On the outside looking in as far the playoff picture going into Saturday night’s match against the Vancouver Whitecaps, the Los Angeles Galaxy looked to its youth to carry the night.
With striker Robbie Keane and midfielder Robbie Rogers scratched from the lineup, the Galaxy turned to two players that came out of their youth academies. Strikers Jose Villarreal and Gyasi Zardes turned in big time performances on Saturday night, as Villarreal scored the equalizer and Zardes the game winner in LA’s 2-1 win at the StubHub Center.
“I thought the team played pretty solid throughout the night,” Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena said. “We’re not exactly where we need to be. I’m happy we could hang on tonight and that’s good for the players’ confidence.”
The Galaxy’s win was big, as they vaulted from sixth place in the Western Conference all the way to third in the conference. The Galaxy also find themselves just four points back of Real Salt Lake for first place. More importantly, it, at least for this week, shook off its nasty habit of conceding goals late in the match, something that had befuddled the team in past matches this season.
“You heard a lot of communication, lots of finger-pointing to get guys in position and making sure guys weren’t running out of position,” Galaxy Center Back AJ DeLaGarza said. “We’ve done well over the last month or so, it just those last waning moments that we need to correct.”
Trailing 1-0 well into the first half, the Galaxy (10-8-3, 33 points) pressed and eventually got the equalizer in the 29th minute, albeit with a little bit of controversy attached to it. Juninho sent a free kick inside the 18-yard box, Center Back Omar Gonzalez headed a ball towards goal, Zardes leaped for a header, the ball instead went into the six-yard box and Villarreal tapped a ball past keeper Brandon Knighton into the back net. The goal was at first waived off, as the officials initially ruled that Zardes’ header attempt had made contact with the ball, thus making Villarreal offside. Referee Chris Penso, however consulted with linesman Jermey Hanson on the play, and it was determined that Zardes did mot make contact with the ball prior to Villarreal’s chance, thus the goal stood, much to the objection of the Whitecaps.
“I honestly thought I wasn’t offside,” Villarreal said. “So I was, like, ‘OK, offside, just play on.’ Then I saw the center ref go to the linesman, then there was just like a big controversial play … just happy we got the goal.”
Zardes then put the Galaxy ahead with a spectacular goal in the 57th minute. Zardes chased a long ball sent by Left Back Todd Dunivant all the way to the endline. Vancouver defender Brad Rusin was right behind Zardes, but the striker evaded him with a nifty move, as he flicked a ball past Rusin, forcing him to turn and eventually lose his balance and Zardes finished the highlight play in grand fashion, as he fired the point-blank shot past Knighton into the back net.
“I just tried to be composed when I was in the box,” Zardes said. “I tried to juke him (Rusin) and he slipped, and just work on my technique like my coaches tell me. Just struck the ball and it went in.”
The Whitecaps (9-6-5, 32 points) struck in the 19th minute. Defender Lee Young-Pyo sent a ball long towards striker Kenny Miller, who touched a ball forward and striker Camilo de Silva Sanvezzo timed his run perfectly. Camilo sprinted for the penalty area unmarked, then sent his shot past Galaxy keeper Carlo Cudicini at the far post area to put Vancouver in front.
Vancouver didn’t get many more shots at goal until late in the second half when it was chasing the match. Striker Kekuta Manneh pounced on a poorly played LA ball in the 73rd minute and sprinted for a counterattack. Manneh played a ball perfectly for Miller inside the 18-yard box, but Miller’s chance was turned back by Cudicini. The Galaxy got one more big defensive play in the 86th minute, and it came from DeLaGarza, as Manneh found an overlapping Jordan Harvey in the box, but DeLaGarza’s sliding challenge dispossessed Harvey and the ball was eventually cleared out of the box.
“We were a little more clever tonight,” Dunivant said. “We were a little more smarter in killing off the game and really limiting their chances and the last four matches went by a lot quicker.”
The Galaxy’s next match will be at Colorado against the Rapids on Saturday while Vancouver will host the Philadelphia Union, also on Saturday.
Recent Comments