CARSON, Calif. – The LA Galaxy’s season-long malaise at StubHub Center continued Saturday in a 2-0 loss to New York City FC in front of a sellout crowd of 25,667.
But their latest defeat, their seventh in 12 home matches had a different feeling to it. Only the stout goaltending of New York goalie Sean Johnson, who had five saves – including at least three of the point-blank variety – kept the struggling five-time MLS Cup champions from enjoying a home victory for the first time since a 2-0 win over Montreal on April 7.
That’s a span of 128 days.
“At the end of the day, I can’t be harsh on my team,” Galaxy head coach Sigi Schmid said. “They worked hard and did everything I asked them to do. The performance on the field, the work rate, the effort … the way we played was something I was very happy with.
“We did not deserve tonight to lose 2-0.”
A classic example of the Galaxy’s luck – or lack thereof – occurred in the 67th minute when Romain Alessandrini chipped a ball which Johnson managed to barely tip away from the net. It went right to Ashley Cole standing at the edge of the goal area, and his left-footed volley caromed off the crossbar.
Contrast that with New York’s first goal by Jonathan Lewis 13 minutes earlier, in which his shot attempt from just outside the top of the penalty area hit the crossbar and went into the net for a 1-0 lead, and one got the idea this wasn’t going to be the Galaxy’s night.
Not many of them have been this season.
The Galaxy’s current winless streak reached eight games (0-7-1) and their overall record fell to 6-12-5. They have just 23 points, ninth in the Western Conference and ahead of only Minnesota United and Colorado.
Cole, asked if the Galaxy are unlucky, said he wasn’t sure.
“I think you make your own luck,” he said. “Sometimes the ball hits you in the back of the head and it goes in the goal. Yeah, we’re kind of missing chances, but at home we need to change things.”
Central defender Dan Steres said he was at a loss for the team’s ongoing lack of good fortune. He also agreed with Schmid that the Galaxy should have had a better fate Saturday.
“I would agree with that,” he said. “I don’t think we deserved to lose it. Their keeper stood on his head tonight. I don’t know how many shots we had on target, but we had near 10 (actually five but 21 shots total), if not more. It’s just not going our way. They got a couple of shots and they get a couple of goals.”
Steres wouldn’t go so far as to say the team is in a rut.
“There’s no real way to explain it,” he said. “We dominated that game and absolutely deserved to win. We had chances to win it. It’s not happening.
“If you want to call it a rut, call it a rut. Unlucky, call it that. Whatever you want to call it, it’s just not happening right now.”
