The Galaxy has become a bunch of road warriors through the first 14 games, playing nine games on the road.
Now it is time for a little bit of home cooking.
Starting with Saturday’s game against Houston Dynamo FC, the Galaxy will play four of its next five games at Dignity Health Sports Park.
The Galaxy closed out last week’s three-game in eight-stretch with consecutive road draws at Minnesota United and Charlotte FC.
“In this league, I think we take positives (from the trip),” Galaxy midfielder Diego Fagundez said. “We go away, it’s a long trip, weeklong, we get a point in Minnesota, probably not the best the point, when you feel like the game should have went our way. We go to Charlotte, we had chances, they had chances, it could have gone either way, but I think a point was huge there.
“Now, we’re home and this is where we need to get points.”
After playing Houston, the Galaxy will have a short turnaround for Wednesday’s home game against FC Dallas. That will complete the first home back-to-back of the season.
“Playing nine of the 14 on the road, which is always going to be a tough challenge, in some tough places,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said. “I wish we could have closed out the Minnesota game …the group is resilient and finds a way in different circumstances to get something out of each of these games.”
The Galaxy (5-2-7) begins the week in fourth place (22 points) in the Western Conference. Through the first five games, they’re unbeaten at home (2-0-3).
“We know we’re going to have our fans behind us and hopefully we can start to take some three points at home because that’s going to be huge for us in the standings,” Vanney said.
Joseph Paintsil update
Paintsil was subbed off against Minnesota United and missed the Charlotte FC game with a hamstring issue.
Vanney said Paintsil is likely down for the first three games, which would give him an additional week to return after the international break June 15.
“I would say he’s very questionable for Chicago (June 1),” Vanney said. “We know he’ll be ready by the time we come back from the (international break), we’ll just see how he goes through this week and his progression. It’s a challenging one too. He’s on like 45 games for what would be his calendar season, which started in August for him in the European season.
“This is kind of an ideal time for him to be able to recover a little bit and then be able to catch the second half of the season. Not ideal, from an injury standpoint, but he does need the rest and recovery in order to be able to be as fresh as possible for the second half of the season. We’re not going to rush him.”
Fagundez is the first option to start in Paintsil’s winger position. Also, look for Jonathan Perez to get an opportunity.
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“With Gabe (Gabriel Pec), Johnny (Perez), Diego and even Dejan (Joveljic), we have to make sure that we are still getting those stretch runs, the runs that are going in behind (the defense),” Vanney said. “We need those guys to be mindful of constantly making those runs. They have enough speed to do it, it’s just going to be about commitment and timing.”
HOUSTON DYNAMO FC at GALAXY
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Dignity Health Sports Park
How to watch: Apple TV+ (MLS Season Pass)
