this team which another level and that's exciting."

On Séga Coulibaly's injury:

"I don't know exactly. He felt like shock almost in his body in that region somewhere between the groin and hamstring and it kind of hit him and then it kind of went away. But as soon as he started to try to run, he was feeling it. I don't know if it was like some sort of outrageous cramp or if it was something that pulled, so [we've got to] take a look at it tomorrow and know what we're dealing with."

LA GALAXY DEFENDER JORGE VILLAFAÑA

On what he saw tonight:

"I think definitely we are frustrated, mad, for the way that we played. We felt that today we played better than them, we created more opportunities than them, but unfortunately we couldn't capitalize on any of them. We couldn't score on any of them and then at the end a mistake. The second one we went looking for the goal so they countered, but I feel like we could've ended the game earlier."

On playing with Ryan and adapting to injuries:

"I think it is unfortunate when you have guys go down with an injury and I think right now like you said we are suffering on the back side, the defensive side, from the injuries. But with Rayan in the midfield when he was in the middle, he gave us a lot of clarity. He would pick up the ball and give us that exit that we needed, and then we he went to center. I think he did really good doing the same thing, picking up balls, finding players in the gaps... He is a really smooth player. A player who gives us a lot going forward."

On regrouping to play Dallas:

"I think defensively we are good, on the attack we are good, we just needed to put an opportunity away. We will regroup tomorrow, not much to think about, we are already going to be thinking about Dallas tomorrow and thinking about having another great performance and getting those three points."

LA GALAXY MIDFIELDER VÍCTOR VÁZQUEZ

On the frustrating result:

"The first half was under control. I think maybe we didn't have the ball that much because they were playing with the center backs so much with the ball, but they didn't create any chances. I think we had maybe three or four clear chances in the first half, the ones that we started with me that I didn't expect the ball but I just put my leg there on the ball go over the bar. Then we had a few chances more than that we didn't score. When you don't score; you pay after. I think second half we start again OK. We played well, a lot of good options to score again and then at the end they have one chance. They scored a goal and we tried to make things faster... Maybe with a bit of a rush because we need to score and then they got the second goal and then it was gone. I think we have to be happy with the performance of the team, but not with the result of course."

On playing with Rayan:

"I think he brought a lot of things, for sure his physicality, the way he plays, the way he controlled the midfield. He reminded me of Casemiro that they always try to control things on the midfield, try to get as many balls and steal the balls, play fast to the other guys and then after he had to play center back because Sega [Coulibaly] got injured and he did an amazing job. He brought a lot of good things, he is going to bring more and more good things and we have to be happy that he is here with us."

On what they need to do to get to the next level:

"I think we are doing good, we are still there. We are making a lot of good things like Greg said, also it was one of the best performances of the season. Of course it is always about the result, when you don't win the people start to talk like OK, maybe it is not the right way, maybe it is not the good result but we have to be happy I say. We have to be happy with the way we played, the way the guys work on the field, coming after also, now think about Dallas on Wednesday because we have another tough game, like all the games here. Yes, forget about this one as soon as possible and get back against Dallas and try to win at home because now we have two defeats at home which is not good."

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