MLS Commissioner Don Garber stands with the Philip Anschutz Trophy and welcomes … Philip Anschutz, who once owned roughly half the teams in the league but whittled down his holding to just the Galaxy. He’s not one for public speaking – a lot of journalists over the years have tried and failed to interview him and get the definitive word on why and how he decided to singlehandedly prop up Major League Soccer when it could’ve folded – but he is taking the microphone from Taylor Twellman and paying tribute to the fans.
Now Maya Yoshida takes the trophy to his teammates, and that’s where we’ll leave it for today. Thanks for following along with us today. Next: MLS Year 30, a potential change to a new calendar, and more dramatic unpredictability in a league in which teams’ fortunes can change so rapidly.
Stat of the day …
MLS Cup’s first half basically had the same amount of scoring as the SEC Championship in football.
Gaston Brugman wins MLS Cup MVP
He was only in the lineup because Puig was injured, but he responded to the call. The Uruguayan had spent most of his career in Italy before signing with the Galaxy in 2022.
Adam Blakeley writes in reference to the 93rd minute: “Clear foul in the box, ignored by VAR. Once again, I don’t know what the hell VAR is for.”
I checked out a refs’ forum – they’d like another look.
The Red Bulls finished with 547 passes to LA’s 397. It didn’t seem that way. And the one that mattered most was the one from Brugman to Paintsil that broke the deadlock early.
According the MLS site, the xG in this game was even – 1.3 to 1.3. Not buying it.
But the Red Bulls absolutely made this a game. After five seasons of mediocrity since Bradley Wright-Phillips’ retirement, they have put together a team that could contend again in the next few years.
LA Galaxy win sixth MLS Cup
That was a classic. McCarthy is in tears. Puig found his jacket. It’s bedlam of the grandest sort.
Red Bulls players are overcome. They had their chances at continuing the long string of upsets that would’ve given them their first MLS Cup trophy in 29 years of trying.
But the Galaxy are simply too good. Worthy champions all the way.
McCarthy’s goal kick is majestic, and the Galaxy win possession. Fagundez is in the corner.
IT’S OVER!
It was, in fact, Forsberg who was offside. Delayed flag from the AR, as they are instructed to do in the VAR era.
How much time is actually left now?
LAST CHANCE: Red Bulls struggling to get the ball forward. Finally, it gets to Forsberg, who turns, but it’s blocked.
Now we have an offside call – which the Galaxy bench thought was the final whistle. It was not, and we have to clear the field.
90 min +5: Forsberg loses control at the top of the area. Ball is recycled and played in, but McCarthy gets it.
Puig has stripped off his jacket and tie and made his way to the field.
One minute left.
Updated
90 min +4: McCarthy leaps toward the sky to collect a high ball, and he collides with Burke as he returns to Earth. He doesn’t milk the clock, though, and we resume.
90 min +2: Sean Nealis breaks up an attempt by the Galaxy to break the pressure.
And then CHANCES … how did they not at least get that on frame?? Forsberg is wide open 8 yards out, and the ball goes just over his head!
SUB: Jalen Neal comes in to join the LA defense, with Paintsil racing off. Formation change, obviously.
90 min +1: The Galaxy weather some NY possession, and then Pec goes 1-on-4 the other direction. Never going to get through, but that killed about 30 seconds of time and put the Red Bulls back in their own half.
90 min: Garces is up and walking off. Six minutes of stoppage.
88 min: A letoff in the action while trainers tend to Garces.
Free kick from just inside the sideline for the Red Bulls whenever we resume.
85 min: Haven’t heard much from Morgan today, but he earns a corner for the Red Bulls. The corner is floated all the way over, and the Galaxy have forgotten the existence of Harper, whose run perfectly meets the ball but whose shot lacks accuracy and/or power. Beautifully executed, but it wasn’t an easy shot.
82 min: The Red Bulls have some dangerous possession, but the Galaxy spring Pec going the other way. The Nealis brothers scramble back to defend, and the Galaxy settle for possession of their own.
Which they squander by drifting offside.
SUBS: Dylan Nealis is out, as is Daniel Edelman. Entering: Wiki Carmona and longtime Philadelphia Union player Cory Burke.
80 min: No shots on goal for three minutes? How dare they?!
Seriously – this game is on a knife’s edge.
77 min: An acrobatic header yields a Red Bulls corner. The ball is recycled for a medium-range header from Eile that sails wide.
