May 29, 2022 – Major League Soccer (MLS) – LA Galaxy News Release
LOS ANGELES – Playing their seventh game in the span of 22 days across all competitions during the month of May, the LA Galaxy earned a 4-1 win over Austin FC in front of 20,433 fans at Dignity Health Sports Park on Sunday afternoon. Dejan Joveljić tallied two goals and two assists, while Javier “Chicharito” Hernández scored his sixth goal in league play and Efraín Álvarez notched a goal and an assist in the win over Austin.
Dejan Joveljić Making History
With two goals and two assists in 33 minutes played in the win over Austin, Joveljić is the first player in MLS history to contribute to four goals as a substitute in a single match. The brace marked the second time in his career that Joveljić has tallied two goals in a single match. Notably, Joveljić has tallied six goals and two assists in 15 appearances (3 starts) across all competitions this year.
LA Galaxy Against Austin FC
Sunday’s MLS regular-season match between the Galaxy and Austin FC marked the fourth all-time regular-season meeting between LA and Austin, with the Galaxy leading the series 3-1-0. In two all-time matches played at home against Austin, the Galaxy hold a 2-0-0 record.
Goal-Scoring Plays
ATX – Diego Fagundez (Owen Wolff), 53rd minute: After receiving the ball in the center of the penalty area, Diego Fagundez’s right-footed shot was fired into top left corner of the net.
LA – Javier “Chicharito” Hernández (Dejan Joveljić, Julián Araujo), 61st minute: Sprinting down the right flank, Julián Araujo delivered a low cross into the box to Dejan Joveljić. The Serbian international quickly backheeled the ball to Chicharito, whose shot from the center of the box found the bottom left corner of the goal.
LA – Dejan Joveljić, 61st minute: Sprinting down the right flank, Julián Araujo delivered a low cross into the box to Dejan Joveljić. The Serbian international quickly backheeled the ball to Chicharito, whose shot from the center of the box found the bottom left corner of the goal.
LA – Dejan Joveljić (Efraín Álvarez, Rayan Raveloson), 88th minute: Rayan Raveloson found Efraín Álvarez streaking down the right side of the field. Álvarez slipped a pass behind the Austin defense to Joveljić, who chipped the keeper from close range to notch his second goal of the night.
LA – Efraín Álvarez (Dejan Joveljić), 90th minute: Dejan Joveljić’s acrobatic bicycle kick in midfield released Álvarez behind Austin’s defense. Álvarez dribbled toward Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver and his shot from just inside the top of the box was buried into the back of the net.
Postgame Notes
Sunday’s MLS regular-season match between the Galaxy and Austin FC marked the fourth all-time regular-season meeting between LA and Austin, with the Galaxy leading the series 3-1-0.
With the win over Austin, the LA Galaxy (7-5-2, 23 points) moved up to eighth place in the Supporters’ Shield rankings, six points behind first-place LAFC (9-3-2, 29 points).
In two all-time matches played at home against Austin, the Galaxy hold a 2-0-0 record.
LA improved to 6-3-0 in nine matches played at home across all competitions in 2022.
In seven matches played across all competitions during the month of May, the Galaxy held a 4-2-1 record.
The victory marked LA’s first come-from-behind victory in league play this season.
The Galaxy scored four goals in a single match for the first time since a 4-1 win over the Portland Timbers on July 30, 2021.
LA improved to 1-4-0 when the opposition scores the first goal in league play during the 2022 campaign.
With two goals and two assists in the win over Austin, Dejan Joveljić is the first player in MLS history to contribute to four goals as a substitute in a single match.
Dejan Joveljić registered the third career brace across all competitions for the Galaxy.
Joveljić has tallied six goals and two assists in 15 appearances (3 starts) across all competitions this year.
Efraín Álvarez notched a goal and an assist in 45 minutes of action as a second-half substitute, marking the first time in his career he has tallied a goal and an assist in a single match.
Chicharito notched his sixth goal in league play during the 2022 MLS Regular Season.
Rayan Raveloson registered his third assist in league play this season.
Julián Araujo tallied his first assist in league play this season.
