With blowout loss, LA Galaxy set MLS record by being winless after 12 games
The Los Angeles Galaxy have gone from defending MLS Cup champion to laughingstock in less than a year. On Saturday, the New York Red Bulls exacted revenge and further humiliated the Galaxy with a 7-0 win in a rematch of last season's final. Red Bull stars Emil Forsberg and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting both scored twice. LA has not won a game in 2025.
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The Galaxy have set a record by starting an MLS season winless after 12 games (0-9-3). Their goal differential is the worst in the league, an embarrassing minus-20. LA's disastrous season was summed in one play at a lively Sports Illustrated Stadium. It was an own goal from Galaxy defender Miki Yamane on the last play of the match. Yamane's errant back pass surprised Galaxy goalkeeper John McCarthy and bounced into the net for the seventh goal of the night.
After the match, Galaxy coach Greg Vanney gathered his players near the center circle and appeared to admonish them in front of the celebratory Red Bull crowd. As the smiling Red Bull players mingled on the pitch after the win, the Galaxy's players looked genuinely disgraced amid Vanney's sharp stares. The 7-0 scoreline tied the widest margin of victory in an MLS Cup rematch.
Vanney started with a back five defensive shape in an effort to give his team a solid base to play from and clog the midfield. It was a new system, Vanney said, and he believes it led to myriad mistakes from his players. The Galaxy had more possession on the night (53 percent to 43 percent), and although they created enough chances to score, they were routinely too sloppy or inaccurate to finish clinically.
But in general, it was a tactical disaster for Vanney's side. The objective, he told reporters after the loss, was to win the middle of the field and prevent the Red Bulls from playing directly through the Galaxy midfield. It didn't work.
'On the first goal, they kill us off a loss of possession between our lines and they play right through us, which is typical Red Bull soccer,' a frustrated Vanney said. 'We weren't connected as much as we needed to be to take away the middle, and because we were down pretty quick, confidence drops a little bit, certainty drops a little bit. I think a lot of things started to go wrong once we got on the wrong side of the result.'
The @NewYorkRedBulls hit lucky number 7️⃣‼️
Relive every goal from an unforgettable 7-0 ROUT of LA Galaxy in their MLS Cup rematch. pic.twitter.com/uWKXEFdwN7
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) May 11, 2025
Vanney pushed back on the notion that the loss had come down to a lack of effort. He felt it was the first time this season that his players were 'totally outplayed,' adding that he hoped the Galaxy had hit rock bottom.
'This is a horrible night we've had,' Vanney said. 'On rare occasions through the course of a season, you have an absolute sh–ter, and tonight we did. But in every game prior to this, we've been in every game. We've competed in every game. The margin has been one goal in most of these games. I'm not excusing it, but tonight it totally got away from us. That's something we have to address and address quickly. … We got smashed.
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'One thing we know for sure is we have to stay connected as a group. We can't get disconnected because then we'll get exposed and things can go sideways.'
The Galaxy have been hurt by injuries and some bad luck, but their fall since lifting the MLS Cup trophy in 2024 is particularly terrible.
'When it rains, it f—ing pours, man,' McCarthy said before the match. 'You've got to figure out how to get out of it, and no one's going to help you besides the 28 guys in the locker room. You can't start looking around and going, 'Who's going to do it for us?' It's truly got to be an 'us' thing.'
McCarthy took the brunt of the defeat Saturday night, but no player on the Galaxy squad can walk away shameless. Vanney's assessment of the loss was incredibly blunt.
'Today we were sh–. And that's the end of that. And from start to finish it wasn't good,' Vanney said.
The Galaxy will next travel to Philadelphia for an interconference match against the Union on Wednesday.
(Photo of Red Bulls forward Mohammed Sofo kicking the ball against Galaxy goalkeeper John McCarthy and defender Emiro Garces: Vincent Carchietta / Imagn Images)
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