The LA Galaxy lost yet another key contributor when Matheus Nascimento went down with an injury in the club’s Leagues Cup fixture against C.F. Pachuca on August 22. Nascimento, who was helped off the field, has missed the Galaxy’s last four games and is unlikely to return until at least the end of September.
The young forward, on loan from Brazilian Serie A club Botafogo, has been a bright spot in a lackluster season for a Galaxy squad that finds itself with a league-worst 20 points and a 4-8-16 record.
In 19 games for the Galaxy, Nascimento has notched two goals and recorded two assists, making him one of the club’s most valued players in season without injured star midfielder Riqui Puig.
Given the absence of Nascimento, Galaxy fans wondered how Greg Vanney’s squad would respond. Fortunately, the four games that Nascimento has missed since his injury have provided some clues, as the Galaxy have had a decent stretch, going 1-1 in both MLS play and Leagues Cup play.
With Nascimento out, Varney has relied on Spanish forward Miguel Berry to fill the hole left in the Galaxy’s 4-3-3 lineup. However, Berry has lacked the production that made Nascimento such a valuable piece of the squad, as Berry failed to score a goal or record an assist in any of the four games.
Additionally, Berry’s 1.15 expected goals fall short of Nascimento’s 2.52, demonstrating that the analytics favor Nascimento to create production for the Galaxy’s offense.
The Galaxy controlled possession in all four of the games without Nascimento and they led in both shots and shots on goal in two of the four games. LA also led their opponents in expected goals in three of the four games, with the lone exception being their loss to the Seattle Sounders on August 27 in the Leagues Cup Semifinals.
Although Berry lacks the production that Nascimento provided at center forward, the Galaxy have been playing sound soccer and have generated more opportunities than the majority of their opponents.
The Galaxy’s upcoming two-game test against the Seattle Sounders and FC Cincinnati will provide some clarity as to whether the squad’s recent stretch of sound football without Nascimento up front can be attributed to solid team play or an anomaly in an otherwise uninspiring season.