LOS ANGELES (Saturday, Oct. 23, 2021) – Down 2-0 at halftime, the LA Galaxy battled back to earn a 2-2 draw against FC Dallas at Dignity Health Sports Park on Saturday night. Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez tallied his team-leading 14th goal of the season, while Sebastian Lletget registered the game-tying goal as the Galaxy stretched their unbeaten run to four matches (2-0-2) dating back to Oct. 3.

LA Galaxy Playoff Picture
With three matches remaining in the 2021 MLS regular season, the LA Galaxy (13-11-7, 46 points, -2 GD) sit in fifth place, level on points with the fourth-place Portland Timbers (14-13-4, 46 points, -3 GD) and one point ahead of sixth-place Minnesota United FC (12-10-9, 45 points, -2 GD).

Goal-Scoring Plays
FCD – Jesus Ferreira (Franco Jara, Edwin Cerrilo), 30th minute: Franco Jara laid the ball off to Jesus Ferreira, whose shot from outside the 18-yard box was curled into the far

FCD – Franco Jara, 41st minute: After Jonathan Bond made a kick save on Ferreira’s shot from just outside the six-yar box, Jara pounced on the rebound and finished from close range.

LA – Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez (Penalty Kick), 65th minute: After a penalty was issued to Dallas for a handball inside the box, Chicharito stepped up to the spot and buried his shot into the bottom left corner of the net.

LA – Sebastian Lletget (Samuel Grandsir), 83rd minute: Samuel Grandsir’s cross from the right flank found the run of Lletget, whose right-footed volley from the edge of the six-yard box found the back of the goal.

LA GALAXY MIDFIELDER SEBASTIAN LLETGET
On the team's performance:

“It was just a lack of intensity, there really is no excuse at this point because we are playing for so much. And I know it is the third game of the week and it is never easy, but I think we just lacked that intensity. We take pride in how we play and how we want to play but you can't come out there without having that fight in you first. We have to earn it, we have to earn the right to play sometimes, and I think we lacked that in the first half a little bit. When you are down 2-0 the message is pretty clear, we have to play forward, we just have to be more intense, and I thought the whole team did bring that in the second half.”

On Greg Vanney asking him to play higher up the field:

“We have been having these ongoing conversations and I have tried to take it upon myself because of the disruption and rhythm and not having the consistent amount of games due to scheduling and things like that. I've just tried to really learn my place in this team position wise and obviously we try so many different things and some things work, and some things don't. Sometimes we have an opposition that plays a certain way, and we adapt. It was a good conversation we had before this game that I just have to keep thinking forward because I know I can do it, it is just one of those things. I just have to keep building on that. We walk away with 7 points this week and we have two tough games now; it's not going to be easy, but we can salvage something.”

On playing Seattle and Kansas City on the road:

"They are historically very tough places to play. It's not even really about the surface or about the crowd, they are two really good teams, there is a reason why they are at the top. I think we are more than good enough to beat them; we just have to work on our game plan, we have to see what we can do better from this game. I don't think it is about ability at this point, we are at the point in the season where it is who wants it more. We are in a playoff spot, but we want to secure it."

On the goal:

"Samuel [Grandsir] was having a lot of joy and he is just so good one versus one, so I just thought, instead of staying out wide I just have to get in the box, and I think when me and Chicha [Javier Chicharito Hernandez] do that, or when we have numbers in the box, he either drags out a center back and opens up space for me or I do the same for him or whoever is in there. I think it is something we need to keep building on and things open up."                  

LA GALAXY HEAD COACH GREG VANNEY
On the difference between the team’s performance in the first half and the second half:

“Conviction. We competed in the second half, we didn't compete in the first half, we were second to everything. We were slow to closing people down. The ball was moving too slow. The first half lacked anything that looked like a team that was supposed to be fighting for a Playoff spot and a real opportunity tonight to jump a couple of more points ahead. So that’s what the first half looked like. The second half looked completely the opposite. Looked like a team that was playing for everything and was fighting for every ball, was competing in their challenges, was looking to play forward and run forward and put balls in front of the goal. And I mean, that's the difference. At the end of the day, tactics are irrelevant. You have to win the duels, you have to win the fight, you have to win all the scrappy stuff in there and then you can start to play soccer. And we lost all the scrappy stuff in the first half and we didn't get close to them at all defensively. And so, they dictated the game and got two goals ahead, deservingly. And the response was fantastic. And that's what it needs to look like, though. But it can't look like what it looked like in the first half this time of year. It has to look like what it looked like in the second half.”

