Galaxy’s ‘Chicharito’ injures knee in U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal loss to Real Salt Lake

SANDY, Utah — The Galaxy’s frustrating season suffered another setback on Wednesday night when star striker Javier “Chicharito” Hernández was stretchered off the field with a right knee injury midway through the first half of the team’s U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal loss to Real Salt Lake.

RSL won, 3-2, behind two first-half goals from Damir Kreilach and another from Jefferson Savarino early in the second half. The Galaxy rallied with goals from Gastón Brugman and Douglas Costa in the final eight minutes of regulation but ran out of time to complete the comeback.

Hernández, the team’s leading scorer the past two seasons, was the primary concern for Coach Greg Vanney and the rest of the team afterward.

“We won’t know until we get an MRI to see where it’s at. So our fingers are crossed. But we don’t know yet what we’re dealing with,” Vanney said of Hernández, who is expected to meet with team doctors after they return to Los Angeles.

Hernández was sprinting through the middle of the Real Salt Lake defense in the 24th minute when he stretched himself to receive a pass from teammate Riqui Puig about 15 yards outside the penalty area. Hernández, who did not make contact with anyone else on the play, tumbled to the turf and immediately motioned to his bench for help as Puig and several Salt Lake players moved in to check on him.

Scary moment for Chicharito in the Galaxy’s #USOC2023 match. Down with a non contact injury and immediately signaled for help. pic.twitter.com/gooonn603o

— Matt Baker (@MattBakerSTL) June 8, 2023

He was stretchered off the field and to the locker room, his face covered with a towel, as teammates reached out to try and console him.

“First off, Chicha is fundamental for us, not just on the field but also in the locker room,” Brugman said. “We hope it’s nothing major and that he can be back with us soon. He’s very, very important for us.”

Mexico’s all-time leading scorer with 52 international goals, Hernández, who turned 35 this last week, is in the final year of a contract that guarantees him $7.4 million this season, making him the third-highest-paid player in the league. His 35 goals over the last two full seasons are the second-most in MLS in that period, but he has started only seven regular-season games this season.

He sat out the first five MLS games this year because of a hamstring injury and has just one goal and one assist.

As far as the result, Vanney saw some things he liked – after halftime.

“(Brugman) started to kind of power us a little bit forward with Riqui, who was able to find good spots and build some speed at the back line,” Vanney said. “I thought we built some momentum through the course of that game, or through the course of the second half. And a lot of it just had to do with we were just more connected. And we weren’t as vertical. We were bringing each other into the game. We were working into the field and bringing more numbers into the attack, instead of trying to do it all in just two or three passes.

“I thought there were, especially in the second half, some positive moments in some of our attacking, our ball movement, the way we were working across the field. And defensively, I thought we were better at winning the spaces in the middle of the field in the second half, so that helped us to control the game a little better.”

Kreilach’s second first-half goal came on a penalty kick six minutes into stoppage time.

“The penalty is a disaster for us, because I think the referee was looking for it,” Vanney said. “He warned Julián (Aude) twice. It’s not anything that doesn’t happen on every corner kick, where guys are jockeying and working for every position and they’re in the body and all that kind of stuff, but I think he was just looking for it. His eyes were on it, and he was just looking for something to call and he picked something out and he made a call.”

Brugman’s goal came on a penalty kick as well before Costa narrowed the gap two minutes later.

“His entrance helped change the game. He came on and he looked sharp,” Vanney said of Costa. “There’s no denying his quality. You see it when he plays. He’s building some tempo into our attacks. It’s continuing to get just consistency from him, which will allow him to build up his fitness levels to be able to do those types of things. His 30 minutes were solid.”

The Galaxy is now 5-10-3 across all competitions in 2023 and sits in last place in the MLS standings at 3-9-3 (12 points) going into Sunday’s game at St. Louis City SC. Brugman said the team is motivated to salvage its season.

“The motivation is that we are in last place and there’s not a ton of people that believe in this team, but I believe in this team and I think motivation comes game after game,” he said. “We have to stick together, be united. I believe in this team and I think we’re going to get out of this.”