The Galaxy’s victory over the Portland Timbers on Wednesday night was important.
A win against San Diego FC on Saturday would be even bigger.
The Galaxy moved into eighth place in the Western Conference with Wednesday’s 2-0 win against the Timbers. The Galaxy (39 points) are now six points ahead of a trio of teams – Portland, Real Salt Lake and San Diego – all below the playoff line, but all having played one fewer game than the Galaxy.
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“They’re a good team, they play good soccer and they’ve conceded a lot of goals this year, which is something they didn’t really do as much last year,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said. “They’re still so damn hard to play against because of the way they do things, their distances from each, the quality of players, what they’re capable of doing. It’s hard to win when you give up two, three goals a game, we know that as well.
“There’s still a team that makes me, not scratch my head, but it’s like I really have to think about how you want to deal with them because they’re just really good about the way they move around the field together as a group. … It’s going to be another game that we’ve got to really be prepared for. We have to play a good game or else they can cause problems.”
San Diego finished first in the Western Conference in its inaugural season, but has slumped to 12th, scoring 51 goals while allowing 54. SDFC is winless in its last seven league games ever since defeating the Galaxy, 3-1, on Aug. 29. During its 0-4-3 stretch, San Diego has been outscored 21-10.
In the very short history between the teams, the Galaxy have yet to beat San Diego in three games and have been outscored 7-2.
“It’s an important one … we just can’t feel comfortable about our position in the table,” Vanney said. “We just need to make sure that we’re playing for three points appropriately. Like (Wednesday night), we played for three points appropriately, but we weren’t all over the place. We were nice and connected, so we need to make sure that while we’re playing for three points, we play the long game, we don’t just come out rushing for it.”
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After Saturday, the Galaxy will have just three regular-season games remaining – at LAFC on Oct. 25, hosting Austin FC on Oct. 31 and at Real Salt Lake on Nov. 7.
Furuhashi, Lozano updates
Kyōgo Furuhashi and Hirving Lozano are dealing with hamstring injuries, leaving both unavailable for Saturday, but their potential returns are on different timelines.
“He (Kyogo) will miss this weekend and probably LAFC and maybe the next one,” Vanney said of Furuhashi. “Possible for Austin, very realistic for RSL.
Furuhashi left Sunday’s game against St. Louis CITY SC early in the first half.
“These things are tricky,” Vanney said. “Sometimes, it’s just a matter of where it is on the hamstring, that might mean you need another week. Whether the tendon’s involved or no tendon is involved.”
For Lozano, his return seems sooner. Lozano suffered his injury with Mexican national team. Vanney added that he could be back for the LAFC game next weekend.
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SAN DIEGO FC at GALAXY
When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Dignity Health Sports Park
How to watch: Apple TV