player for us. He can go left, he can go right. Sometimes he looks like he’s a young little kid, but then he accelerates and you’re like, ‘Wow, this kid can really move.’”

Perez was signed as a Homegrown Player by the Galaxy in 2020. He said he had seven family members and fans of Chivas in attendance, including an uncle who drove in from Arizona for the game.

“I knew from the beginning that there were going to be a lot of fans and the atmosphere was going to be amazing,” Perez said. “My main focus was just on the game and how I could perform and help my team.”

With the Galaxy leading 1-0, Perez took a pass from Samuel Grandsir, had some space from atop the 18-yard box and unleashed a strike that got by Chivas goalkeeper Raul Rangel.

“We won the ball in the middle-third of the field, I saw Sam get the ball and I moved into a space where I thought it was a good spot,” Perez said. “I turned to see the defender behind me and once I saw that, I was able to turn, get a good touch and I took the shot and thankfully it went in.”

After the game, Perez said he had yet to check his cellphone to see how many of his family members he had disappointed with his goal.

“I’ll find out when I get home,” he said jokingly.

Perez has made just one appearance for the first team this season. The rest of his playing time has come with Galaxy II in the USL.

“I’m hoping to get more minutes (with the first team),” he said of his goals for the remainder of the season. “Hopefully the coaching staff and Greg will give me an opportunity to play.”

Perez wasn’t the only Galaxy youth player to turn in a good shift.

Midfielder Adam Saldaña, who suffered a broken ankle in the offseason, came on a sub in the 35th minute. Jalen Neal, Preston Judd also had strong showings in the second half.

“It was nice to have them, in this was a great opportunity, big crowd, big environment,” Vanney said. “One of things I was looking forward to seeing was how those guys played tonight.”

Dejan Joveljic opened the scoring for the Galaxy in the 28th minute, flicking in a ball off of a corner kick by Efrain Alvarez.

Jonathan Klinsmann was the starter in goal for the Galaxy. He was credited with four saves, included a pair on consecutive shots by Hiram Mier in the first half.

“It was amazing,” Klinsmann said of the atmosphere. “This was my first time here at SoFi and just walking out onto field without fans is awesome and when you go out to warm-up and the fans are coming in, it gets louder and louder and you just get more and more excited.

“The whole second half I was having a good time. I thought I did OK. The whole team came in, everyone played limited minutes and everyone played a good match. We wanted to win the game and we did that.”

This was the first meeting between the Galaxy and Chivas since 2007.

Next season, the Leagues Cup gets an expansion as each team from Major League Soccer and Liga MX will compete in a month-long tournament. Each league will shut down their regular season to run the tournament.

The winner will earn qualification directly into the Round of 16 in the CONCACAF Champions League. The second and third-place finishers will qualify for the opening round of the tournament.