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LA Galaxy break down Houston Dynamo, win 1-0 at StubHub Center

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With the same starting lineup for two consecutive games, the first time all season, the LA Galaxy grinded out a 1-0 win at the StubHub Center over the struggling Houston Dynamo.

The Dynamo came into the match having not won an away match in their last 18 attempts dating back to July 10, 2015. The misery for the visitors continued.

The Galaxy earned an early penalty kick after Robbie Keane chipped a shot at goal in the seventh minute, but his attempt clipped the arm of a sliding David Hurst. Keane stepped up to take the penalty, but it went wrong for the captain.

Keane watched as his penalty attempt soared wide to Joe Willis’ left post as no damage was done. Keane had converted his last six penalties for LA but the miss adjusted his penalty kick record in MLS regular season play to 13 for 18. Willis dove the correct way but did not have to do anything more to deny Keane and the Galaxy the early lead.

Houston did not provide much attacking threat in the early parts of the game. Following the penalty kick miss from Keane, neither side found the right tempo, but the Galaxy did retain a bulk of the possession.  

The first yellow card of the evening arrived in the 24th minute after Collen Warner brought down Steven Gerrard as the midfielder dribbled through the center of the park. The former Liverpool captain swung in a cross from the free kick but Willis never faced much threat as the Dynamo cleared it away.

The Dynamo had some chances of their own but Brian Rowe did not need to break much of a sweat. The Galaxy saw many chances too as shots from Gyasi Zardes, Giovani Dos Santos and Keane all failed to find the back of the net in the first half.

It was scoreless at the half and both teams needed a spark to put them over the finish line in the second half.

Houston had the first decent chance of the second half after a free kick from the left flank of the 18-yard box that turned into a corner kick. The Dynamo was unable to score on the attack but showed promise for later.

The Dynamo came close through Giles Barnes before and after Boniek Garcia was subbed out for Christián Maidana, but the striker elected to use the outside of his right foot on both shots and could not find the net behind Rowe.

Jeff Larentowicz, who had committed a sum of fouls throughout the evening, was booked in the 64th minute after dragging down an onrushing attacker. In the 65th, the Galaxy came agonizingly close as a cross came in from Dos Santos on the right that Keane struggled to header but had a second effort with his right foot sky over the crossbar.

The breakthrough came for the Galaxy in the 66th minute when Keane broke free one-on-one with Willis after a great ball from Baggio Husidic. The Republic of Ireland international tried to tap a shot through the legs of the keeper but the rebound fell to a trailing Gerrard, who slotted home the opening goal.

Rowe even brought out some razzle and dazzle in the 73rd minute when the goalkeeper was put under pressure by Houston’s Barnes. The confidence from the former UCLA shotstopper is only increasing every match he starts.

Keane thought he had doubled LA’s lead but the striker was wrongfully called offside in the 77th minute as the Dynamo escaped. Gerrard was replaced by Mike Magee to try to see out the game.

The Dynamo used all three of its substitutes bringing on Erik Torres to attempt to rescue some points for the team from Texas. LA then pulled Dos Santos in the 89th minute to bring on Sebastian Lletget to cause havoc in the midfield for what was left of the game.

LA came close to finishing off the match in style as Lletget streaked down the left side to the byline and tried to find a wide open Keane in the box but could not find the forward.

The LA Galaxy calmly saw out the end of the three minutes of stoppage time to earn a deserved three points. LA takes on the Seattle Sounders on Wednesday July 20 in Carson in the US Open Cup quarterfinal.

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