By the end of summer, the LA Galaxy's 2022 season was at a crossroads.
A strong start gave way to a lull, and they teetered towards falling out of Audi MLS Cup Playoffs contention entirely for potentially the fifth time in six years. LA ultimately ended the season on a high note, though, doing enough to host a Round One game at Dignity Health Sports Park.
With strong performances down the stretch, building into a controlled 1-0 win Saturday over Nashville SC in Round One, the Galaxy are peaking at the right time. LA are the Western Conference's No. 4 seed, while Nashville had the No. 5 seed.
“I think we have genuine control of games; a lot of that comes from the midfield and the quality we have in there,” goalkeeper Jonathan Bond told media after the game. “It has to be the best football we’ve played all season.”
Saturday marked the Galaxy’s first shutout since late July, going 14 games between clean sheets. LA's midfield trio has driven improved performances of late. Former Barcelona man Riqui Puig has settled in quickly, viewed as one of the best players in MLS since his debut in mid-August, while defensive midfielder Gaston Brugman has been a key addition as well.
“As a whole, over this stretch of games, I think the group is playing the best soccer it's played in the last two years,” head coach Greg Vanney said of the five-time MLS Cup champions.
Araujo the savior
The Galaxy controlled the game against Nashville, but couldn’t quite find the breakthrough. They thought they bagged a second-half opener through Chicharito, but the goal was called back for a foul in the buildup after Video Review. The foul was called on Julian Araujo.
The Gs kept their foot on the gas and Araujo himself found the lone goal, heading home a beautiful cross from Samuel Grandsir in the 60th minute. Araujo had one goal in his first 100 MLS regular-season appearances.
“[Scoring the goal is] everything to me,” Araujo told MLSsoccer.com’s Susannah Collins. “My whole life I've been working for opportunities and moments like these. To be able to be in a position to win a trophy and to help contribute to the team, it was a team effort. We all played 100 percent to the final whistle, from the first whistle to the [end]. I'm happy, I'm very grateful to do it in front of my family, in front of these amazing fans.”
Chicharito, the LA Galaxy's leading scorer and Mexico's all-time leading scorer, kept Araujo humble in the locker room.
“I joked with him that I saw his face when he was heading it [and] he closed his eyes,” Chicharito said with a laugh. “We were talking trash a little bit.”
Araujo, a two-time MLS All-Star, has been the Galaxy’s first-choice right back for three seasons now despite just turning 21 in August. He has three caps with Mexico and is in discussions to make their 2022 World Cup roster. El Tri start Group C play on Nov. 22 against Poland.
“He’s grown a lot, man, a lot,” Chicharito said. “He’s a massively talented player, you can see. At 21, he already has 100 career games and is fighting to go to the World Cup. … He’s maturing a lot. He has something that I’ve seen around the world: When people have this humbleness that they don’t know everything and don’t want to live on their talent only, they grow. Julian has that.”
Vanney said there was a push to get Araujo further forward in attack and have the freedom to drift inside. But the right back finding himself at the back post on a cross from the right flank was “maybe not necessarily how you draw it up on the training ground," he joked.
The Galaxy also kept quiet Hany Mukhtar, the Golden Boot presented by Audi winner and the presumptive favorite for Landon Donovan MLS MVP honors. Mukhtar scored 23 goals in the regular season, but was blanked on Saturday, as Nashville’s 2022 season comes to an end.
“Whenever Mukhtar was on the ball, we tried to get pressure on him as fast as we could to not let him create anything,” Araujo said. “I think we did that very well today.”
El Trafico next
The result has booked another playoff edition of El Trafico, this time at LAFC on Thursday evening (10 pm ET | FS1, FOX Deportes). LAFC topped the Western Conference, won the Supporters’ Shield and are among the favorites to raise MLS Cup on Nov. 5.
The cross-city rivals also met in a 2019 playoff game, a Western Conference Semifinal that ended 5-3 at Banc of California Stadium. Meeting again in a Western Conference Semifinal, this edition will be the clubs' fourth clash of 2022 across all competitions.
“One thing I like on our side is that we’ve felt the intensity of the playoffs and they’ve been off for 10 days,” Vanney said. “We have that experience under our belt and we’ll take that into the next game.”
