Credit: Twitter
LA Galaxy defeated city rivals Los Angeles FC 2-0 on Tuesday night at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, California as forward Tyler Boyd and midfielder Riqui Puig scored a goal each to guide their team to the US Open Cup quarterfinals. The former Barcelona midfielder scored a sensational solo goal to take LA Galaxy on a two-goal lead against LAFC in the Round of 16 fixture and pulled off a Lionel Messi-like celebration.
Just three minutes after Boyd scored the opener for the visitors, the 23-year-old Puig, who is a graduate of FC Barcelona's famed La Masia Academy, doubled the lead for LA Galaxy in the 52nd minute to qualify for the US Open Cup quarterfinal.
The Spanish midfielder received the ball from his teammate Marco Delgado and turned on his jets, racing toward the goal. In his sensational run, Puig beat four defenders before scoring past the LAFC goalkeeper, Eldin Jakupovic, and broke out a dramatic celebration where he took off his shirt and showed the fans his name on the back. The LA Galaxy midfielder pulled off Lionel Messi's shirt celebration, which he performed after scoring the winner against Real Madrid in 2017.
Watch the video here:
Apart from LA Galaxy, Cincinnati, Inter Miami, and Houston Dynamo have also qualified for the US Open Cup quarterfinals, however, four teams are yet to make the cut. Talking about the MLS 2023, LA Galaxy are having a disappointing season as they are placed at the bottom of the Western Conference standings with just two wins in 13 matches so far while LAFC have managed the top spot with 25 points in 12 matches so far this season.