SUB: As expected for a while, Fagundez comes in. Joveljić makes way. Fagundez will likely play a little deeper. Not exactly a defensive substitution, but a slight shift back from the all-out attack.
76 min: CHANCE! Reus’ first touch of the game settles the ball for his second, a shot that’s a little tamer than it should’ve been. Paintsil teed him up pretty well, but Coronel has no trouble with this one.
We’ve got a pulsating final here. A thriller. A slobber-knocker.
73 min: CHANCE AT EITHER END! Pec has a shot saved (xg:21%!!), and the Red Bulls immediately go the other way and get numbers forward in a hurry. It ends up with a Forsberg shot from the top of the penalty area that skims just wide, and the captain slams himself into the grass in frustration at having missed the chance.
The Galaxy settle things down and get forward again for Pec, but this time, the flag is up for offside.
SUB: Marco Reus, the Bundesliga veteran, is now on for LA, replacing Brugman.
71 min: To underscore the point – the MLS site gives the xG for the game as 1.0 to 0.5 in the Galaxy’s favor.
In more pertinent stats, Harper picks up a yellow card after sliding through Joveljić’s legs. The Serbian striker gets up angrily, and Harper gives him a little shove. Not an impressive sequence for the young Californian.
69 min: There’s some chatter on social media about the Red Bulls’ pass completion percentage (81.4% to LA’s 75.3) and possession edge (55.2%). Having watched every second of this game, I can attest that such stats are absolutely meaningless. The Red Bulls still have a puncher’s chance, but in no sense are they the better side here today.
So far.
68 min: Red Bulls free kick accomplishes little.
65 min: OFF THE POST for Yemane, overlapping on the right and sending a 15-yard shot clanging off the woodwork.
FIRST SUBS, both for NYRB: Brazilian Manoel for Belgian Vanzeir, Donkor for Stroud. We now have a Ghanaian player on each side.
61 min: If you were just finding out about these teams, you’d think Garces rather than Yoshida was the international veteran.
Paintsil poses some danger up front, and the ball drops to Brugman for a medium-range blast that whizzes wide.
59 min: Now it’s Garces with a vital play on defense for the Galaxy, interceding on a through ball.
Eile makes it a duel of center backs with a terrific recovery run to snuff out a Galaxy counter.
57 min: A shout for a foul against the Galaxy? Not much of one, really, but the Red Bulls have managed some attack.
Then the Galaxy show they can go Route 1, and Eile has to shield an attacker off the ball so Coronel can come out of the area to play it away.
Eile, incidentally, was a very last-minute replacement for Reyes at center back. So last-minute that we didn’t even have it in our lineups just before the game.
55 min: CHANCE for Paintsil after the Galaxy overrun the Red Bulls around 20 yards out. A pass is beautifully dummied to Paintsil, who’s standing alone within the penalty arc. Touch, shot, just over the right corner.
52 min: Half-chance for the Red Bulls, with a nifty combination working the ball up the left side to Vanzeir, whose shot near the top of the penalty area is blocked by the captain Yoshida.
51 min: I’d be remiss if I didn’t show Puig’s sharp suit, with a tie matching the jacket perfectly.
LA with a bit of an attack, but it’s a tame shot in the end from the right back Yemane.
48 min: Timid start to the half.
Just double-checked – yes, I did cover that game. Probably my first trip to LA. Today, there’s a better-than-zero chance that I’m going to move there. Especially given the sunshine today.
Second half is underway …
Stat note: A BlueSky user notes that John Wolyniec is no longer the only player to score a goal for the NY/NJ club in MLS Cup play.
I think I covered that game in person.
Mailbag:
I’ve been asked about The Guardian’s plans for Canadian Premier League coverage. I still live in the USA, so I don’t know.
Peter Oh drops the name of the Red Bulls’ coach, Sandro Schwarz, to make a Mel Brooks reference: “RBNY let LA have way too much of the ball and space early on, but their goal has set up dramatic back-and-forth Space Balls action for the rest of the match. I’m firmly behind the Galaxy. RBNY fans, May the Schwarz be with you!”
Halftime: LA 2-1 RBNY
After 15 minutes, it looked like a rout. Then it looked like the Red Bulls would equalize.
Should be an intriguing second half ahead.
45 min +2: Out of not much, the Galaxy float a ball into the center for Joveljic, whose close-range shot is right at Coronel.
Three minutes of stoppage time on the way.
45 min: The word I’m seeking is “lull.”
