Real Monarchs beat Los Angeles Galaxy II 2:1 in MLS Next Pro Group Stage action on Saturday evening at Zion's Bank Stadium. The result adds three points to the hosts' tally and keeps the visitors in third place, though the gap between them remains substantial at 23 points.
N. Silva opened the scoring just before half-time, a 45+1' strike that gave the home side a narrow advantage going into the break. Galaxy II levelled through an 87' goal, but Real Monarchs pulled the winner in stoppage time, a 90+6' finish that turned the match on its head.
There were five yellow cards in the match, with G. Villa, O. Anderson, L. Muller and M. Vanney all cautioned. And here's the thing — the discipline issues came from both sides, not just one.
Real Monarchs made six substitutions across the second half, bringing on E. Martinez, P. Bank, Z. Lifferth, V. Garcia, L. O'Gara and E. Preston. Galaxy II responded with G. Villa, N. Silva, and V. Garcia among their changes.
By then, the visitors had looked the stronger side for much of the game. They were third in the table with 53 points from 27 games, while Real Monarchs sat 11th with just 30. The hosts had won only one of their last five, and lost four of those, including a 0:4 thrashing by San Jose Earthquakes II.
We had backed Galaxy II to win, but the match refused to follow the script. To be fair, Real Monarchs had already shown they could be difficult to break down, and that late resilience is something you cannot quantify in advance.
