The Houston Dynamo recorded their first victory last week while the defending champion Los Angeles Galaxy still have a zero in the win column.
Two of the more disappointing teams in Major League Soccer square off Saturday night when the Dynamo (1-4-2, 5 points) face the Galaxy at Carson, Calif.
Los Angeles (0-5-2, 2 points) shares the worst record in the league with CF Montreal just four months after winning the MLS Cup.
Perhaps there is a hangover due to having a short offseason. It doesn’t help that star midfielder Riqui Puig is sidelined with an ACL injury that occurred four-plus months ago and the offseason trade of star forward Dejan Joveljic to Sporting Kansas City has buried the offense.
The Galaxy have scored just five goals and have been blanked three times.
In last Saturday’s 2-0 road loss against Real Salt Lake, Los Angeles placed just one shot on target. That came in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time when Tucker Lepley’s left-footed shot was stopped by RSL goalkeeper Rafael Cabral.
Galaxy coach Greg Vanney was disappointed his club mustered just one shot on goal.
“We get into some attacks where we look like we’re building some speed and we hit a cross into somebody, instead of getting a cross where we need to,” Vanney said. “We get somebody in a crossing situation, and we don’t get a hard run to the near post across the face of the goal.”
The Galaxy are approaching a danger zone because eight teams already have reached double digits in points. If wins don’t start coming, LA will be in a deep hole.
“At the end of the day, it’s making sure that you make the playoffs,” said veteran Galaxy forward Diego Fagundez. “And for us, it’s one game at a time, and if we can turn everything around, we can get there.”
The Galaxy were also eliminated from the CONCACAF Champions Cup Tuesday when they lost to Tigres UANL of Mexico.
Houston (1-4-2, 5 points) is feeling more confident after last Saturday’s 1-0 home victory over Los Angeles FC.
Midfielder Jack McGlynn scored in the 58th minute for his first goal with the Dynamo. He was acquired in the offseason from the Philadelphia Union.
“I’m confident to hit that from outside of the box,” McGlynn said, “and thank God it went in.”
Houston coach Ben Olsen said the winless stretch was painful for his team.
“We’re all relieved,” Olsen said. “You want to get the first win under your belt, I’m not gonna lie. It’s been a long month.”
The teams split two meetings last season with each team notching a 2-1 home victory.
–Field Level Media