43 min: Some smooth possession play from the Galaxy leads to not much. But perhaps the wind has faded from the sails of the Red Bulls’ comeback.
42 min: Cynical foul by Stroud on Pec, and I’m not really sure why that didn’t merit a yellow card as well.
Brugman’s free kick is knocked out for a corner kick.
Score reminder: LA 2-1 RBNY, 40th minute
38 min: Forsberg collects the ball near midfield and starts to head toward the goal. He slows down a bit first. Marky Delgado, chasing behind him, does not, and he runs over the Red Bulls captain. First LA yellow of the day.
35 min: Eile then gets into the boxscore another way, taking the game’s first yellow by body-slamming Gabriel Pec before the Galaxy attacker can run onto the ball he just slipped past the Red Bulls center back, who’s still a bit far up the field. Easy call.
32 min: One corner begets another, then another – the latter on one that McCarthy probably should’ve caught himself.
Before the third corner is taken, one of the Nealis brothers gets wrapped up in the penalty area. He sticks a hand into a defender’s chest, and that player tumbles as if shot. A foul is not awarded.
And then a CHANCE at an equalizer as the ball is recirculated into the middle of the penalty area and Noah Eile gets solid contact but puts it straight at a grateful McCarthy.
31 min: And now a second shot of the game for the Red Bulls, with Cameron Harper cleverly trying to put it between McCarthy and the near post from a 45-degree angle. McCarthy has to punch it back over the line for a corner kick.
GOAL!!! LA 2-1 RBNY (S. Nealis 28)
We did mention the Galaxy’s leaky defense, yes? A few terrible attempts at clearing the ball – Paintsil actually headed it back toward his own goal from 14 yards out, and it ends up on the chest of Sean Nealis, who settles it, then swings his right foot while it’s still in the air and nearly deposits it in the net.
Game on?
Updated
28 min: Vanzeir wins a corner kick for the Red Bulls. Will they manage their first shot of the game?
25 min: What a mess in front of the Red Bulls goal. Pec glides past Tolkin and rips a shot from an acute angle that stings Coronel’s hands. The ball is very poorly cleared, and Coronel has no easy way to get out to it. Delgado shoots wide.
24 min: First time in a good while that the Red Bulls have managed anything resembling an attack, but Garces is too fast for anyone to get on the end of it.
23 min: The Galaxy play the ball back to keeper McCarthy. No Red Bull challenges him, so the 2022 MLS Cup MVP (playing for LAFC at the time) simply keeps the ball at his feet for a few seconds.
20 min: CHANCE! The free kick skims off the head of a Red Bulls defender and then off the top of the bar. Corner kick.
19 min: Paintsil draws a foul against Dylan Nealis. Possibly harsh, possibly a bit quick to go to ground. Free kick from the side of the field between the penalty area and sideline.
17 min: An OG Red Bulls/MetroStars supporter is not confident in a comeback.
The ball has taken up residence in the Red Bulls’ half of the field. It’s safe to say the visitors are in a state of shock.
GOAL!!! LA 2-0 RBNY (Joveljić 13)
Too easy. Dejan Joveljić takes the ball just past the midfield circle and carries the ball just to the left of the penalty spot, then slips the ball past a frozen Coronel. It slowly rolls inside the post.
He slides in celebration, emulating Galaxy great Robbie Keane. The good news for the Red Bulls: The Galaxy sometimes concede goals as well as scoring them.
Updated
GOAL!!! LA 1-0 RBNY (Paintsil 9)
Now THAT was an incisive pass. Gaston Brugman plays a combination with a couple of teammates and then slides the ball straight ahead …
The pass catches Joseph Paintsil in full stride, and he immediately touches it past Coronel, who gets part of his body on it but can’t keep it out.
They celebrate by showing Puig’s jersey. Puig would be proud of that pass. So the decision to start Brugman has … paid off. Nicely.
Updated
9 min: If you’re unable to watch right now, you’re not missing much. But the Galaxy have managed a long string of passes, albeit because the Red Bulls decided not to press.
And as I type that …
Peter Oh checks in: “With a name like Coronel, the RBNY keeper has got to be finger-tippin’ good!”
(A little KFC humor, in case you’re not familiar.)
Peter also asks what gig I saw last night. It was for a band called the Randos, and I had a very good view. I’m the bass player. (And occasional keyboardist, guitarist, singer and drummer.)
6 min: Dylan Nealis knocks down Paintsil to stop a Galaxy break the old-fashioned way.
