There are many things to doubt about the 2025 edition of the LA Galaxy, but fight back and grit aren’t among them.
In the final El Tráfico match of the MLS season against LAFC on Saturday night, the Western Conference last-place Galaxy clawed back a point in the final moments as former Japanese international Maya Yoshida scored in the seventh minute of second-half stoppage time to secure a 3–3 draw.
While the Galaxy went through 20 games with just a single victory, they have amassed two wins, two draws and a loss in their last five, giving them a sliver of hope that the season might not be all over.
“One point, it’s a good one point,” Yoshida said after the game, with his goal complementing an earlier brace from Gabriel Pec. “It’s a derby, so it doesn’t matter the position where we are now, but to be honest, I feel like the goals we conceded were too easy. Good thing is my daughter doesn’t like LAFC, so at least I can go home with a smile and hopefully she’s going to be proud of me.”
For much of the season, finding any solace has been tough for the Galaxy. After all, the players can only look at hard-fought and close losses so many times before a fickle feeling sets in.
Unlike some struggling teams, the Galaxy have been in nearly every match they have played, but have lost by slim margins. Seven of their 14 defeats have come by just one goal. It’s that factor, and Saturday’s comeback draw to avoid a second straight loss, which made Yoshida’s tying tally a critical moment.
“This game shows again a little bit of the roller coaster this season,” Galaxy midfielder Marco Reus said. “Somehow, we keep our mentality. It shows in the game that we are not giving up, especially in this situation where we are away in a derby… I had the feeling that we could win this game if we played a little bit faster.”
Despite picking up the point, the Galaxy remain last in the conference and 13 points short of the final MLS Cup Playoff spot, as they look ahead to their next match against the Houston Dynamo on Friday.
“We are not giving up until it’s over,” Reus insisted. “So it starts again Friday in Houston with another away game. If we want to continue, then we have to win.”
