CARSON – Major League Soccer is fully in its Messi Era, but the L.A. Galaxy – Los Angeles’ other team, to hear the league’s commissioner tell it – did its best to interrupt and announce a new era of its own Sunday night at Dignity Health Sports Park.
The 27,642 fans packed into the park – a regular-season attendance record – got a bit of both worlds in the 1-1 tie. A resurgent Galaxy, a Lionel Messi goal.
The Galaxy’s Greg Vanney was right, it absolutely was a spectacle, the type of match that could, as the coach said, “set the standard” for the rest of the season. (And just imagine if the MLS’ usual refs were available and not striking, how much less weird it might’ve been.)
Not only was the new-look Galaxy’s season opener a big reveal for the team’s invested fans, it was a showcase for the whole league – shoot, the whole world – because of who L.A. was up against: The greatest Messi and his decorated Inter Miami mates. Good stuff.
“It did have a sense of a final,” Vanney said. “That was great, and players love to play in this type of environment. You saw the game you saw tonight because of the atmosphere, it gets all the recognition of all the players at the highest level, concentration and work rate. And then you get a really interesting game out of it.”
After a season of discontent, a fan revolt and front office failings off the pitch, and an unimpressive 8-12-14 record on it, the Galaxy gave their fans reason to hope again Sunday, despite letting the victory slip in the 92nd minute.
The Galaxy opened business in 2024 having turned over half of the roster, and as assembled now, they looked young and athletic, determined and energized.
They opened up by opening up the throttle and letting their new wingers fly. Just arrived, Joseph Paintsil, the 26-year-old Ghanaian, started and played most of the match. “I love playing this kind of game,” he said after his MLS debut, who finished with seven shots, including…
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