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CARSON, Calif. — The L.A. Galaxy fell 2-0 to Sporting Kansas City at StubHub Center Sunday night, despite having designated players Romain Alessandrini and Jonathan dos Santos back from lengthy hamstring injuries.
Sporting Kansas City sat in the top spot in the Western Conference entering the match, but missed top scorer Felipe Gutierrez due to injury. The Galaxy, however, added two designated players back into the fold and had their newest signing, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, waiting to come in off the bench.
Chants of “We want Zlatan!” began as soon as the match started, as fans wanted to experience the same excitement they felt in last week’s 4-3 comeback win over cross-town rival LAFC. However, Ibrahimovic wasn’t able to save his team this time.
The Galaxy largely dominated the first half, showing signs of cohesion on both sides of the field. Their defense communicated well and the two returning DPs looked healthy and ready to contribute.
The second half gave the Galaxy a little more trouble, as Sporting Kansas City came out of halftime firing on all cylinders. Dániel Sallói scored in the 56th minute and Johnny Russell scored in the 61st minute, giving Sporting Kansas City a 2-0 lead it held the remainder of the game.
Defense has become a glaring issue for the L.A. Galaxy, who have given up five goals in the last two matches. Head coach Sigi Schmid blames more than just the defenders for the team’s defensive woes.
“We need to be better in winning our duels. I think in the last 30 minutes we won our duels, we won tackles and we won 50-50 balls,” Schmid said. “I think prior to that we didn’t, and then it makes it hard to play defense. Plus you also need the help of your attacking players to help you defend. They at least need to shape where the opponent is going and dictate the flow of the game. Sometimes we do that and sometimes we don’t do it very well. That’s something we need to work on and do better. We need to defend with more than just six [players].”
Galaxy players were visibly frustrated in the locker room during postgame interviews. Captain Ashley Cole did not hide his disappointment in the team’s work ethic and defending.
“For me, it should be minute 1 that we have this work ethic,” Cole said. “We have to defend as a team, because if you want to win you can’t concede goals like we have been.”
Midfielder dos Santos shared Cole’s frustrations.
“We need to be better, we need to improve how we communicate tactically, defensively and offensively,” dos Santos said. “We need to demand much more from each other. We are the L.A. Galaxy, and we can’t lose out on these points at home. We’ll have time this week to continue to work hard and come back next game.”
Looking ahead, the Galaxy travel to Chicago on Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. EST kickoff.