Samuel Grandsir made his 51st consecutive appearance for the Galaxy across all competitions dating back to April 18, 2021.
Jonathan Bond tallied his 156th save in league play for the Galaxy, ranking tied for sixth all-time in club history for saves with Josh Saunders.
LA is 1-0-0 when wearing the adidas Primeblue kit this season.
Next Game
Following the international break, the LA Galaxy return to league play to play host to the Portland Timbers at Dignity Health Sports Park on Saturday, June 18. The June 18 match kicks off at 2:00 p.m. PT and features a national broadcast on ESPN.
LA Galaxy (7-5-2, 23pts) vs. Austin FC (7-4-3, 24pts)
May 29, 2022 – Dignity Health Sports Park (Los Angeles)
Goals by Half 1 2 F
LA Galaxy 0 4 4
Austin FC 0 1 1
Scoring Summary:
ATX: Fagundez (Wolff), 53
LA: Chicharito (Joveljić, Araujo), 61
LA: Joveljić, 64
LA: Joveljić (Álvarez, Raveloson), 88
LA: Álvarez (Joveljić), 90
Misconduct Summary:
LA: Raveloson (caution), 77
LA: Joveljić (caution), 79
Lineups:
LA: GK Jonathan Bond; D Julián Araujo, D Nick DePuy, D Derrick Williams, D Raheem Edwards (Chase Gasper, 69); M Mark Delgado, M Rayan Raveloson, M Kévin Cabral (Kelvin Leerdam, 79), M Víctor Vázquez (Efraín Álvarez, 45), M Samuel Grandsir (Dejan Joveljić, 57); F Javier “Chicharito” Hernández © (Daniel Aguirre, 69)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Jonathan Klinsmann, D Eriq Zavaleta; M Jonathan Pérez
TOTAL SHOTS: 18 (Chicharito, 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 10 (Four players tied, 2); FOULS: 10 (Rayan Raveloson, Kévin Cabral, 3) OFFSIDES: 0; CORNER KICKS: 7; SAVES: 2
ATX: GK Brad Stuver; D Ruben Gabrielsen, D Hector Jimenez (Nick Lima, 66), D Julio Cascante, D Zan Kolmanic (Jon Gallagher, 66); M Dani Pereira, M Sebastian Driussi ©, M Alex Ring ©; F Diego Fagundez (Felipe, 75), F Owen Wolff (Ethan Finlay, 66), F Maxi Urruti (Moussa Djitte, 82)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Andrew Tarbell; D Kipp Keller, M Jared Stroud, M Jhojan Valencia;
TOTAL SHOTS: 12 (Maxi Urruti, 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (Maxi Urruti, 2); FOULS: 7 (Three players tied, 2) OFFSIDES: 4; CORNER KICKS: 4; SAVES: 6
Referee: Rubiel Vazquez
Assistant Referees: Jeremy Hanson, Chris Elliott
Fourth Official: Mark Allatin
VAR: Jose Carlos Rivero
Weather: Clear, 73 degrees
Attendance: 20,433
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial
Postgame Media Assets
LA Galaxy postgame soundbites from media availability and match photos can be found below.