I should point out that I live near Route 1, and traffic is consistently horrible. Not sure why anyone would try it in a soccer game.
3 min: The Galaxy dither over a throw-in like so many of the youth teams whose games I officiate.
They surrender possession to Coronel, who goes Route 1 to Lewis Morgan, but Garces is there to shut down the Scottish striker and suffers a foul for his trouble.
2 min: Not exactly pretty so far. Neither team has strung together a significant number of passes.
Kickoff
And the second whistle of the day is for a needless foul by NY’s Cam Harper on LA’s Gaston Brugman.
Officials …
REF: Guido Gonzales Jr. Experience includes the 2018 NWSL final.
AR1: Kyle Atkins
AR2: Logan Brown
4TH: Ismir Pekmic
VAR: Younes Marrakchi
AVAR: TJ Zablocki
RAR: Jose Da Silva
This the 29th MLS Cup final. The Galaxy also played in the first. The weather was a bit worse:
It’s national anthem time, in case you’re wondering why a game supposedly scheduled for 4 p.m. Eastern has not yet kicked off. I’m not asleep. I probably should be, having made it home from a gig around 2:30 a.m. Eastern, but not with this game on tap.
A lot of Red Bulls supporters have made the cross-country trip (or happen to live a bit closer).
Updated
Starting lineups
NY Red Bulls
GK: Carlos Coronel
D: Sean Nealis, Andres Reyes, Dylan Nealis
M: John Tolkin, Peter Stroud, Daniel Edelman, Cameron Harper
AM: Emil Forsberg
F: Lewis Morgan, Daniel Vanzeir
This is an unchanged side from the starting XI against Orlando City in the semifinal, in which Reyes scored the lone goal.
Apple TV notes that the Nealis brothers, Tolkin, Stroud and Edelman all came up through the club’s academy.
LA Galaxy
GK: John McCarthy
D: John Nelson, Maya Yoshida, Emiro Garces, Miki Yamane
M: Gaston Brugman, Edwin Cerrillo, Marky Delgado
F: Joseph Paintsil, Dejan Joveljić, Gabriel Pec
On Apple, Taylor Twellman is a bit surprised at the decision to bring in Brugman to replace the injured Riqui Puig but notes that fellow Uruguayan Diego Fagundez is being stashed on the bench for use at a variety of positions depending on how the game shakes out. Marco Reus, who started in the semifinal, also is on the bench, with Delgado in his place.
Joveljić had the lone goal in the 1-0 win over Seattle in the semifinal.
Other than Brugman and Delgado, the other starters also started in the semi.
The Red Bulls counter with …
… people who aren’t quite household names.
A club that had Tony Meola and Tim Howard in goal now has Carlos Coronel. Surely you all know him from his handful of appearances for Paraguay, right?
If you do know Coronel, though, you know he’s capable of the spectacular.
The Red Bulls have had no shortage of stars over the years, dating back to their launch as the MetroStars. Thierry Henry. Lothar Matthäus, Bradley Wright-Phillips, now on Apple TV. Juan Pablo Angel. Clint Mathis. Tab Ramos. Claudio Reyna.
Today, the key scorer is Lewis Morgan, who came to MLS via Inter Miami after some unproductive time at Celtic. Sometimes, though, players simply blossom in the right environment, and New York (well, New Jersey, technically) has been that environment for him.
Morgan is one of three players Transfermarkt assesses at 5m Euros. Another is the captain, Emil Forsberg, who has 21 goals for Sweden in his long career. He came to New York at the beginning of 2024 after a long run at the other Red Bull (Leipzig).
Bold statement from longtime Galaxy driving force Landon Donovan on Apple’s pregame show, saying that the Galaxy’s offense – including Gabriel Pec, Dejan Joveljić, Joseph Paintsil and the unfortunately absent Riqui Puig – might be the best the league has ever seen.
Want to chime in?
Yes, I’m on BlueSky, so if you don’t feel like writing a whole email, yell at me there.
Preamble
After a decade of dizzying change and expansion, MLS has an OG MLS Cup.
The LA Galaxy have won this thing five times. Just not recently.
The New York Red Bulls have never won this thing. They’ve been waiting a long, long time. And if you go by how these teams look on paper, they’ll be waiting a bit longer. But that was said about their previous playoff rounds, wasn’t it?
It’s another beautiful day in Southern California for a calendar-defying warm-weather championship game. Get the sunglasses and sunscreen and get ready to watch.
Beau will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s Graham Ruthven’s take on today’s final.
