LA Galaxy suffer setback vs. NYCFC

It just wasn’t the Galaxy’s afternoon.

A heavy-legged LA side without Jonathan dos Santos took a double sucker punch right before the half, giving up two fatal goals in quick succession before falling to New York City FC 2-0 Saturday afternoon end the Galaxy’s perfect home record.

With Jona unable to play and Favio Alvarez still waiting for his paperwork to clear, the LA Galaxyfielded an interesting 3-5-2 formation with Uriel Antuna alongside Zlatan Ibrahimovic up top.

The formation was a disaster: LA were pinned back by an aggressive attack, unable to advance the ball nor possess the ball in midfield. Guillermo Barros Schelotto’s group would grow into the game, but right before the half the team collapsed. Brazilian forward Heber got on the board in the 44th minute off a rebound from a David Bingham save before VAR ruled Uriel Antuna was guilty of a hand ball in the box and Maxi Morales converted.

With LA struggling in the second half of matches and the team on the tail end of a 6 game in 22 day stretch, there wasn’t much of a chance of the Galaxy making a come back despite a change in formation. First Zlatan then substitute Chris Pontius hit the post late in frustration before Ibra and goalkeeper Sean Johnson were carded for an encounter in which Zlatan briefly grabbed his neck.