Three days ago Marco Reus was uncertain when he would be cleared to play for the Galaxy. He had a contract and a uniform but he didn’t have a work permit.
And until he had one he would have to watch from the stands.
It took the efforts of nearly a dozen people, from lawyers and front-office employees to a congresswoman, to end that stalemate, cutting through enough government red tape to get Reus a visa just in time to get him on the field against Atlanta United. And he made all that work pay off, coming off the bench Saturday to assist on one goal and score the other in a 2-0 victory that extended the Galaxy’s modest MLS win streak to three games and extended their lead in the Western Conference standings to five points over LAFC.
The win was the 400th in team history — an MLS first — and the sellout crowd of 25,174 made the Galaxy the first MLS club to draw more than 10 million fans. But afterward the discussion centered on Reus, who completely changed the game when he came on in the 62nd minute.
“He brought class, composure, intelligence, quality. A lot of things,” coach Greg Vanney said. “In a way, he made things look a little bit easy at times.”
“He could be a game-changer, like he was today,” added captain Maya Yoshida. “This could be another level that we needed.”
Reus did his best to deflect the praise.
“It’s not about me, it’s about the team,” he said. “We want to be champions. So we take it game by game.”
Reus, 35, who arrived on a free transfer 10 days ago, needed just 14 minutes to pick up his first MLS assist, setting up a Riqui Puig for the only goal the Galaxy (15-5-7) would need. The sequence started with Reus taking a pass from Gabriel Pec at the top of the penalty area, patiently dribbling across the front of the goal to buy time, then passing back to a rushing Puig, who buried a right-footed shot from 18 yards out.
Nine minutes later he added his first MLS goal, banging in the rebound of his own shot to double the lead.
But none of that happens without a visa.
“We got really lucky,” Galaxy president Will Kuntz said.
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