The Los Angeles Galaxy will hold a celebration after winning their sixth MLS Cup on Sunday at Legends Plaza at Dignity Health Sports Park.
Players, coaches and staff will be in attendance for a celebration at 3 p.m. Team broadcaster Joe Tutino will be the host. DJ Vick One provides musical entertainment. Admission and parking are free.
“This whole team is going to go down in history as what I think is one of the great Galaxy teams, not just today but all year,” coach Greg Vanney said after Saturday’s 2-1 win over the New York Red Bulls. He spoke after raising his team’s ranking. Achieving a record and giving them the championship cup for the first time since 2014.
“It’s a club that has set a lot of records in the league over the years, they broke all kinds of records over the years. They should be remembered for that and I believe so, because the way they ended today. Thanks to you.”
The Galaxy’s 18 goals in five playoff games was a record, as was their plus-14 goal differential. They became the first team to have four players score at least three goals during the playoffs. Dejan Jovezic had six, Riqui Puig and Josef Paintl had four each, and Gabriel Peck had three.
The Galaxy finished 17-0-4 in all competition played at Dignity Health Sports Park in 2024. The 17 home wins tie the MLS record for most wins at a single venue in a season, regular season or playoffs.
DC United set a record with 17 wins at RFK Stadium in 1998. It tied the Chicago Fire’s 17 wins at Soldier Field in 2000 and the Galaxy’s 17 wins at Dignity Health Sports Park in 2014.
Paintsil and Jovezic, playing in his 10th MLS Cup and his first since 2014, scored in the 13th minute, while John McCarthy converted Cameron Harper’s shot in the 85th minute and Elias Manoel’s header five minutes into the second half. He made four saves, including a stoppage. Stoppage time to maintain the lead.
Paintsill fought his way through the New York defense, picked up a through pass from Gaston Brugman, and fired a shot from about 10 yards out past goaltender Carlos Coronel in the 9th minute. Edwin Cerillo also had an assist.
Yovezic controlled Mark Delgado’s header about eight yards past the halfway line, drove to near the penalty spot and fired a left-footed shot past Coronel.
The series of points towards the Red Bulls’ goal began with a corner kick by Emil Forsberg, which was headed in by Galaxy defender Maya Yoshida. After the Galaxy failed to clear the ball, the ball passed to Niels, who fired a shot from near the penalty spot just inside the right goal post.
Brugman came off the bench in the final regular season game and the first four playoff games, and was named MVP in his first start since October 5th.
Vanney said he chose Brugman to “win in the middle of the park…especially early in the match, they usually like fast, pressing and destructive things.”
“For me, they came out a little later than I expected,” Vanney said. “But we came out quick like we were ready for that game and Gaston was able to come forward and win the ball. He made a great pass to the line. was a warrior in both directions.”
Both teams took 12 shots. The Galaxy led 6-5 in shots on goal. New York converted six Galaxy corner kicks before a sellout crowd of 26,812 at Dignity Health Sports Park.
Coronel made four saves.
The Galaxy won despite missing their best player, Puig, who suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during the second half of the Western Conference finals on Nov. 30. He continued to play for more than 30 minutes and contributed to the game – assisting Jovezic’s goal in the 85th minute of a 1-0 win against Seattle Sounders FC.
Puig scored a team-leading 13 goals and 15 assists in 29 regular season games and was named to the MLS Best Eleven. He was one of four players in the league with at least 13 goals and 15 assists.
He also led the league in touches (2,847), pass attempts (2,847), pass completions (2,497), fouls (83) and multi-assist performance (6).
In the playoffs, Puig had four goals and three assists.
After missing the playoffs in three of the past four seasons, including finishing 13th in the 14-team Western Conference in 2023, the Galaxy are tied for first place with Los Angeles FC with a 19-8-7 record. , he was seeded second because he was plus-19. Their goal difference was one less than LAFC.
The Galaxy then defeated seventh-seeded Colorado 2-0 in the first round of a best-of-three series, defeated sixth-seeded Minnesota United 6-2 in the conference semifinals, and defeated Seattle in the conference finals. .
This was the second time the Red Bulls advanced to MLS Cup. In 2008, the team lost 3-1 to the Columbus Crew at a neutral site, then the Home Depot Center and now Dignity Health Sports Park.
New York went 11-9-14 in the regular season and was seeded seventh in the Eastern Conference. They defeated second-seeded Columbus 2-0 in the first round, defeated sixth-seeded New York City FC 2-0 in the Eastern Conference semifinals, and defeated fourth-seeded Orlando City 1-1 in the Eastern Conference finals. Broke with -0. They will be the lowest seeded team to participate in MLS Cup.
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