Marco Reus gets El Trafico moment, shows signs of LA Galaxy breakthrough | OneFootball

The LA Galaxy are still winless after Sunday's 2-2 draw against LAFC in the first El Trafico fixture of 2025.

But embattled German midfielder Marco Reus finally produced a signature moment of magic in a big spot for his Southern California club and may be showing signs of a more substantive breakthrough.

Reus's sumptuous 87th-minute free kick provided a deserved leveler for the Galaxy and completed his first career MLS brace on a night that suggested, just maybe, manager Greg Vanney can still get something from this season.

Central to the solution

If he does, Reus will have to be part of the solution.

The fact remains that 2024 team MVP Riqui Puig is still a few months from a return from a torn ACL suffered in last year's Western Conference final. And while Joseph Paintsil and Gabriel Pec can be effective attackers without Puig on the field, Reus is the only player with a skill profile capable of filling some of the immediate void Puig leaves in central midfield.

After missing about a month with knee issues, Reus had still struggled to leave much of an impression on the Galaxy in his first full MLS season. But that began to change this week.

The former Dortmund assisted both LA goals in a rough 3-2 defeat at the Philadelphia Union in midweek, before scoring in a fixture some Galaxy fans must have worried would end in embarrassment given their form entering the match.

Perhaps more interestingly, a closer look at Reus' numbers suggests maybe the Galaxy is adjusting to be a more direct side while Puig remains out, a better fit for Reus' background in the German game and his inferior ability to cover ground now at age 35.

Galaxy going more direct?

The big sign? Reus is beginning to attemp long passes much more regularly and taking more chances with them.

Entering Sunday's clash, 22 of Reus' 33 total long passes this season (according to Opta) had been attempted in his three previous appearances. And a lower completion percentage also suggested Reus has been more willing to take risks with those passes than early in the season.

Overall, Reus has completed fewer than 84% of his passes in his last five appearances, including 80.5% on Sunday. He was above that rate in all three of his appearances before the knee injury, perhaps a sign of caution rather than incisiveness.

That shift in approach stll hasn't led to victory, and in the 7-0 loss to the Red Bulls, it led to turnovers that fueled the embarassing defeat.

But outside of that lone loss, you'd have to say the substance of the Galaxy performances have improved even if the results feel a bit cursed. The Galaxy lost in Kansas City despite holding the hosts without a shot and gave back a 2-0 lead in Philadelphia. Then came the El Trafico clash, where they looked like the more likely side to take all three points in the dying stages, but had to accept only one.