On what the message was at halftime:

“Yeah, I didn't spend a lot of time at halftime talking about the first half because I just said flat out the energy and the conviction and the fight in the competitive side of it can't look like that. So, we got on to setting ourselves up in the second half, making a couple of switches. You know, Jonathan [dos Santos] and Victor [Vazquez] were both struggling physically. So, we made a couple of switches and tried to shift the energy and tried to shift the momentum and asked them to play forward, put two forwards up. Pushed a little bit more numbers high. Said, don't want to play in the back anymore, just put the ball forward and let's go, defend, and compete and press and let's try to change our energy level in the game. It wasn't about keeping possession, it was about us shifting the energy in the game, because we had none in the first half, really. And so, once the energy shifted, then we were able to start playing and we were able to start creating some chances because then we were actually moving at a real speed. And so, once that started to happen, then we started to gain control of the game. As we all know, when you start chasing games at 2-0, then it's really about putting out fires sometimes and having to deal with some things. And the guys in the back did a good job of managing some difficult transitions and some moments that looked like they were going to get a little fuzzy. And we dealt with them and kept the momentum on to get the goals we needed to at least get the draw out of it.”

On the red card call that changed to a yellow card:

“I didn't. It was because there was a tackle and within the tackle, I was still trying to pay attention to what was going on with that. So, I didn't see what was going on the other side of it, which is what they were actually trying to sort out the whole time. And then I was more concerned about how much time was going to be added at the end of the game, than I was about how that was going to play itself out.”

On the team’s vertically and directness in the second half and if it’s something that needs to be more integrated into the team’s plan:

“Yeah, I think we'll talk about this probably after most games, it's going to be the difference between us being goal dangerous and not being goal dangerous. It’s how vertical we run, how vertical we pass, how much we're willing to threaten the space behind the opposition. You know how much we're willing to play between lines and build speed and momentum and all these kinds of things. And so, you know, in the second half, obviously, it was at times with a little bit of reckless abandon at times because you're pushing for two goals. But the idea of play forward, move forward, you know, after you play a pass, try to get in behind the back line. The basic principles of attacking to break lines and to get into goalscoring positions started to come out. But it's just again, it comes with conviction and commitment to making those runs. Sometimes you get the ball, sometimes you don't, but you still got to make the run and we started to get that as the game progressed.”

On Sebastian Lletget’s goal and what he asked him to do in the second half:

“Yeah, we've been talking to Sebastian [Lletget] for the better part of the last week about taking up higher positions, being more goal dangerous, being more assists dangerous. His

tendency as a player, and he is outstanding at keeping possession, spinning away, doing all of those things. But you know, as I spoke to him for a while yesterday, I want him to not play to his default, which is to keep possession. I want him to play, to attack and to create chances and to score goals. And if those things aren't on, then go to your default next. Don't just go to your default at the at the beginning and him breaking the line and running through and taking a chance there meant the difference in the game, really. And that was an aggressive run that I don't know, you know, you can ask him, but maybe, maybe a week and a half ago or two weeks ago, he doesn't make, he sits out a little bit and tries to find the ball at his feet. But in this game, he's really tried this last week and I thought he was very good in the last match as well. But this week, he's really tried to emphasize more attacking runs, getting himself higher on the field, all those kinds of things, which I think is what's going to make him more influential in matches.”

Postgame Notes

• The LA Galaxy improved to 13-11-7 (46 pts) this season, remaining in fifth place in the Western Conference standings.

• Since going winless in nine games, the Galaxy are unbeaten in their last four games played (2-0-2) dating back to a 1-1 draw against LAFC on Oct. 3.

