Black team defeated New York
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Marco Reus got on his knees and clenched his hands into fists. After seven runner-up finishes with Borussia Dortmund, the 35-year-old won a championship title with Los Angeles Galaxy for the first time in his professional career. In the 2-1 (2-1) draw against the New York Red Bulls, coached by Sandro Schwarz, the long-time Dortmund player sat on the bench for a long time, but then had a good chance to make it 3-1 immediately after coming on in the 76th minute. For record champions Galaxy, it was their sixth Major League Soccer title.
“They are now legends in this club, that’s a big deal. I’m so proud of these guys,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said. At 27 degrees in the south of the US state of California, Galaxy took the lead after just nine minutes through Joseph Paintsil, and ex-Frankfurt player Dejan Joveljic made it 2-0 four minutes later. Galaxy had complete control of the game, which was sold out with 26,812 spectators, in the early stages and had further good chances.
Forsberg corner creates tension – Reus emotional
But then a corner taken by ex-Leipzig player Emil Forsberg led to an unexpected goal from Sean Nealis (28th minute) and the atmosphere of the game changed. Observed by Red Bull director Mario Gómez, the guests had more possession of the ball and embarrassed the Galaxy defense on several occasions. Forsberg had the best chance to equalize in the 72nd minute, immediately before Reus’ substitution, his shot landed on the post.
In Germany, Reus has two wins in the DFB Cup and three wins in the German Super Cup. He lost a DFB Cup final three times, and it was only in May that Borussia lost to Real Madrid in the Champions League final in Reus’ last game for Dortmund. Add to that the seven runner-up titles in the Bundesliga – Reus was never able to hold the trophy in the air; he only came to BVB after the 2012 championship. Four months after his first move abroad, the championship drought is over, which made Reus emotional.
“I don’t know if this is a Hollywood finale, but it’s a big day,” the attacking midfielder said as he stood in a large pool of beer, champagne and other drinks with the medal around his neck. “You always work your whole career to be successful, to try to reach as many finals as possible and then win. That didn’t work out so much for me in Germany. But as I said when I arrived, the goal was always to continue to be successful.”
The fact that he played at all because of an adductor injury was remarkable. “I think I’ve trained twice in the last two weeks.” Last week in the 1-0 win against the Seattle Sounders, it was time for work at halftime. “In a normal game I wouldn’t have played, no chance. In the end, I don’t care.”
