MLS Sunday: Chicharito tops himself with hat trick

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, Apr 26, 2021

How could Javier Hernandez top his opening-day heroics for the LA Galaxy?

Chicharito, who scored two goals in the Galaxy's 3-2 win at Inter Miami, did it by scoring a hat trick in the first hour of the Galaxy's 3-2 win over the New York Red Bulls in its home opener.

The five goals tied the Mexican star with Houston's Brian Ching (2006) as the only players to open a season with five goals in their first two games.

And the two wins left the Galaxy as the only MLS team that is unbeaten and untied after two games.

Not bad when you consider Chicharito scored only two goals in all of 2020 and the Galaxy didn't win its second game in 2020 until Aug. 29 (its seventh game of the season).

Like his second goal at Inter Miami, two of Chicharito's three goals against the Red Bulls came when he crashed the goal.



“I thought he put in a great shift," said Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney. "And what we needed to do today was get him in front of the goal and give him opportunities because it was not about possession. We were scraping through a lot of that game and so it was about opportunities and he took them well like the goalscorer he is."

Chicharito did not want to make comparisons to last season.

"We are delighted about how we are," he said, "but it's like I said after the match against Miami, this is just a reminder of how hard we have been working as a group. I don't take only the credit because I scored two against Miami and now three. The credit is for all of us, even the players that come off the bench, the staff, the owners, the sports director, the directors over there and then the fans for the first they came to the stadium, the people who work here in marketing, Raul [Vargas], the kit man [who has been with the Galaxy since its launch. I mean, everyone over here. We are trying to do the best job because we know the responsibility to be part of this badge that is behind me."

Friday, April 23
Sporting KC 1 Orlando City 1. (Goals: Busio 45; Nani 79. Att.: n/a.)

Saturday, April 24
NYCFC 5 FC Cincinnati 0. (Goals: Medina 7, 83, own goal 53, Thorarinsson 57, Castellanos 61. Att.: 7,212.)
Nashville SC 2 CF Montreal 2. (Goals: Cadiz 54, Mukhtar 77; Toye 13, Brault-Guillard 42. Att.: 12,164.)
Toronto FC 2 Vancouver 2. (Goals: Singh 7, Osorio 83; Dajome pen. 55, Rose 70.)
San Jose 3 FC Dallas 1. (Goals: Alanis pen. 34, Espinoza 49, Cowell 59; Pepi 79. Att.: n/a.)
LAFC 1 Seattle 1. (Goals: Atuesta 2; Smith 54. Att.: 4,900.)
Atlanta United 3 Chicago 1. (Goals: Barco 23, own goal 66, Hyndman 85; Stojanovic 46. Att.: 20,335.)
Minnesota United 1 Real Salt Lake 2. (Goals: Lod 86; Anderson Julio 31, 41. Att.: 4,100.)
New England 1 D.C. United 0. (Goal: Own goal 48. Att.; n/a.)
Philadelphia 1 Inter Miami 2. (Goal: Monteiro 54; G.Higuain 73, F.Higuain 83. Att.: n/a.)
Colorado 1 Austin FC 3. (Goals:  Shinyashiki 36; Fagundez 60, Dominguez 67, 71. Att.: n/a.)
Portland 2 Houston 1. (Goals: Asprilla 6, Paredes 73; own goal 28. Att.: n/a.)

Sunday, April 25
LA Galaxy 3 NY Red Bulls 2. (Goals: Hernandez 9, 41, 60; Gutman 26, Casseres 63. Att.: 6,853.)

Photo: LA Galaxy.