• Saturday’s contest between the Galaxy and FC Dallas marked the 77th all-time MLS regular-season encounter between the two sides, with LA leading the series 35-29-13.

• In 39 encounters at home against Dallas, LA holds a 26-7-6 record.

• In three meetings between the Galaxy and Dallas during the 2021 campaign, the series finished tied 1-1-1.

• The Galaxy hold an 8-4-4 record in 16 matches played at Dignity Health Sports Park during the 2021 campaign.

• With his penalty-kick goal against Dallas, Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez has tallied eight goals in nine games played at home during the 2021 campaign.

• Chicharito ranks tied for sixth in the league in goals scored (14).

• Chicharito converted his first penalty-kick goal of the 2021 campaign.

• Sebastian Lletget tallied his 22nd career goal in his 155th regular-season game played (129 starts) in the draw against Dallas.

• Jonathan dos Santos became the 30th player in club history to appear in 100 regular-season matches for the Galaxy.

• Samuel Grandsir is the only player to appear in every match this season (31) for the Galaxy.

• Grandsir ranks tied for second on the team with five assists during the 2021 campaign.

LA Galaxy (13-11-7, 46pts) vs. FC Dallas (6-14-11, 29pts) 
Oct. 23, 2021 – Dignity Health Sports Park (Los Angeles)

Goals by Half                1          2          F
LA Galaxy                    0          2          2
FC Dallas                    2          0          2

Scoring Summary: 
FCD: Ferreira (Jara, Cerrillo), 30
FCD: Jara, 41
LA: Chicharito (penalty kick), 65
LA: Lletget (Grandsir), 83

Misconduct Summary:
LA: Raveloson (caution), 4
FCD: Obrian (caution), 66
FCD: Pomykal (caution), 70
FCD: Maurer (caution), 78
LA: DePuy (caution), 85
LA: Chicharito (caution), 86
FCD: Twusami (caution), 90
FCD: Bressan (caution), 90+4

Lineups:
LA: GK Jonathan Bond; D Oniel Fisher, D Nick DePuy, D Derrick Williams, D Niko Hämäläinen; M Rayan Raveloson, M Jonathan dos Santos © (Sebastian Lletget, 45), M Victor Vázquez (Samuel Grandsir, 45); F Efrain Álvarez (Sacha Kljestan, 75), F Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez, F Kévin Cabral (Dejan Joveljić, 57)

Substitutes Not Used: GK Jonathan Klinsmann; D Sega Coulibaly, D Daniel Steres; M Adam Saldaña; F Ethan Zubak

TOTAL SHOTS: 12 (Álvarez, Chicharito, 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 6 (Chicharito, 2); FOULS: 7 (DePuy, Williams, 2); OFFSIDES: 3; CORNER KICKS: 4; SAVES: 6

FCD: GK Jimmy Maurer; D Jose Martinez, D Ryan Hollingshead, D Ema Twumasi, D Matt Hedges; M Edwin Cerrillo, M Jader Obrian (Szabolcs, 90+6), M Jesus Ferreira, M Brandon Servania, M Paxton Pomykal (Bressan, 77); F Franco Jara (Ricardo Pepi, 77)

Substitutes Not Used: GK Kyle Zobeck; D Justin Che, D Nkosi Tafari; M Bryan Acosta, M Andres Ricaurte, M Freddy Vargas

TOTAL SHOTS: 12 (Jesus Ferreira, 5); SHOTS ON GOAL: 8 (Jesus Ferreira, 4); FOULS: 20 (Ryan Hollingshead, 3); OFFSIDES: 2; CORNER KICKS: 5; SAVES: 3

Referee: Baldomero Toledo 
Assistant Referees: Frank Anderson, Ian Anderson
Fourth Official: Alex Chilowicz
VAR: Kevin Stott
Weather: Partly cloudy, 63 degrees
Attendance: 15,136

All statistics contained in this box score are unofficial

LA Galaxy Postgame Media Assets, Notes and Quotes provided by LA Galaxy