The Los Angeles Galaxy will aim to extend their winning streak to three matches on Saturday afternoon when they visit Austin FC.
The Western Conference-leading Galaxy (5-1-3, 18 points) rebounded from a 2-1 setback to Los Angeles FC on April 6 by posting a 3-1 victory over Vancouver on April 13 and a 4-3 triumph over San Jose on Sunday.
Gabriel Pec and Joseph Paintsil each recorded a goal and an assist for the star-stuffed Galaxy versus the Earthquakes. Riqui Puig netted what proved to be the match-winning tally for Los Angeles, which saw a comfortable 4-1 lead trimmed to a single goal by the 72nd minute of the match.
“I’m glad we got out with three points in the end,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said. “It was a crazy one.”
“We thought things were done for us at 4-1,” Paintsil said, per the Los Angeles Daily News. “Then our mentality was to do everything possible to get the win for the fans and we stuck together as a team.”
The Galaxy have recorded a conference-best 21 goals in nine MLS matches, with Dejan Joveljic leading the way with six of them. Joveljic joined Puig in scoring a goal during Los Angeles’ 3-3 draw against Austin FC last season.
Emiliano Rigoni scored in that match and did so again last Saturday for Austin FC (3-3-3, 12 points). Rigoni scored in the 86th minute to fuel Austin FC to a 1-0 victory over the Houston Dynamo.
Austin FC coach Josh Wolff said he thinks his team needs to be aggressive if it wishes to record its third straight home victory.
“We have to find the opportunities to challenge them,” Wolff said. “We have to be responsible with the ball and aware of how we can hurt them and have a level of control in the game.”
–Field Level Media
