Galaxy holds San Miguelito to scoreless draw, advance to Round of 16

It took longer than expected, but the LA Galaxy are through to the Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16 where the club will face Jamaican club Mount Pleasant, the defending Caribbean Champions Cup winners. 

After a scoreless draw Wednesday night at Dignity Health Sports Park level on aggregate with San Miguelito, 1-1, the Galaxy automatically advanced thanks to an away goal to avoid an embarrassing early exit.

Head coach Greg Vanney defended his team after playing four matches in a 10-day span to open their season.

“Happy for the guys… Playing three games really quickly in Coachella to then very quickly jumping on a plane and going to Panama, to coming back and quickly playing New York and quickly turning this game around. I feel like we’re trying to learn some things while we’re playing games.”

The Galaxy entered Wednesday’s second leg with the weight of two consecutive draws to open the season, first in Panama, then Sunday against NYCFC in a game they had the advantage in before going down to ten men. 

A third straight stalemate is tolerable for LA because it secured the club a spot in the Round of 16, but the Galaxy had every advantage to finish this one sooner.

San Miguelito arrived to Dignity Health Sports Park with a much smaller bankroll, traveled over 3,000 miles and the second leg did not begin until 8:30 p.m. PT, meaning it was 11:30 p.m. back in Panama.

“I felt like we came in this game with the mindset ‘we win by four goals,’ and we went to force the game to win by four against a team that’s sitting with 9-10 guys in a low block under the ball.

“That’s almost what they wanted you to do,” Vanney said.

Most importantly, the visitors arrived knowing a win of any kind would send them through after last week's 1-1 draw in the first leg.

The Panamanian side started with five men in the backline in an effort to negate the speed of the Galaxy’s wings and keep the attack at bay.

LA was nearly able to break through the low block just after the half hour mark, when Gabriel Pec sent one home. But, before the Galaxy could celebrate the goal was waved off after Joseph Paintsil was ruled offside.

The second half was a slow burn, as the Galaxy took control of possession and slowed the game down until stoppage time, knowing a scoreless draw meant a spot for the hosts in the Round of 16.

After an uneventful second 45, the intensity briefly reached a climax during stoppage time.

Gabriel Pec and San Miguelito’s Sergio Ramirez began shoving each other, which bled into the area where the Galaxy’s bench players were warming up. In the midst of the scuffle, Nascimento was booked for a red card, meaning he will miss the next Concacaf match.

“I didn’t even really see what happened,” Vanney said afterwards.

The red card was news to John Nelson, who was on the field when it happened but, he understood the motive.

“That’s the last thing we want,” Nelson said. “That’s exactly what they wanted. They wanted to get something out of us.”

Next, the Galaxy will host the Round of 16 first leg against Mount Pleasant, Mar. 11 and the second leg will take place Mar. 19 in Jamaica.

LA returns to MLS play Saturday, hosting Charlotte FC. First kick is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.