SOUNDBYTES: https://mlssoccer.box.com/s/jwg29iatjl42pimgy87jm17a495hbn5j
LA Galaxy Head Coach Greg Vanney (English)
LA Galaxy Forward Javier “Chicharito” Hernández (English and Spanish)
LA Galaxy Forward Dejan Joveljić (English)
*Please credit LA Galaxy for any use
PHOTOS: https://mlssoccer.box.com/s/jwg29iatjl42pimgy87jm17a495hbn5j
*Please credit LA Galaxy for any use
LA GALAXY POSTGAME QUOTES
LA GALAXY HEAD COACH GREG VANNEY
On what the discussion was at halftime, and how the play was the second half:
“I thought we started the game really well. Obviously, we had the penalty kick. We had a couple more chances. We had good possession. But, there was a stretch, and I don’t know when it exactly started, middle of the half, where, every time we won the ball, we were just giving it right back. Because we were just having to defend, because of the transitions where we were losing the ball with one or two passes, then I started to see fatigue starting to set in. And then the guys stopped working through the transitions, and it was like… we won the ball, we rested, and the problem was we weren’t making options for each other to get out of it, and then we could rest once we had the ball. So, the discussion at halftime was just to make sure that we worked through the transitions. And once we secured the ball, we could rest with the ball a little bit if we needed to. But then also just to choose our moments wisely about attacking and about, again, trying to score goals. Defensively, it was, you know, they were rotating midfielders all over the place, and so it was just about us staying a little bit more compact and closing things off. Obviously, we gave up the first goal. But I thought the group stayed pretty calm. And the substitutes came on and made a huge difference in the game and brought a lot of energy. They brought in some quality in some of the plays. Dejan [Joveljić] entrance into the game, he almost immediately has an impact on the first goal, just cutting it back. Jules [Julián Araujo] kept grinding through the half and getting up and down. The guys, they just worked through it. This is the seventh game in 27 days I think it was, the third in this block this week. So, the guys have a lot of reason to be tired, but I felt like they just showed the heart of a team that wants to be champions and that’s what I’m seeing with this group now in the last couple games, it’s just been a different mentality, in my opinion. The timing for a break is maybe good in some ways, but maybe not so good in others. A lot of the guys could use a little bit of a recovery and a regeneration of their batteries. But really, really happy with the effort, the performance and just the grittiness in the group.”
On the form Dejan Joveljić has found himself in right now:
“Yeah, every time Dejan [Joveljić] comes in off the bench, he’s scored a goal, he’s had a goal called back, he’s had assists, he’s made a difference, he’s brought energy, he’s brought confidence, he’s brought quality in the final actions. So, his opportunities are coming, and in starts, and hopefully he’ll continue to do the same thing and do it for large stretches of time. But, for short, he’s been an injection of all of those things for us through the course of this month and this stretch. Again, shows his quality in front of the goal. And also just cleverness on the assists. Both assists were quite clever, actually. His awareness on the field. Also, the locker room also gave him a lot of credit for the defensive work he put in on the field. His off the ball running. Just trying to harass the defenders, make it difficult on them. It was outstanding. So, this is the young man that we thought we were getting. Who would score goals. And, for us, now, finding opportunities for him to continue to grow as a player and grow within our team.”
On when he looks at Austin FC and what he thinks of Josh Wolff’s side, and then what he thinks of his squad after beating them twice now:
“I think they’re a good team. I think Josh [Wolff] has done a good job with them. They’re one of the teams in the league that they really know how to use the ball. They create problems for you because they rotate players into positions, and they move. So, when you think you have reference points sorted out and you can start to press them, or defend them, then guys show up in different areas and that changes the way you have to defend them. So, they do a good job of, again, finding gaps, unbalancing you. Their midfielders are excellent players. [Sebastián] Driussi is a special player. [Alexander] Ring, I’ve always liked him at NYC[FC] and everywhere else. He’s a good soccer player, and one hell of a competitor. And, for me, [Daniel] Pereira is still one of the more interesting central midfielders, defensive midfielders in our league. He’s just so fluid and he covers ground so quickly with and without the ball. So, I think they have a ton of strength in the midfield. For us, it’s just, was again, trying to pose as many questions for their backline as possible. Trying to make them have to defend us. Try to create as many chances as possible. And try to manage their attacks, because they’re very good with the ball. So, I thought by and large we did a good job of that, today, and I thought we did a good job there of just trying to disrupt their paly through the midfield, and what their midfielders… how they were impacting the game.”
