LA Galaxy Lose Another Close Game vs. MLS Eastern Conference Powerhouse

Of the four wins the Los Angles Galaxy have during the 2025 MLS regular season, all of them have been at home inside Dignity Health Sports Park. The only team in the Eastern Conference that the defending MLS Cup champions have beat are the lowly D.C. United.

The LA Galaxy needed a win on Saturday just to keep their slim playoff hopes alive. The team have only made the playoffs twice this decade, including last year when the Galaxy won it all.

FC Cincinnati entered this weekend looking to pass the first-place Philadelphia Union. Both teams are in the running for the MLS Eastern Conference's top seed in addition to the Supporters' Shield.

Another rough start for the LA Galaxy dooms them from the beginning.

Two defenders for the Los Angeles Galaxy were the heroes in the last game. Maya Yoshida and Miki Yamane both scored the team's only two goals. In the opening minute, defender John Nelson took the game's first shot at but missed.

When FC Cincinnati's Ender Echenique shot in the 10th minute of the game, he found the back of the net. Brenner added a second score 12 minutes later. Down 2-0 early in the first half, the LA Galaxy's fate looked bleak.

Forward Joseph Paintsil had a nice header in the 39th minute. The LA Galaxy were able to cut that two-goal deficit down to one before halftime. Paintsil has missed a few games as of late while playing for Ghana's National Men's Team, vying for a 2026 FIFA World Cup berth.

The LA Galaxy had to play a man down most of the second half.

An unfortunate second yellow card to Isaiah Parente put the Los Angeles Galaxy down a player. With the red card came Parente's ejection and added adversity for the six-time MLS Cup champions. The LA Galaxy had to play a man down most of the home match against the Houston Dynamo earlier in the season when Zanka was issued his red card in the first half of play.

With Parente out, the LA Galaxy managed to fend off FC Cincinnati's attack for a solid +30 minutes. Then, Brenner scored his second goal of the game in the 88th minute. The Galaxy were now down 3-1 just moments before stoppage time.

Though the LA Galaxy were down two goals again, they did not give up. Mauricio Cuevas scored in the 90'+1' minute of the game, making it 3-2. Yet, it was too little too late.

Back in May, the LA Galaxy lost 3-2 against the other top team in the MLS Eastern Conference, the Philadelphia Union. Yet, the defending champions are just 4-9-17 with only 21 points and in last place of the MLS Western Conference standings.

With the playoffs surely an afterthought now this season, the LA Galaxy's remaining games could be focused more on getting their stars that are under contract for next season and beyond healthy, while developing young players like Chris Rindov, Harbor Miller, and Lucas Sanabria.

Next up is a winnable but perhaps emotional match against Sporting Kansas City. In addition to being one of the other bad teams in the MLS Western Conference, but this will be forward Dejan Joveljic's first return to Carson, California since being traded this past winter.

He was the lone scorer in the 1-0 victory against the Seattle Sounders in the MLS Western Conference Finals. Joveljic's absence, specially his scoring ability, has been missed this season by the LA Galaxy.

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