Galaxy collapse after Paintsil injury, Pec red card in loss to Rapids

The LA Galaxy’s trip to the Rocky Mountain State ended in a second-half collapse, as the Colorado Rapids scored three unanswered goals to hand the visitors a 4-1 loss Saturday night at DICK’S Sporting Goods Park.

Playing with a frontline featuring Gabriel Pec, Joseph Paintsil, and João Klauss, the Galaxy controlled possession for stretches but ultimately unraveled after an injury to Paintsil and a red card to Pec early in the second half.

“We had a lot of the momentum of the game,” Greg Vanney said after the loss. “We were creating changes but we were also defending well.”

The loss marks the second instance where a second half red card swung the pendulum, the first coming in the opener against New York, both equally as frustrating for the Galaxy.

“These are lost opportunities,” Vanney said. “I don’t think we necessarily played particularly great. I thought we defended well against New York City. I thought we were playing solid tonight in all aspects of the game.

“Tonight was, for sure, and the first one, they’re points that got away from us,” Vanney added.

The match remained scoreless until the 23rd minute. Colorado won a 50/50 ball in midfield, and Darren Yapi collected a layoff, sized up defender Maya Yoshida, and buried his shot past goalkeeper Novak Micovic to give the Rapids a 1-0 lead.

The Galaxy responded, creating their best chance of the half in the 32nd minute. A sharp passing sequence opened up the Rapids defense, allowing Pec to get a first-time shot off inside the box. Rapids goalkeeper Adam Hansen made the save and the defense cleared the rebound.

The tides turned in favor of the Rapids early in the second half. 

In the 50th minute, Paintsil went down with an apparent injury and was forced to exit. Mauricio Cuevas entered in his place, and Paintsil headed straight to the locker room.

Vanney did not have an immediate update on Paintsil’s status after the match but he was optimistic.

“He just was chest trapping a ball and then kind of turning to shield it, so it’s really kind of a strange mechanism for that to happen. Hopefully that’s a sign it’s not much.”

Six minutes later, the Galaxy found an equalizer. 

Off a recycled corner kick, Pec delivered a ball to the back post, and Klauss rose to meet it with a header that beat Hansen to make it 1-1.

The momentum shifted again just three minutes later. 

In the 59th minute, Rafael Navarro dribbled into midfield and was brought down by Pec, who received his second yellow card of the match. The Galaxy had to see out the final half hour down to 10 men.

“[Pec] got into a situation where he was chasing… He’s got to know he’s on the yellow card and he can’t just take that kind of risk and that kind of tackle,” Vanney said. “He’s got to make a better decision because the decision becomes a second yellow and then we lose all momentum. Then we’re hanging on a little bit, then it gets away from us.”

Colorado took advantage of the extra man in the 76th minute. Yapi turned provider, feeding Manyoma, who finished to put the Rapids back ahead 2-1.

“In away games it’s tough to get points in the first [place],” defender Jakob Glesnes said. 

“I felt like we had momentum in the second half when we scored the goal. But when we [got] down to 10 men we knew it’ll be tough. We are trying to survive out there .”

The Rapids put the match away late. In the 85th minute, a shot from Keegan Rosenberry produced a rebound, and Navarro was there for the tap-in. 

Four minutes later, Navarro added his second of the night, finding space in the box and curling a shot into the top corner to make it 4-1.

“Personally, it’s never fun to concede four goal in a game like this,” Glesnes said. “We have to get better, to finish the games with 11 guys.”

Next, the Galaxy will look to rebound when Jamaican side Mount Pleasant visits Dignity Health Sports Park for the first leg of the Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16, first kick scheduled for 6:30 p.m.