Our Los Angeles Galaxy will face the Vancouver Whitecaps for a second match this season tonight at the StubHub Center in Carson, CA. The Galaxy look to extend their 3 game undefeated streak and gain three points at home. The last time these two teams went head-to-head, the Whitecaps took home a 2-0 victory that put them atop the Western Conference. Now both teams are in very different mindsets and with only two points difference in the standings.
Robbie Keane will be available to play for tonight’s game but he is then due to depart for Dublin where he has been called on to play for the Republic of Ireland National Team in a match against England, followed by a UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying match against Scotland. Gyasi Zardes and Jaime Penedo have also been called on to play for USMNT and the Panama National Team respectively. Alan Gordon says he’s fit to play after recovering from a calf injury.
The Galaxy are coming off a 2-2 draw against the New England Revolution and are tied for third place in the Western conference with 21 points and 15 matches. Rookie Ignacio “Nacho” Maganto helped keep the Galaxy level in the 18th minute against New England, scoring his first goal. It was his fifth start for the Galaxy and lead to his first MLS assist on Zardes’ goal at the 27th minute.
Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena said, “Good young player, took his goal well,” said Arena. “I think he’s pretty consistent for 90 minutes and I’m real pleased to see that,” about Maganto and, “Going down a goal in the early minutes and being able to get a point out of it against a good team, it’s a good result, a good week for us with two wins and a draw.”
The Whitecaps on the other hand, lost their second road game on Wednesday to the Montreal Impact. In a 2-1 defeat, the Whitecaps are still confident they played a good game, according to Whitecaps FC head coach Carl Robinson who says, “How we were one-nil down at halftime was beyond me…We played very well with the ball. We gave away a goal in the first few minutes and we were chasing. The character in the second half, we continued to play the way we wanted to play, continued to chase that goal, we got the goal and we let them off the hook again. The second goal could have been avoided. I can’t fault the performance, the way we played. I can fault the result because we didn’t win.”
The Whitecaps are in second place in the Western Conference with 23 points and 15 matches. However, the Galaxy have the homefield advantage with a 23-game home MLS Regular Season unbeaten streak- the longest in Club history and third longest in MLS history. The Whitecaps have never won, or even tied against the Galaxy at home, so that’s something to consider as well. The Galaxy need a win tonight so hopefully the cosmos will align.