On if Austin FC is a little more advanced than nuanced for a new club trying to develop a culture:
“I think he [Josh Wolff] has his midfielders, again, with [Sebastián] Driussi and [Alexander] Ring are experienced players. They’re not kids. [Daniel] Pereira, I think has a very clear role, and I think he’s advanced quite well over the last year and a half with them in his role. But also, coming out of college, he had a lot of those qualities, too. I think he’s advanced maybe for his age. But, I think those guys are really experienced. Their two centerbacks are really experienced guys. They rotate their fullbacks. You know, those guys also have some experience in [Zan] Kolmanic and [Hector] Jimenez. Their wingers, they will rotate from time to time. [Maximiliano] Urruti has been in our league and has been doing his thing. Running in behind and creating havoc behind the back line. But, seeing Owen Wolff, seeing his chances, he’s a good little player. He’s going to be something. So, I think they have some experience in key spots, and then I think a guy like Pereira certainly has come along. I like the way Josh [Wolff] sees the game. I like the way he plays. And, I think there’s not a ton of dissimilarities between some our ideas and some of their ideas, which is why I always think these games are a little bit interesting. And, so, I think they’ve come a long way. Last year, they… he trusted the team with the ball and they took some losses because they were working through some of that stuff. So, last year maybe wasn’t as successful, but you could see some of their ideas growing within their group. Like I said, they lost some balls and build outs last year that really cost them results. And this year, they’ve been more secure and they’ve been a little bit more further along in their ideas. They’re a good group, they have good ideas and I suspect that they’ll be a playoff team this year. I think they have enough quality, enough good ideas to be there.”
On if he sees Dejan [Joveljić] as a starter, and if he can coexist with Javier Hernández, and if tweaking the formation to make that possible is in his sights:
“Yeah, I think it’s possible. I think, for me, it’s about a couple things. It’s them being able to defend together, and us, as a team, being able to defend together. It’s about consistency when you have two forwards on the field. About consistency in scoring goals, also. But, I think the more opportunity they get, the more I see a connection between the two of them, which has been nice. Which, I think is something that we can certainly consider as we continue to move forward. You can see Dejan’s [Joveljić] confidence is not lacking, so, that’s exciting for us. But, to have two guys that can put the ball in the back of the net. Again, if they can coexist out there on both sides of the ball, then there’s no reason why we can’t utilize that as something for our team. So, there’s certainly a case that’s being made now that they’ve gotten some time together in this stretch. They haven’t really started together in this stretch, but they’ve gotten some minutes together, and certainly impacted games in that stretch. Which, makes a case to consider that, for sure.”
LA GALAXY FORWARD JAVIER “CHICHARITO” HERNÁNDEZ
On the tale of his experience today – missing a penalty kick, getting a goal called back, and finally scoring a goal. Also, on the fight that the team showed on the second half:
“Keep going, keep going man. It’s like, the same feeling, obviously a little bit more pleasant after I scored, but the next play if the most important one. There’s no other way. If you score, it’s done, next one should be the most important one. If it’s a penalty, it doesn’t matter, the next one should be the most important. So, it’s just that, keep going until the last whistle. It’s not a game of when you score one then you need to just relax. You need to keep going and keep going, and as quickly as you can let go of every play, and you can take everything in a very positive and in your advantage. It’s how you become resilient and how you can also overcome a lot of obstacles. Like today, you know, they are a good team. A great team. We missed chances, we missed a penalty kick, the VAR. Then they scored first, but it didn’t matter for us. We just keep going. Keep going, and then the substitutions were amazing. Like Greg [Vanney] has been saying through the whole season, that we have a very deep squad, and we have a lot of players, and they are showing that it doesn’t matter if they play one minute or 90, it doesn’t matter, we all can contribute. And we all can give everything [for] the benefit of this team.”
On his thoughts on Dejan Joveljić:
“I think the same as everyone, Dejan [Joveljić] is an amazing striker. He’s doing amazing things coming from the bench as well as starting during the [U.S. Open] Cup. Congratulations to him, especially because he changed the game completely. He had two amazing assists apart of the two great goals he did but as well as Efrain [Alvarez], he scored a goal when he came on. Daniel [Aguirre], Kelvin [Leerdam] as well when he came in, Chase [Gasper] as well. Everyone. We have a very good squad and I think we are improving a lot in our chemistry as well as in our mindset that we want to show every single game. It was a completely different game than the LAFC game, but something that was completely similar was that we kept going, we didn’t listen to the sound of ‘we’re losing, we’re winning, we’re playing good or bad’. Just keep going, keep going, giving everything in every match and every play and then mistakes are going to happen but thankfully that’s why it’s a team sport. You can count on every one of your teammates. And thankfully I scored a goal as well, Dejan with two and then Efra scored another one, so it was a good result. And I think it’s very fair, apart of what they did, they had a [few] chances and then they scored a goal in the first one, so I think it was a very fair result.”
