LOS ANGELES (Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2021) – Playing the second of three games in the span of eight days, the LA Galaxy earned their second consecutive win with a 3-0 shutout victory on the road over Houston Dynamo FC at PNC Stadium on Wednesday night. Sacha Kljestan registered the game-winning goal and Kévin Cabral notched his fifth goal of the season, while Jonathan Bond registered seven saves in the shutout.
Greg Vanney Earns 100th MLS Regular-Season Win
With the Galaxy’s win over Houston, LA Galaxy Head Coach Greg Vanney became the 12th manager in MLS history to win 100 regular-season matches. Dating back to the beginning of the 2015 MLS regular season, Vanney ranks first amongst all MLS head coaches in wins (98). Sporting KC’s Peter Vermes ranks second (94), while Philadelphia’s Jim Curtain ranks third (89). Orlando’s Oscar Pareja (85) ranks fourth, while Seattle’s Brian Schmetzer (84) rounds out the top five.
Goal-Scoring Plays
LA – Sacha Kljestan (Penalty Kick), 38th minute: After Cabral was fouled inside the penalty area, Kljestan stepped up to the spot and buried his shot into the bottom right corner of the net.
LA – Own Goal (Zarek Valentin), 45+1st minute: Attacking down the right flank, Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez played a ball in behind the Houston defense that found Efrain Álvarez, whose centering pass was redirected into the goal by Houston defender Zarek Valentin.
LA - Kévin Cabral (Chicharito), 47th minute: Chicharito slipped a pass behind the Houston backline that released Cabral into space. Cutting in on his right foot, Cabral dribbled past one defender before rolling his shot toward the left corner of the goal.
Postgame Notes
The LA Galaxy improved to 13-11-6 (45 pts) this season, jumping up to fifth place in the Western Conference standings.With the Galaxy’s win over Houston, LA Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney became the 12th manager in MLS history to win 100 regular-season matches.Dating back to the beginning of the 2015 MLS regular season, Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney ranks first amongst all MLS head coaches in wins (98). Sporting KC’s Peter Vermes ranks second (94), while Philadelphia’s Jim Curtain ranks third (89). Orlando’s Oscar Pareja (85) ranks fourth, while Seattle’s Brian Schmetzer (84) rounds out the top five.Wednesday’s match marked the 34th MLS Regular Season meeting between LA and Houston Dynamo FC, with the series tied 12-12-10.In 18 matches on the road at Houston, the Galaxy hold a 6-8-4 record.Prior to the 3-0 win over Houston, the last time the Galaxy won on the road against the Dynamo was a 1-0 win at PNC Stadium on Oct. 16, 2016.In 15 games played on the road during the 2021 campaign, the Galaxy hold a 5-7-3 record.In two appearances against Houston in 2021, Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez has tallied one goal and one assist.Hernandez notched his third assist of the season in the win against Houston.Jonathan dos Santos appeared in his 99th regular-season appearance for LA.Kévin Cabral tallied his fifth goal of the season in the win over Houston.The Galaxy registered their fifth shutout of the season as a team in the victory over Dynamo FC.Jonathan Bond registered seven saves and his fourth shutout of the season in the win against Houston.The goal against Houston marked Sacha Kljestan’s fourth penalty-kick goal of the year and his fifth goal overall this season. Kljestan has tallied three game-winning goals during the 2021 campaign.Samuel Grandsir is the only player to appear in every match this season (30) for the Galaxy.Julian Araujo will miss Saturday’s match against FC Dallas due to yellow-card accumulation.
Next Game
Next up, the Galaxy play host to FC Dallas at Dignity Health Sports Park on Saturday, Oct. 23. The Oct. 23 match kicks off at 7:00 p.m. PT and features a national television broadcast on UniMás and TUDN and will be streamed on Twitter.
LA Galaxy (13-11-6, 45pts) at Houston Dynamo FC (6-12-13, 30pts)
Oct. 20, 2021 – PNC Stadium (Houston)
Goals by Half 1 2 F
LA Galaxy 2 1 3
Houston Dynamo FC 0 0 0
Scoring Summary:
LA: Klejstan (penalty kick), 39
LA: Own Goal (Valentin), 45+1
LA: Cabral (Chicharito), 47
Misconduct Summary:
LA: Hernandez (caution), 9
LA: Araujo (caution), 11
HOU: Figueroa (caution), 37
LA: DePuy (caution), 84
Lineups:
LA: GK Jonathan Bond; D Julian Araujo (Oniel Fisher, 45), D Nick DePuy, D Derrick Williams (Sega Coulibaly, 68), D Niko Hämäläinen; M Efrain Álvarez, M Jonathan dos Santos © (Adam Saldaña, 71), M Sacha Kljestan, M Sebastian Lletget; F Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez (Dejan Joveljić, 60), F Kévin Cabral (Samuel Grandsir, 60)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Jonathan Klinsmann; M Rayan Raveloson, M Víctor Vázquez; F Ethan Zubak
TOTAL SHOTS: 10 (Efrain Álvarez, 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 5 (Kévin Cabral, 2); FOULS: 11 (Three players tied, 2); OFFSIDES: 0; CORNER KICKS: 3; SAVES: 7
HOU: GK Michael Nelson; D Zarek Valentin (Adam Lundkvist, 45), D Maynor Figueroa (Tyler Pasher, 45), D Tim Parker ©; M Darwin Ceren, M Griffin Dorsey, M Sam Junqua, M Adalberto Carrasquilla (Joe Corona, 62); F Fafa Picault, F Maximiliiano Urruti (Memo Rodriguez, 62)
Substitutes Not Used: GK Marko Maric; D Alejandro Fuenmayor, M Boniek Garcia, M Ian Hoffman; F Ariel Lassiter
TOTAL SHOTS: 22 (Darwin Quintero, 7); SHOTS ON GOAL: 7 (Three players tied, 2); FOULS: 11 (Adalberto Carrasquilla, 4); OFFSIDES: 4; CORNER KICKS: 7; SAVES: 3
Referee: Rosendo Mendoza
Assistant Referees: Nick Uranga, Jeremy Kieso
Fourth Official: Ismail Elfath
VAR: Daniel Radford
Weather: Partly cloudy, 81 degrees
Attendance: 13,798
All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial
