Galaxy settle for draw after clash with St. Louis City

For a moment it looked like the Galaxy might’ve flipped the switch and hit a turning point, holding a 3-2 lead late heading into stoppage time after a great solo-effort from Gabriel Pec to return the lead to LA.

But, in what as become almost normal for the LA Galaxy in 2025, the unthinkable is always seconds away from reality. 

In the 95th minute, Joao Krauss hauled any momentum the Galaxy had and brought the crowd in St. Louis to its feet as he completed a hat-trick to equalize at the last possible moment.

The LA Galaxy's season-long defensive struggles persisted Saturday in a chaotic 3-3 draw with St. Louis CITY at Energizer Park, as Greg Vanney's side conceded to Klauss three times in a match that encapsulated their frustrating 2025 campaign.

“Ultimately, neither of the shots are on Novak (Micovic). It's how we deal with things in front of Novak to not allow him to get to those positions. At the moment where we are in a position to take three points on the road, we have to see that game out and we have to manage that situation way better than that,” Vanney said about his club’s backline. 

The visitors found themselves in familiar territory early, conceding first for the 13th time in 18 matches this season when João Klauss danced around defender Zanka before slotting past Micovic in the 35th minute. 

The Serbian goalkeeper had kept the Galaxy level with several crucial saves earlier, including a spectacular one-on-one stop against Sam Becher in the opening minutes.

Just when another disappointing result seemed inevitable, the Galaxy responded before halftime through Gabriel Pec. 

The Brazilian winger finished a slick team move in the 43rd minute, with Marco Reus and Matheus Nascimento combining to set up his first goal since March.

“I thought he was having a very good game. He was finding the right spots. He was distributing when we could find him, especially facing forward, he was able to release us into some good attacks,” Vanney said of Pec’s performance. “Having said that, we still got the goal to go up 3-2, right and we still should have seen the game out. So that's the frustrating part of the day.” 

The equalizer marked a rare bright spot in a first half that saw Joseph Paintsil waste a golden opportunities with a poor final pass to Nascimento.

The second half turned into a wild back-and-forth affair. 

Klauss notched a brace in the 47th minute to put the hosts ahead, 2-1.

Nascimento would equalize for LA just four minutes later, his first goal in MLS since arriving on-loan from Brazlian club Botafogo earlier this year.

“I think he's settling into the team and the League,” Vanney said of the 21 year old forward. “He should have had one in the first half… Joe (Painstil) just misses him on the square ball. So he probably could have had a couple more.”

First @MLS & LA Galaxy GOAL 🤫@woodyinho with the magic touch to find Nasci for our second! pic.twitter.com/w9Mh2GqhjL

— LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) June 14, 2025

Pec then appeared to have won it for the visitors with his second of the night in the 67th, only for Klauss to level again five minutes later with his brace.

The result extended several concerning trends for the Galaxy, who were missing key players Riqui Puig (knee), Diego Fagundez (foot) and Miguel Berry (thigh), while Edwin Cerrillo served a suspension. 

Vanney's side has now conceded three or more goals in five matches this season while simultaneously struggling to create chances - making Saturday's three-goal outburst their first of 2025.

Reus says the team still needs to create more scoring opportunities.

“We have to create more chances. We had a few in the beginning in the first half and then I had the feeling, ‘okay, the game is with us,’ and then for some reason, we concede from nowhere,” Reus said afterwards. “

As the Galaxy prepare to visit the Colorado Rapids on June 25, questions persist about their ability to shore up a leaky backline that has conceded a league-worst 38 goals. 

While the attacking flashes offered hope, their inability to hold leads continues to undermine any progress in what's becoming another lost season in Carson.

Reus knows this team has its back against the wall, but he’s seen crazier things happen throughout his storied career in Europe.

“Now we have a little bit of a break, just try to clear our heads from the first 16 games, and then we're  coming back to the second part of the season. That means, for us, if we want to try to come back into a playoff situation,we have to win almost every game. But I've played so long in my career, I know nothing is impossible, so we go for it.” 

Vanney leaves St. Louis upset with the result, but he is proud of the resiliency the Galaxy displayed on the road Saturday.

“I think we ultimately leave frustrated, even though you take the context of the whole game, we stayed resilient on the road in a tough place to play, tough 3:30 game where it's hot and humid. There's a lot of things there that are challenging, and we still put ourselves in position to win.”