How the LA Galaxy's game against Philadelphia was the coach's best and worst

FanSided MLS

·15 May 2025

How the LA Galaxy's game against Philadelphia was the coach's best and worst

The LA Galaxy are the worst team in all of Major League Soccer. Heading into Wednesday night's match against the Philadelphia Union, the defending champions were 0-3-9. Now, they are 0-3-10.

Yet, the whole game was not all gloom and doom for head coach Greg Vanney. Entering their 13th match of the season, the Los Angeles Galaxy had the lowest scoring offense (8 goals) in the MLS Western Conference and also had given up the most goals in the entire league (28 goals).

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Their -20 goal differential made them a clear underdog against one the MLS Eastern Conference teams, the Philadelphia Union. They entered Wednesday night 7-2-3.

It had been over a month since the last time Philadelphia lost a game. It has been over five months since the Los Angeles Galaxy have won an MLS match.

Why Greg Vanney looked like his players still bought into his system

So far in 2025, the Los Angeles Galaxy have only had the lead once. At the 14th minute against Orlando City SC, forward Christian Ramirez scored one of his four goals on the season.

The six-time MLS Cup winners held the lead until a penalty kick by Martin Ojeda evened the score. Luis Muriel squandered any hopes of a win or tie when he found the back of the net in the 90th minute.

Wednesday night was the first time all season that the LA Galaxy took a 2-0 lead into halftime. Their veteran goalie, John McCarthy, posted a shutout during the first half.

"Well, first, I'm going to say I was super proud of the guys and their response in the first half. I think they came out and executed on the things we wanted to execute on. We got ourselves ahead, which has been a battle for us. We kept the game at zero. I thought the guys did a lot of good things. "Greg Vanney, head coach of the LA Galaxy

LA Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney did not have Gabriel Pec or Joseph Paintsil available as both are hurt. He elected to not start Christian Ramirez, either.

Instead, Vanney chose to utilize a 4-3-3 formation with Diego Fagundez, Marco Reus and Mauricio Cuevas up top. The 2x MLS Cup winning coach looked genius in the first half for this call as Fagundez and Cuevas scored six minutes apart midway through the first half.

Reus was credited with the assist on both scores. Not one of the three players have regularly started as a forward, especially Cuevas who rarely starts, period.

However, until the second half, the LA Galaxy appeared to look like the defending champions. They were on their way to earning their first MLS win since December 7, 2024, when they won their sixth MLS Cup against the NY Red Bulls.

How Greg Vanney justified LA Galaxy's fans calling for his job

Three minutes into the second half, the Los Angeles Galaxy's lead was cut in half. Nathan Harriel scored for the Union on a nice pass from Jakob Glesnes.

Just a few minutes later, the lead was gone. Philadelphia tied the score 2-2 thanks to a score from Tai Baribo. Danley Jean Jacques earned the assist on this game-changing play.

"In the second half, I think at halftime, we knew they were going to come out with another level of pressure and more Philadelphia Union type of aggression, whipping balls in, running behind. And I think you know, I have to see the goals. The one on the corner kick, Emi's responsibility is Glesnes; I think he got picked. "Greg Vanney, head coach of the LA Galaxy

Baribo burned the LA Galaxy for a second time in stoppage time. The LA Galaxy not only failed to earn their first win, but they even squandered a tie in the final moments of the match. A pass from Mikhael Uhre led to the winner for Philadelphia.

McCarthy and the LA Galaxy fell apart in the second half. The offense went cold after finding the back of the net twice in the first half.

Subbing Christian Ramirez in at the 61st minute wasn't the catalyst Vanney was hoping for to regain the lead.

"Where to even start. I think everybody sees how frustrating it is. You go up 2-0 in Philly which is a hard place to play, and I thought we were doing so well in the first half. Come into the break and in five minutes, the whole game changes for us and then we try to hold off as much as we can and we gave up a late goal and it's a hard one to swallow. Frustrating. "Diego Fagundez, LA Galaxy midfielder

The LA Galaxy only held possession for 42.8% of the game. Their three shot attempts were pathetic. Yet, they made the most of them, scoring twice.

Phildelphia had 22 shot attempts with nine on target. They were awarded 12 corner kicks whereas the LA Galaxy only had two.

A win would have given the LA Galaxy three points in the MLS Western Conference standings. That's as many as they currently have. A tie would net Vanney's club a fourth point. Instead, the LA Galaxy walk away empty-handed. Unless you count their tenth loss of the season as a prize.

Vanney showed the LA Galaxy still believe in his ways and are willing to perform. That display was short lived thanks to a pair of goals allowed in a three minute span.