SANDY, Utah — Memo Rodríguez and Tyler Boyd scored two minutes apart late in the second half to rally the Galaxy to a 3-2 victory over Real Salt Lake on Wednesday night, the team’s first road win in an MLS match this season.
The Galaxy (3-9-3, 12 points), which had scored just one goal in its first six league road games, trailed until Rodríguez took passes from Riqui Puig and Calegari in the 72nd minute and scored for the first time this season. Boyd, playing with a broken hand, then delivered what proved to be the game-winner two minutes later, using assists from Calegari and Dejan Joveljic to net his second goal.
“I’m incredibly proud of the group,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said of a team that took the field the day after embattled team president Chris Klein was fired. “Our team and our club, yesterday we lost a guy in Chris that we all care about. You know, we all feel some responsibility in that process. It’s hard not to. And so as a group, we came together and we fought today. … We stuck together as a group. This is not an easy place to play and we came and got one.”
Neither team scored until Gastón Brugman found the net for the first time this year on a penalty kick in the fourth minute of stoppage time to give the Galaxy a halftime lead.
Real Salt Lake (4-7-4, 16 points) pulled even in the 56th minute when Danny Musovski took a pass from Jefferson Savarino and netted his second goal of the campaign. Pablo Ruiz gave RSL a 2-1 lead with his third goal this season, scoring unassisted in the 67th minute.
Jonathan Bond totaled six saves for the Galaxy. Gavin Beavers saved one shot in his second start for Real Salt Lake.
Vanney had particular praise for Boyd and the threat he poses.
“I feel like he’s just a guy for us that gives us something a little different on the dynamic side,” Vanney said. “We have a lot of guys who take the ball to their feet; they play between the lines, and Tyler is a guy who we desperately need. And it looks so different because he will play behind the back line and he’s making these dynamic runs that go through lines and not just in front of lines. He’s a big part of a lot of the dangerous moments that we create.”
RSL was trying to beat the Galaxy at home for the third straight time. Instead, the club had to settle for ending a three-match scoreless streak at home this season.
The Galaxy entered play as one of only nine teams in league history to have just nine points through its first 15 matches.
The Galaxy will return to Utah next week to face RSL in a U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal.
An absolute STUNNER🔥@40_jrod responds in #RSLvLA! pic.twitter.com/19HXGMOj3o
— LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) June 1, 2023
What a response from the #LAGalaxy
Two minutes later, Tyler Boyd puts them on top. pic.twitter.com/OBd0ArZSIR
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) June 1, 2023
Gastón Brugman buries it from the spot to put the #LAGalaxy on top before half.
Watch for free on #MLSSeasonPass on @AppleTV: https://t.co/w0rluZMhT3 pic.twitter.com/gEQPXeO56W
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) June 1, 2023
Broken hand? No problem. 🤷♂️
Tyler Boyd speaks after scoring the game-winner in #RSLvLA!#LAGalaxy x @Herbalife pic.twitter.com/myC8CmVRMR
— LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) June 1, 2023