Real Salt Lake v LA Galaxy: No keeper crisis for visitors, says Vanney

LA Galaxy caput manager Greg Vanney rubbished suggestions that determination is simply a goalkeeper situation astatine the club, backing fig 1 John McCarthy to bounce back.

McCarthy has travel nether scrutiny aft making a immense blunder successful the Galaxy’s 2-1 decision to Orlando City SC, letting Luis Muriel’s precocious free-kick gaffe done his fingers.

Vanney has changed his goalkeeper erstwhile already this season, with Novak Micovic making a fig of high-profile errors successful the aboriginal portion of their campaign.

McCarthy kept a cleanable expanse successful the Galaxy’s goalless gully with Tigres successful their CONCACAF Champions Cup quarter-final successful midweek, with Vanney assured astir the antheral successful goal.

“For me, there’s nary question what John McCarthy tin do,” Vanney said. “All the nonsense astir this situation crap is nonsense.

“We person 2 bully goalkeepers, and they’re some precise capable. There’s 1 occupation to bash and I cognize what each of them is susceptible of doing. John has done it for an full season.

“I person the utmost assurance successful John, and helium came backmost retired contiguous and showed wherefore he’s that seasoned goalkeeper. He tin bounce back.

“So helium made a mistake and connected my squad radical are allowed to marque mistakes. You conscionable got to respond to them the close mode and you got to bounce back.”

Real Salt Lake, meanwhile, are looking to respond to their 2-0 decision to Minnesota United, a crippled that near caput manager Pablo Mastroeni ruing missed opportunities.

In their past clash astatine Allianz Field, RSL registered an expected goals (xG) full of 1.61 from their 15 shots, but lone 4 were connected people successful the contest.

And Mastroeni is looking for his squad to rediscover their objective borderline successful beforehand of goal, suggesting that if they are incapable to bash so, they whitethorn not scope the playoffs this season.

“Positionally, particularly successful the archetypal half, it was a communicative of 2 halves. We had a hard clip holding the shot up front,” Mastroeni said. “Any clip you can’t bash that, we cannot beryllium threatening.

“After the break, we had immoderate truly bully chances. Those are game-defining opportunities. Those were arsenic bully arsenic we were going to get. We person to beryllium acceptable for the moment.

“That is wherever acquisition comes into play. You can’t thatch it, you person to unrecorded it. It’s astir being successful the close spot and the close clip and having the calmness to finish.

“That takes time. We had numbers successful the box, got into bully areas, but the finishing portion has been eluding us. When you’re not defending your container good and not scoring goals, we are going to find it precise hard to triumph games.”

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Real Salt Lake – Forster Ajago

Having scored conscionable doubly for Nashville SC successful 15 appearances crossed each competitions past season, Ajago has already equalled that full during his 8 outings for RSL.

But his squad are 1 of the lowest scorers successful the Western Conference, with lone St. Louis City and the Houston Dynamo (four) netting less this season. So RSL volition beryllium turning to their apical scorer to supply that spark successful the attacking third.

LA Galaxy – Christian Ramirez

Ramirez scored LA Galaxy’s lone extremity connected Saturday and present has 3 of the team’s 5 goals this regular season.

He has besides netted 5 times against RSL successful his MLS vocation (regular play & playoffs), equalling his astir against immoderate hostile (also 5 against Orlando City).

CR17 pic.twitter.com/AoYgRUzoIx

— LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) March 30, 2025

MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW

LA Galaxy are unbeaten successful 5 consecutive regular-season matches against Real Salt Lake (W2 D3), with some wins successful that clip coming successful Sandy, Utah. This is lone the 2nd clip the Galaxy person won 2 consecutive distant matches against RSL (also 2012-13).

But they person struggled this season. Their 2 points done six matches are the fewest by a reigning champion successful MLS past (previous debased – 4 by 5 teams).

This is besides the Galaxy’s worst-ever commencement to a season, having ne'er recorded less than 3 points successful their archetypal six matches earlier (three successful 1997 and 2023).

RSL, meanwhile, person mislaid back-to-back location matches aft losing lone 2 of their erstwhile 16 league matches astatine America First Field. They person not mislaid 3 consecutive location league games since a six-match losing streak to extremity their inaugural 2005 campaign.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Real Salt Lake – 38.3%

Draw – 26.5%

LA Galaxy – 35.2%