LA Galaxy Goals:
NYCFC Goals: Héber 44', Moralez 45+4'
Quick Summary
New York City FC continued their excellent form with an impressive 2-0 win over the LA Galaxy at Dignity Health Sports Park.
Goals on the stroke of half-time from Héber and Maxi Moralez put City in a commanding position and a resilient second half showing meant that the Boys in Blue earned a fifth clean sheet in their last seven matches.
That means NYCFC are now unbeaten in seven, earning three consecutive shutout road wins for the first time in Club history.
Match Recap
Dome Torrent made three changes to the NYCFC starting XI which kicked the 2-0 road win at Montreal last weekend.
In came Ronald Matarrita, Tony Rocha and James Sands as the Boys in Blue looked to string together three consecutive away victories after winning in D.C. and Montreal.
With confidence flowing, NYC started strong in their three-back system, with Alex Ring, Maxi Moralez and Anton Tinnerholm especially influential through a dominant opening 15'.
It was Ring who had the game's first meaningful opportunity on 17' when he won the ball back in the middle third, exchanged passes with Ismael Tajouri-Shradi and unleashed a curling shot which just faded away from the target.
On 22', more fluid build-up play between Maxi Moralez and Ronald Matarrita created a good look for Héber, who read the near-post cross and and diverted the ball towards goal but his shot took a deflection just over the top.
From the resulting corner, the Brazilian was first to it again but his improvised back-heel was just a foot too high.
On the half-hour mark, Zlatan Ibrahimovic had the ball in the net against the run of play on an LA counter, but the officials correctly ruled the goal out for offside, much to the relief of the City backline who were caught outnumbered.
However, NYCFC went in at the break with the scoreline their play had warranted as two quick-fire goals on 44' and 45+4' put the Boys in Blue in a commanding position.
First, Héber netted his third goal in five starts after he reacted first to Bingham's parry to hammer home a rebound from close range.
It got even better for City in first-half stoppage-time when Anton Tinnerholm's cross hit a hand and the referee pointed to the penalty spot after a lengthy VAR consultation.
0-2 on penalties so far in 2019, Maxi Moralez bravely stepped up and this time he made no mistake, thrashing the ball into the bottom corner, leaving Bingham with no chance.
After that exciting climax to the first half, the second half started at a more sedate pace, as NYCFC looked to draw the sting from a Galaxy side who came out eager to turn things around.
The hosts enjoyed more possession after the interval but were unable to take advantage, largely thanks to the impressive defensive trio of Alexandr Callens, Maxime Chanot and James Sands.
Alexandru Mitriță was introduced from the bench with 25' to go to inject some fresh impetus to the City attack but there was more defending to do after the break.
Callens was especially alert on 80' when Ibrahimovic finally found a way past Sean Johnson, heading the Swede's goalbound chip out for a corner to preserve the clean sheet.
The NYCFC goal was threatened again with 5' left as Ibrahimovic lifted the ball over the onrushing Johnson, hitting the underside of the crossbar but that was as close as Galaxy came to scoring, meaning NYCFC held on for another important three points.
Man of the Match
Maxi Moralez
Although he was withdrawn for the final 15', Maxi was at his very best and was one of the match-winners for the Boys in Blue.
After missing his first two penalties this season, Moralez stepped up again and took the responsibility, earning his reward when he slotted home past Bingham.
How We Lined Up
What's Next
NYCFC are back in action away at the Chicago Fire on Saturday, May 25. Our next match at Yankee Stadium is on Thursday, June 6 vs. FC Cinncinati.
