Woeful Galaxy remain winless with loss to Earthquakes
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Substitute Ousseni Bouda scored in the 74th minute, and the San José Earthquakes extended the Galaxy‘s MLS-record season-opening winless streak with a 1-0 victory Wednesday night.
Bouda slipped between two defenders and got his third goal of the season on a precise pass from fellow substitute Preston Judd for the Quakes, who ended a four-game losing streak in the California Clasico rivalry.
The defending MLS Cup champion Galaxy (0-12-4) are edging toward historic ignominy after dropping yet another game at the stadium where they went unbeaten in 2024 and won their league-record sixth title in December.
The MLS record is 19 consecutive winless matches in league play by the MetroStars in 1999. Real Salt Lake played 18 in a row without a win from 2005-06.
Earl Edwards Jr. made six saves to keep his third clean sheet of the season for San José, which is unbeaten in eight games across all competitions in May. Quakes coach Bruce Arena had a successful return to the stadium where he led the Galaxy for nine seasons and won three MLS Cup championships.
The Galaxy nearly salvaged a draw in the final minute of second-half injury time, but Edwards saved captain Maya Yoshida’s header deep in the San José box. Supporters chanted “We want better!” after the final whistle.
Bruce Arena and Dave Sarachan will be back at Dignity Health Sports Park for the first time Wednesday when the San José Earthquakes take on the Galaxy.
The Galaxy’s woes have only compounded throughout the new season despite the return to health of stars Joseph Paintsil, Gabriel Pec and Marco Reus. All three international veterans played major roles on last year’s championship team,but were limited by injury in the new year.
Reus left in the 59th minute against San José after sitting down on the grass without contact and eventually walking off the field. Reus struggled with a knee injury earlier in the season but had been playing well in recent games.
Disorganized in attack and lacking any crispness in their passing, the Galaxy still look lost without Catalan midfielder Riqui Puig, who orchestrated their excellence throughout the 2024 season before tearing a knee ligament in the conference final. Puig could return this summer, but the Galaxy also had to part with a handful of key contributors to last season’s team due to the salary cap constraints created annually for the MLS champion by title bonuses in their players’ contracts.
Amid a franchise-record long winless start to the season and calls for coach Greg Vanney to be fired, the Galaxy signed him to a contract extension.
The Galaxy’s leadership has declined to panic during this mammoth skid, even extending the contract of coach Greg Vanney two weeks ago when the winless streak was at a mere 13 games.
The Galaxy’s Novak Micovic had to make two diving saves in the first two minutes of play, and he finished with four saves in the scoreless first half. San José’s Ian Harkes hit the crossbar from long range in the 22nd minute.
The Galaxy host Salt Lake on Saturday night. If they don’t beat Salt Lake or win at St. Louis on June 14, they could tie the MetroStars’ record June 25 at Colorado.
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