CaliSports News

#LAvRSL: LA Galaxy Breaks RSL’s Undefeated Status

Last week the LA Galaxy beat Houston Dynamo 4-1. This week the LA Galaxy beat Real Salt Lake 5-2. RSL went into the game undefeated, but left with their defense struggling.

Juan Manuel “Burrito” Martinez of Real Salt Lake scored the first goal of the game. He headed an early ball past Brian Rowe in the sixteenth minute. Martinez managed to position himself right behind AJ in the right spot for a cross from Luke Mulholland.

Three minutes later, Gyasi Zardes scored the equalizer. Baggio Husidic passed him a nice through ball. Then Zardes dribbled around three players and sunk the ball past Nick Rimando from outside the box!

About ten minutes later, Mike Magee scored the tiebreaker off an excellent cross from Emmanuel Boateng. Boateng then put one of his own in the net (41’)! Tonight was his first ever MLS goal and assist. He played quite well tonight, but he’s had a problem with consistency. Of course, he started instead of Sebastian Lletget who normally starts, but suffered a groin injury in training. Normally, Boateng comes in during the second half. He’s a decent player with a lot of speed—just needs more experience.

Giovanni dos Santos notched the fourth Galaxy goal right before the half. He scored quite the chip over Rimando! Gio has impressed me these past two games. Coming off an injury and a not so good first MLS season, he’s picking up his pressure and playing much better. Yet, one question remains…how will he perform with Robbie Keane back in the lineup? That goes for Zardes too.

Unfortunately, Daniel Steres made another mistake tonight. He pulled down Yura Movsisyan in the box and the ref rightly called a penalty kick. Then, the always-dangerous Javier Morales converted it to a goal.

Robbie Rogers returned to the field after not playing last week due to a hip contusion. He trained all week and sat on the bench in the first half. I’m very happy he returned, but not sure about Bruce’s substitution decision.

Yes, AJ recently returned from an injury, but is it still hindering him? I like Steres. He’s a young, inexperienced player that needs the minutes, but come on. Three consistent mistakes that lead to goals are not good.

Of course, I cannot forget about the best goal of the night! Steven Gerrard showed some of his former Liverpool self tonight. He dropped a Salt Lake player to his knees, then dribbled toward Rimando, and put the ball in the corner. Stevie most definitely has improved from last season.

Jeff Larentowicz made his LA Galaxy debut tonight, so we might see him gain more minutes. I think he will also likely be a super-sub like Alan Gordon, but who knows. He’s still regaining his form.

I’m quite pleased with tonight’s match against Real Salt Lake. The LA Galaxy have definitely improved their passing, goal-scoring creation, and pressure in the midfield. Their chemistry is coming together.

Watch them play Sporting KC next week on May 1 at 5:00pm PT! Will the LA Galaxy continue their winning streak? Or will LA suffer their first away loss of 2016?

Stay with us at Calisportsnews.com as we will keep you up-to-date on all things LA Galaxy and the rest of the LA sports teams! All Cali, all the time!

Page generated in 0.414 seconds. Stats plugin by www.blog.ca