22 Under 22 presented by BODYARMOR is a list of the top 22 players in MLS under the age of 22 as voted on by an expert panel consisting of MLSsoccer.com analysts, MLS Player Department staff and external media members.
Landon Donovan Statue Unveiling
The Donovan Statue unveiling took place on Oct. 3 at Legends Plaza in a pregame ceremony. A number of guests, including MLS Commissioner Don Garber, attended for the statue unveiling. Seventeen thousand Landon Donovan t-shirts were distributed to fans on ingress for the match against LAFC. Additionally, the Landon Donovan Photo Experience, a curation of photography that includes some of the most iconic moments across the duration of Donovan’s career with the Galaxy, took place on The Deck at Dignity Health Sports Park. At halftime, Donovan was honored and placed in the club’s Ring of Honor alongside the names of David Beckham, Mauricio Cienfuegos, Doug Hamilton and Cobi Jones.
The statue unveiling marks the second time the Galaxy have recognized a club legend with a statue, with David Beckham first being honored in 2019. The artists responsible for capturing the essence of Donovan are Omri Amrany, owner of the Fine Art Studio of Rotblatt Amrany and Timeless Creations, Inc., and JessicaLoPresti. Amrany, whose work can be seen nationally and internationally, is known for his unique ability to capture movement and emotion. In the U.S., his sculptures include Michael Jordan in Chicago, David Beckham and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in Los Angeles and Gordie Howe in Detroit, among others. LoPresti is a longtime collaborator at the Studio, sculpting Ron Lancaster for the Saskatchewan Roughriders Football Club, Pete & Alice Dye, Lambeau Leap for the Green Bay Packers, and is a founder of Sculpture Resource.
Full coverage of Landon Donovan’s statue unveiling ceremony.
A Landon Donovan Career Highlight Reel
Landon Donovan speaks on the pleasure of being honored with a statue.
Landon Donovan’s Ring of Honor Ceremony.
The LA Galaxy held a week-long celebration for club legend Landon Donovan, concluding with his statue unveiling at Legends Plaza in Dignity Health Sports Park and his induction into the club’s Ring of Honor this afternoon.
Full Video of The Ring of Honor Ceremony
Landon Donovan Posing in front of The Angel City Brigade supporters in Victoria Block.
LA Galaxy Battle LAFC to 1-1 Draw at Dignity Health Sports Park on Sunday Night
Images & Team Info Provided by The LA Galaxy Media Communications @lagalaxy
LOS ANGELES (Sunday, Oct. 3, 2021) – Playing their third game in the span of seven days, the LA Galaxy battled crosstown rival LAFC to a 1-1 draw before a sellout crowd of 25,174 fans at Dignity Health Sports Park on Sunday night. Samuel Grandsir notched his third goal of the season, while Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez and Victor Vázquez each tallied assists in the draw against LAFC.
LA Galaxy Against LAFC
Sunday’s contest between the LA Galaxy and LAFC marked the 12th regular-season meeting between the two clubs, with the Galaxy leading the series 5-2-5. In six regular-season meetings against LAFC at Dignity Health Sports Park, the Galaxy hold an unbeaten record of 4-0-2. In three meetings between LA and LAFC in 2021, the Galaxy lead the series 1-0-2.
Goal-Scoring Plays
LAFC – Mamadou Fall (Eduard Atuesta), 11th minute: Eduard Atuesta’s corner kick delivery into the penalty area found the head of Mamadou Fall, who powered his header into the top right corner.
LA – Samuel Grandsir (Victor Vázquez, Chicharito) 19th minute: Combining in midfield, Chicharito found Vázquez, who quickly played a through ball that released Grandsir behind the LAFC backline. Grandsir took a touch around the onrushing goalkeeper and rolled his shot into the empty net.
LA Galaxy (11-11-6, 39pts) vs. LAFC (9-12-7, 34 pts)
Oct. 3, 2021 – Dignity Health Sports Park (Los Angeles)
Goals by Half 1 2 F
LA Galaxy 1 0 1
LAFC 1 0 1
Scoring Summary:
LAFC: Fall (Atuesta), 11
LA: Grandsir (Vázquez, Chicharito), 19
Misconduct Summary:
LA: Araujo (caution), 10
LA: Grandsir (caution), 18
LAFC: Edwards (caution), 22
LA: DePuy (caution), 30
LAFC: Crisostomo (caution), 44
POST GAME COMMENTS
Postgame Notes
The LA Galaxy are 11-11-6 (39 pts) this season, sitting in sixth place in the Western Conference standings.
Sunday’s contest between the LA Galaxy and LAFC marked the 12th regular-season meeting between the two clubs, with the Galaxy leading the series 5-2-5.
In six regular-season meetings against LAFC at Dignity Health Sports Park, the Galaxy hold an unbeaten record of 4-0-2.
In three meetings between LA and LAFC in 2021, the Galaxy lead the series 1-0-2.
Jonathan dos Santos played in his 99th game (87 starts) across all competitions for the Galaxy since joining the club in 2017.
Samuel Grandsir is the only player on the roster to appear in every match this season (28).
Grandsir notched his third goal of the season in the draw against LAFC.
Victor Vázquez tallied his fourth assist of the campaign.
Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez notched his second assist of the year.
The LA Galaxy honored club legend Landon Donovan with a statue unveiling in Legends Plaza and inducted him into the club’s Ring of Honor.
Minnesota United vs LA Galaxy - Recap
The LA Galaxy and Minnesota United played to a 0-0 draw tonight in front of a sell out crowd of 19.779 at Allianz Field.
Minnesota United suffered a second draw at their new stadium in front of a capacity crowd for midweek MLS action. Looking at the stats sheet, it looked like the Galaxy limited Minnesota but, in many cases, Minnesota were their own worst enemy in front of net. Quntero, Martinez and Danladi were all off target when they were put into good positions.
The LA Galaxy’s backline has been very good except on the left side. Jorgen Skjelvik was constantly getting beat, his defensive teammates or poor shots saved him on the night. On the other side, it was 17-year old teenager Julian Araujo that was once again very impressive. Players rarely got past Araujo, and when they did , he recovered quickly and usually he was able to win the ball back. Araujo’s impressive night took a turn when he went down with a non-contact injury in the 79th minute. It looked as though he was grabbing his ankle or lower leg when he went to ground. He did not need to be stretchered off, however, it did not look like he was able to put weight on the leg a he was being helped off the field.
The Galaxy’s offense looked very one-dimensional for the second game in a row. The team’s wingers, Uriel Antuna and Ema Boateng seem like two sides of the same coin at times. They are both speedy and can be used as outlets up the sidelines but they can’t seem to put in any kind of quality service to Zlatan. Ibrahimovic himself seems to expect his teammates to put balls on a dime for him. His runs or lack thereof made him easy to mark. Zlatan ventured back into the midfield at times to try and create but was often left to settle for hopeful balls because the team wasn’t sure what to do with his passes. The LA Galaxy need to figure out how to play without Zlatan, even when he is on the field.
Goalkeeper David Bingham continues to show improvement, as he was called upon to make a big save on Angelo Martinez in the 28th minute. Ike Opara also had two headers that were goal bound knocked away buy the Galaxy’s Julian Araujo and Sebastian Lletget in the 30th and 32nd minutes.
The Galaxy extend their unbeaten streak to 7 games and now head home to face RSL on Sunday at The Diggity.