With Zlatan Ibrahimovic and a few other first-team regulars on the sidelines, the LA Galaxy needed a new hero on Wednesday night.
Up stepped Matt Lampson.
The keeper, who joined the club this winter and hasn't yet appeared in an MLS game in 2019, saved three penalties to down Club Tijuana 2 (3)-2 (1) in the Leagues Cup quarterfinals.
"It's huge," Lampson said after the match. "The guys that we had on the field tonight haven't had a lot of minutes this season. “This group of guys going up against a team like Xolos is a massive statement to the type of guys we have on this team and the depth that we have. I'm just really proud to be a part of it."
Lampson dead-panned to David Gass on MLSsoccer.com's Leagues Cup Recap Show that he didn't guess on the penalties he saved, instead pointing to preparation. But he didn't take much of the credit being heaped on him in the aftermath of the Galaxy's victory.
"I just get paid to make saves and keep the ball out of the back of the net," Lampson said. "When I do that, that's just part of the job. I don't need to celebrate. It's up to the rest of the guys on the team to put the ball in the back of the net. I only do half the job and the rest of the team puts it away. I'm just happy to do my part of the job and luckily we're going on to the next round."
The Galaxy took the lead in the first half, though were pegged back and fell behind 2-1 before Dave Romney headed home an Efra Alvarez corner kick to set the game towards penalties.
"The team was fighting," head coach Guillermo Barros Schelotto said. "They fought, not like young [players], like men. We got to tie, and got the penalty [shootout]. So I am very happy for the players, because a lot of them are very young, but they start to feel it, and they will be the future for us.”
Next up, the Galaxy have a semifinal clash with Cruz Azul, who dispatched the Chicago Fire 2-0.
“We will go game by game trying to find a balance, and also find balance in our games," Schelotto said. "The truth is that in our recent results, in the derby [against LAFC], or today’s result against Club Tijuana, it gives us a lot of positive energy to face these series of games that we have to play as visitors, and to be prepared to see how far we can get in this tournament.”
