“We’re doing it the right way,” Coach Ben Olsen said. “If he’s okay for the weekend, great. If not, we’ll go without him. But that is a day-to-day situation.”

Nyarko’s departure at halftime forced a lineup adjustment: Forward Fabian Espindola entered the match, bumping Lamar Neagle, the first-half goal scorer, to the right flank. United was overrun by the Galaxy in the second half, though the substitution was not the principal reason.

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Meantime, Espindola did not practice Wednesday because of soreness stemming from a hamstring injury that prevented him from attempting to play 90 minutes at Los Angeles.

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United will play it safe with the 30-year-old forward. “We don’t want to start off the season behind with him,” Olsen said.

The other notable absence Wednesday was midfielder Markus Halsti, who did not travel with the team to California. At the time, the club did not go into specifics, saying only it was Olsen’s decision. On Wednesday, though, United revealed Halsti has a minor MCL knee sprain and will sit out at least a week.

The Finnish national team player, who was behind in fitness at training camp, injured the knee in a late pregame match against Philadelphia. He tried to work through it, making one appearance as a substitute in the two-leg CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals, but was not getting better. It’s unclear whether he will be ready for the home opener against the Colorado Rapids on March 20.

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Halsti, United’s biggest signing in 2015, was hampered by multiple injuries last year and appeared in 14 of 34 league matches (12 starts).

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With Charlie Horton’s acquisition complete — United traded general allocation money to New England last week — United again has three active goalkeepers under contract.

For several weeks, while Bill Hamid was beginning his recovery from knee surgery, Travis Worra backed up Andrew Dykstra and several trialists filtered through training camp.

But when Horton, 21, became available, United worked the deal with the Revolution, which held his discovery rights

Horton trained with United last week, but without any competitive matches since November, he reported to the third-division Richmond Kickers for a pair of friendlies over the weekend.

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Will Horton, a U.S. under-23 national team member formerly with Leeds United in England’s second tier, push Dykstra for the starting job?

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“He is competing right now to be a back-up and we’ll see how it goes,” Olsen said of the 6-foot-4 netminder. “We’re evaluating him every day. He hasn’t had a game in five months. Because of that, he has got to jump Travis at this point.”

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Despite the heavy scoreline against the Galaxy, Olsen said he saw silver linings.

“They turned it up in the second half, for sure. That is what a good team like L.A. does. They made an adjustment with [Mike] Magee coming in and ultimately set pieces let us down [corner kick, free kick, plus a penalty kick]. That is on us as a coaching staff and on individuals to make sure we are seeing out plays. It’s a fixable issue.

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“There was a lot of good. Offensively, some of the movement and some of the chances we got, for an away game, I haven’t seen us have in some time. There are positives. We still let ourselves down and we’ve got to work on the deficiencies, but I like this group.”

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In the locker room after Sunday’s defeat, Olsen fumed to himself and his staff about referee Kevin Stott.

Asked Wednesday to comment on Stott’s performance, Olsen said: “I don’t think he had a good night. A lot of little stuff went their way, but I am not blaming the game on him. They are offside leading up to the corner kick before their first goal. It wasn’t a big impact. You go away to L.A., you are probably not going to get all the little ones. The PK, maybe. I can’t sit here and say, ‘No, it’s not a PK,’ but I have certainly seen those not called. I am certainly not as consumed now after watching the game as I was maybe 75 minutes into that game.”

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Scottish club Heart of Midlothian on Wednesday officially introduced Perry Kitchen, the former United midfielder who became a free agent in January. He signed a 2 1/2-year contract with Hearts, who are locked in third place in the Premiership, 10 points behind Celtic, nine behind Aberdeen and 14 ahead of fourth-place Ross County. Hearts will visit Dundee on Saturday.

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“Perry’s a great talent and one I’m looking forward to working with,” Manager Robbie Neilson told Hearts News. “He’s got a wealth of experience over in the MLS but he wants to test himself in Europe, and I’m delighted that he’s chosen Hearts as the place to further develop himself.