Recap: LA Galaxy vs. FC Dallas, September 27, 2015
- Updated: October 4, 2015
Last Sunday, the LA Galaxy played FC Dallas for the final time in the 2015 MLS Regular Season. After a long drought of goals and wins, Galaxy fans finally received some excitement and joy! The Galaxy had not won a match since August 28 against the San Jose Earthquakes and scored their first goal since it last Wednesday (September 23) in a CONCACAF Champions League match against Central FC.
Starting Lineups and Substitutions
LA Galaxy | FC Dallas | ||||
1 | GK | Donovan Ricketts | 44 | GK | Jesse Gonzalez |
14 | D | Robbie Rogers | 14 | D | Atiba Harris |
22 | D | Leonardo | 17 | D | Zach Loyd |
4 | D | Omar Gonzalez | 24 | D | Matt Hedges |
20 | D | A.J. DeLaGarza | 27 | D | Je-Vaughn Watson |
17 | M | Sebastian Lletget | 21 | M | Michael Barrios |
8 | M | Steven Gerrard | 5 | M | Ezequiel Cirigliano |
19 | M | Juninho | 8 | M | Victor Ulloa |
11 | M | Gyasi Zardes | 11 | M | Fabian Castillo |
10 | F | Giovani dos Santos | 10 | F | Mauro Diaz |
7 | F | Robbie Keane | 13 | F | Tesho Akindele |
12 | GK | Brian Rowe | 18 | GK | Chris Seitz |
33 | D | Dan Gargan | 25 | D | Walker Zimmerman |
3 | M | Mika Vayrynen | 20 | M | Ronaldo Escobar |
25 | M | Rafael Garcia | 23 | M | Kellyn Acosta |
27 | M | Dave Romney | 7 | F | Blas Perez |
9 | F | Alan Gordon | 9 | F | David Texeira |
15 | F | Ignacio Maganto | 12 | F | Ryan Hollingshead |
After that last game against the Earthquakes, the Galaxy have struggled to pick up the remaining pieces of the 2015 season. Yet, they might now be on the right track.
On Sunday, they played much better than usual. Giovani dos Santos scored an early goal in the 11th minute, Robbie Keane followed it up with a goal of his own in the 15th minute. Twenty minutes later, Michael Barrios scored FC Dallas’s first of the match. Luckily, in the 57th minute, Steven Gerrard scored the third Galaxy goal of the night. Dallas pushed through one final run and it ended with a goal from Atiba Harris in the 86th minute.
Thanks to excellent defending, the LA Galaxy won their fourteenth game of the season. Donovan Ricketts made a poor error with Barrios’s goal, but overall, they showed much improvement since the past few games and made fewer mistakes.
Fans, players, Galaxy staff—we all needed this win. This season has largely been frustrating to watch because of all the roster changes (Donovan, Sarvas, Penedo) and the resulting problems during games. I’m happy to see though that things might finally be coming together. We have so many talented players now as compared to last season, but I’m still hesitant about the Galaxy’s chances to win the 2015 MLS Cup. In the Western Conference, the Vancouver Whitecaps is a major team to watch, along with FC Dallas and the Seattle Sounders. Then in the Eastern Conference, we have the New York Red Bulls, the Columbus Crew, DC United, and the New England Revolution.
With only three games left before the playoffs, the Galaxy are in position to go to the playoffs, but it’s possible other teams might overtake them. If they can beat the Seattle Sounders on October 4, the Galaxy will clinch their playoff berth. Right now, they lead the league in the Supports Shield Standings and sit on top of the Western Conference. Yet, Vancouver is only two points behind them.
Be sure to tune to Fox Sports 1 on October 4 at 6:30pm Pacific Time and watch the LA Galaxy play the Seattle Sounders!
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