Despite a strong comeback effort, the Red Bulls were unable to overcome an early two-goal deficit and were defeated by the LA Galaxy, 2-1, in the MLS Cup Final on Saturday at Dignity Health Park in Los Angeles.
The Galaxy showed why they are considered one of the most potent offensive attacks in MLS history when it struck for two goals in a span of four minutes.
In the ninth minute, Gaston Brugman sent a near-perfect pass to an in-stride Joseph Paintsil, who promptly slid a shot that keeper Carlos Coronel got a piece of, but not enough to stop it from going into the net and giving the Galaxy a quick 1-0 lead.
Then, in the 13th minute, on a counter, Dejan Joveljic sent a shot from just inside the 18 past a diving Red Bulls defender and into the net, doubling the lead to 2-0.
What I can say, for sure, is that in the first 15 minutes, LA Galaxy controlled the game,” said Red Bulls head coach Sandro Schwarz in the postgame press conference. “But our reaction was great.”
The Red Bulls cut the deficit in half in the 28th minute when Emil Forsberg’s corner kick pinballed in the box before Sean Nealis volleyed the ball inside the right post for a goal.
In the second half, the Red Bulls had several strong offensive chances to tie the game, but were unable to break through as Galaxy keeper John McCarthy made four saves to preserve the lead for LA.
“When you concede the first 15 minutes here against a very good team, against a very good coach, two goals, and in the final, the pressure is coming then it’s not so easy for the young group like we have,” Schwarz said. “Bbut the reaction and then to come back you need then also some set pieces moments where we concede the goal, where we scored, and that’s great.”
While the Red Bulls’ playoff run was unexpected – going from a seventh seed to Eastern Conference champions for the first time since 2008 – there is plenty of optimism moving forward with a roster that was the youngest in the entire MLS.
For that reason, while there were plenty of upset players in the locker room, Schwarz is optimistic they’ll be able to build off this experience.
“The atmosphere was amazing here in the stadium in this final,” Schwarz said. “ I love these guys and how the reaction was. Now they are in the locker room, some guys, they are crying…
“Sometimes it’s tough when you lose the final. But also, we will use this experience to create the next energy, the next intensity. But I would say the next energy level will be when we start the first training session, not today.”
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Jason Bernstein | Observer Sports Writer
Jason Bernstein joined The Observer as its sports writer in March 2022, following the retirement of Jim Hague. He has a wealth of sports-writing experience, including for NJ Advance Media (nj.com, The Jersey Journal, The Star-Ledger.)