Galaxy hope to end month like it started

The month of May has been full of ups and downs for the Galaxy.

In their last two MLS home games, the Galaxy have been outscored 6-1. In between those two games was Wednesday's riveting 3-1 victory over Los Angeles Football Club in the U.S. Open Cup.

Today, the Galaxy will end the month at home against Austin FC. So which Galaxy team will show up?

“It was huge, it was important,” Galaxy forward Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez said of Wednesday's performance. “But now the most important thing is that we need to show that against any team. That's the mentality and the mindset we should have. That doesn't mean that we're going to score three goals every single game or we're going to win every single game. We're going to aim for that obviously, but I think the mentality, the confidence, the hunger, the bravery. And we show we need to maintain that and mostly in our home.

“We want to make every team come here and if they want to take any points, they need to give the game of their lives.”

The Galaxy (6-5-2, 20

UP NEXT

Today: Galaxy vs. Austin FC, 3 p.m., UniMas, TUDN

points) kicked off the month with a 1-0 win in Austin on a Mark Delgado long-distance firsthalf goal.

“I don't think they're going to come in here and change their style,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said of Austin FC (7-3-3, 24 points), which is second in the West behind LAFC. “They're a good attacking team, they like to have the ball, they're active. I don't think they will change the way they play.

“They may or may not determine how high they want to defend us versus how low they might want to defend us, but I think the game will dictate how that plays out. If we're able to break their initial pressure, then I don't see them staying high for very long. Both teams have similar visions of how they want to play so, it'll be about who can protect themselves against a good attack and who can create the better opportunities and ultimately execute.”

As with most in sports, especially soccer, it comes down to execution and consistency. The Galaxy have struggled, especially at home. Entering today's game, the club's home record is just 3-3 in MLS competition.

“If you don't have mistakes, you don't have bad games, you don't know what you need to improve and there's no improvement,” Hernandez said. “If you're not doing mistakes, there's no place to improve, you know. That's life. That's the beauty of it. That we are not perfect, we are humans, and we have light, we have shadows, we have mistakes.

“But the beauty and the most interesting part of life, not only in sports, it's like you need to recognize to be humble enough to accept it and then see that not as a weakness. Instead, you see like a place to improve. Now, the challenge is maintaining this on Sunday, that's the challenge.”

Injury updates

The Galaxy will head into the international break after the game with nearly three weeks off, which should give some players time to rest and heal.

Douglas Costa (hamstring) is expected to miss today's game. Eriq Zavaleta (groin) returned to training and Sega Coulilbaly (knee) is still out. Vanney said it might “take some time for him to get through it.”

The Galaxy resume play June 18 and will be looking at a four-game stretch in 12 days.