On his passionate postgame interview on the game against Houston on whether he spoke to the team after that interview:
“We all did, it’s not only that I spoke with my team, we all did. The players and the teammates who are a little bit more loud spoke obviously. I think apart from speaking, I think we listened. We listened. It’s something that we all did after the Houston game. We felt embarrassed after that game, we felt that we let down ourselves, our teammates, our coaching stuff, our fans and our people, you know. So I think that feeling, to say that you touched rock bottom, that’s what champions do sometimes. You don’t need to go to those extremes but that happened to us. And I said after that game that if we didn’t improve and we didn’t bounce back, we could enter into a very dark place. And thankfully we just bounced back the good thing about this is apart of the results, apart from the outcome. It’s like you set the bar. All of us were setting very good standards and everyone should make us accountable of those standards. It’s not about winning every single game 4-1 or 3-1, it’s about the how, because something that I said, Sasha [Kljestan] and a lot of players said this, is it’s not about the mistakes. It’s why and how you are making the mistakes that we want to change because mistakes are going to keep happening. But it is different when you have a mistake, when you try, when you are brave, when you are more confident, rather than being afraid or a little bit worried, if I’m going to look good, if I’m going to look bad, or I want just to play safe, you know, so mistakes are going to keep happening. In all sports, mistakes happen. And that’s the beauty of it, how you overcome and how you learn from them.”
On his chemistry with Dejan Joveljić:
“We have an amazing chemistry and I try to have it the same as with everyone, you know. I think Dejan [Joveljić] should have all the good comments and everything because he, from all the substitutions, he was in the most special one that [had] a very, very special impact on this game. About the chemistry, for example, the call that they disallowed my goal, was a very good cross from Samuel [Grandsir] and it was a very good chemistry, you know. In the other one, Kevin [Cabral] did a very good play and tried to find Dejan. And I think it was Efraín [Álvarez] who was coming on and he didn’t find him and then the rebound went to [Dejan] and he scored. So I the chemistry is not only about Dejan and myself, I think the chemistry is about everyone else because they did as well. After he scored his last goal, the assist that he did was a good play from Mark [Delgado] if I remember correctly. Chemistry sometimes, we want to just see if it is a winger and a striker and two strikers, and about playing together. That’s a question for Greg [Vanney]. [Dejan] and I have the same mindset, as long as we are on the pitch, we’re going to help the team and we’re going to give everything and we’re going to try to make things happen for the benefit of the team. Same as the line of four, you know, sometimes it’s Sega [Coulibaly] and Derrick [Williams], and the sometimes it’s Derrick and Nick [DePuy]. Sometimes Sega and Nick play and the chemistry needs to be there. It’s not only about two or three players. For example, I’ve received more balls from wingers, from strikers, from Víctor [Vázquez], from other teammates than defenders. But I mean, the chemistry and only the chemistry of passing balls, but I think it is the mentality. That we are getting into the same like channel, to the same spot to think the same inside the pitch and as well like our mantra that we use in our team – jog less and sprint more.”
LA GALAXY FORWARD DEJAN JOVELJIÆ
On the message from Greg Vanney before came on as a substitute:
“To be honest, he didn’t say nothing special to me, I was talking to other coaches. They told me to close number six and to bring some energy and to score some goals.”.
On his play tonight and having fun on the field:
“Yeah, you’re right, I think I’m a hardworking player and when I’m on the field, I want to use every chance. [Today] I got like 25 to 30 minutes, I managed to score two goals and two assists. I’m very happy and very proud of my team. We showed great effort, great mentality and I’m sure that we deserved to win. Also, Austin is a very good team with very good players. But today, we were the better team.”
On getting the break and how that will affect the team:
“I think, maybe [the break] can be a bad and a good thing, in both ways. I mean, now we are going to have a break, like two weeks without games. We’re going to recharge our batteries and keep pushing forward.”
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