With two matches remaining in the 2022 MLS Regular Season, the LA Galaxy earned a 3-2 road win over the San Jose Earthquakes in front of 44,200 fans at Stanford Stadium on Saturday night. Javier “Chicharito” Hernández tallied a brace and Gastón Brugman scored for the second straight game as the Galaxy earned their first win over the Earthquakes at Stanford Stadium in over eight years.
n their last nine matches played dating back to Aug. 13, the Galaxy hold a record of 4-1-4, outscoring the opposition 22-17 during that span. LA holds a record of 2-1-2 in its last five road matches played dating back to Aug. 28. With the win over San Jose, the Galaxy (13-12-7, 46 points, +5 GD) moved up to fifth place in the Western Conference standings, one point behind fourth-place Nashville SC (12-9-11, 47 points, +11 GD).
Chicharito Movin’ On Up
With his two-goal performance against San Jose, Chicharito moved past Mauricio Cienfuegos into seventh place on the Galaxy’s all-time goal-scoring chart with 36 goals in 63 regular-season appearances. Notably, Chicharito has tallied 10 goals in his last 10 games played dating back to Aug. 6, ranking second in the league behind only Nashville SC’s Hany Mukhtar (11 goals) during that span. In 30 appearances (29 starts) in league play this season, Chicharito has tallied a team-leading 17 goals and two assists.
LA Galaxy Against San Jose Earthquakes
Saturday’s match marked the 112th edition across all competitions of the California Clásico between the Galaxy and the Earthquakes, with LA leading the all-time series 44-33-35. The victory marked LA’s first win over the Earthquakes at Stanford Stadium since a 1-0 win over San Jose on June 28, 2014. In eight all-time matches played against the Earthquakes at Stanford Stadium, the Galaxy hold a 2-5-1 record.
Goal-Scoring Plays
LA – Chicharito (Julián Araujo, Mark Delgado), 12th minute: Attacking down the right flank, Julián Araujo delivered a low cross toward the center of the penalty area to Chicharito, who took a touch around his marker and fired his left-footed shot into the far corner of the goal.
LA – Gastón Brugman (Mark Delgado), 42nd minute: Mark Delgado fed the ball to Gastón Brugman, whose shot from outside the 18-yard box was rifled in off the underside of the crossbar.
LA – Chicharito (Efraín Álvarez), 69th minute: Working just outside the 18-yard box, Efraín Álvarez slipped a pass to Chicharito, whose shot from the right side of the penalty area was tucked away at the far corner of the goal.
SJ – Cristian Espinoza (Penalty Kick), 74th minute: Cristian Espinoza fired his penalty-kick attempt into the right side of the goal.
SJ – Nathan (Miguel Trauco, Cristian Espinoza), 90+4th minute: Cristian Espinoza’s corner-kick delivery was flicked on by Miguel Trauco to Nathan, whose header was deflected past LA Galaxy goalkeeper Jonathan Bond from close range.
Postgame Comments
Postgame Notes
Following the win over San Jose, the LA Galaxy (13-12-7, 46 points) moved up to fifth place in the Western Conference standings, one point behind fourth-place Nashville SC (12-9-11, 47 points).
Saturday’s match marked the 112th edition across all competitions of the California Clásico between the Galaxy and the Earthquakes, with LA leading the all-time series 44-33-35.
The Galaxy improved to 35-28-16 in 79 all-time regular-season matches against San Jose, while holding a 4-1-1 record in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and a 5-4-1 record in the MLS Cup Playoffs against the Earthquakes.
The Galaxy improved to 6-7-4 in 17 matches played on the road across all competitions this season.
LA improved to 12-1-4 this season when scoring the first goal of the match.
In their last nine matches played dating back to Aug. 13, the Galaxy hold a record of 4-1-4, outscoring the opposition 22-17 during that span.
LA holds a record a 2-1-2 in its last five road matches played dating back to Aug. 28.
The victory marked LA’s first win over the Earthquakes at Stanford Stadium dating back to a 1-0 win over San Jose on June 28, 2014.
In eight matches played against the Earthquakes at Stanford Stadium, the Galaxy hold a 2-5-1 record.
The Galaxy improved to 2-1-2 in five matches played during the month of September this season.
With his goal scored against San Jose, Gastón Brugman has tallied three goals in his last two games played dating back to Sept. 17.
With his two-goal performance against San Jose, Chicharito moved past Mauricio Cienfuegos into seventh place on the Galaxy’s all-time goal-scoring chart with 36 goals in 63 regular-season appearances.
In his last 10 games played dating back to Aug. 6, Chicharito has tallied 10 goals, which ranks second in the league behind only Nashville SC’s Hany Mukhtar (11) during that span.
Chicharito has tallied 17 goals for the Galaxy for the second consecutive season.
Mark Delgado notched his first career two-assist performance in the win over San Jose.
Julián Araujo tallied recorded his team-leading ninth assist of the season, and notched an assist for a second consecutive match.
Efraín Álvarez registered his sixth assist of the 2022 campaign.
Riqui Puig finished the match with 55 attempted passes, 54 completed passes (98% pass accuracy), five possessions won and six duels won in the victory against the Earthquakes.
Samuel Grandsir led the Galaxy with three tackles won, 10 duels won and five successful dribbles.
Next Game
Up next, the LA Galaxy play host to Real Salt Lake in the regular-season home finale at Dignity Health Sports Park on Saturday, Oct. 1. The match on Oct. 1 kicks off at 7:30 p.m. PT and features a regional television broadcast on Spectrum SportsNet and a stream on LAGalaxy.com.
