CARSON — The Galaxy had another chance to find a level of consistency, but in the end, it was another opportunity lost.
The Galaxy allowed three first-half goals against the San Jose Earthquakes on Wednesday night, tried to rally back but fell to its California Clasico rival, 3-2, in front of 18,453 at Dignity Health Sports Park.
“I actually thought we got off to a good start, then we commit a silly penalty, clumsy and then off the kickoff in less than 60 seconds, we give a second one (goal) back,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said. “It’s embarrassing.”
Dejan Joveljic did his best to bring the Galaxy back, scoring in the 48th and 88th minutes – his seventh and eighth goals this season.
“If we play with the right intensity, right intentions and we move together, we created enough to get back into the game and see something out of it,” Vanney said.
The loss leaves the Galaxy (8-8-3) with 27 points in the Western Conference heading into Saturday’s road game against Colorado.
“We didn’t have the right mentality to get to settle in the game,” midfielder Victor Vazquez. “It is about us not doing the right things. Playing at home again, against a rival, we have to bring the right mentality. It’s on us. It’s not about the technical staff. It’s about the players and we have to show a lot more.”
The Galaxy has suffered 3-2 defeats in three of its last four games (Minnesota United, LAFC and San Jose).
The Galaxy was short-handed with Chicharito Hernandez and Mark Delgado sidelined due to the league’s health and safety protocols.
San Jose didn’t seem to care. The Earthquakes jumped on the board first on a successful penalty kick by Cristian Espinoza in the 13th minute.
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One minute later, an errant pass by Sega Coulilbaly led to a San Jose goal by Jeremy Ebobisse for a 2-0 lead. Marcos Lopez capped the first-half scoring for the Earthquakes in the 40th minute.
Vanney made three substitutions to start the second half, bringing on Kevin Cabral, Chase Gasper and Douglas Costa.
Costa, who had missed the last two games serving a suspension, set up Joveljic’s second goal to get the Galaxy within one.
This was the first meeting between the two teams this season. They were scheduled to face each other last month, but the game was postponed until Sept. 24.