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LA Galaxy Win in Portland: Keane scores 80th in MLS

@FootyAccums

This week the LA Galaxy played and beat two teams from the Pacific Northwest—the Seattle Sounders a (U.S. Open Cup match) and the Portland Timbers. Last time Portland and LA met on April 10, 2016, they tied and Nigel De Jong injured Darlington Nagbe. The media then vilified him for the tackle and the MLS Disciplinary Committee suspended De Jong for three games. Captain Robbie Keane scored his 80th MLS goal in LA’s win in Portland.

Ashley Cole and Steven Gerrard both left out of the lineup due to injuries. Cole suffered a hamstring injury, and Gerrard has an undisclosed injury from LA’s win against the Houston Dynamo.

De Jong returns today from a red card suspension for a tackle on Vancouver’s Blaz Perez. The Disciplinary Committee then gave him an additional game suspension.

The Timbers and the Galaxy started off the game fairly balanced, but the LA soon took over.

In the 7th minute, Keane scored LA’s first goal of the match. The Portland defense left Jeff Larentowicz wide open near the top of the box. He passed the ball to Giovanni dos Santos who perfectly set up Keane. The Irishman ran up and tapped the ball past Jake Gleeson.

 

Just four minutes later, LA struck again.

 

Dave Romney served an excellent ball to Emmanuel Boateng who sped passed Alvas Powell. Portland left Gyasi Zardes relatively unguarded and he headed Boateng’s pass into the net.

 

Nat Borchers fell awkwardly during a challenge against Robbie Keane. Sadly, the injury forced him to leave the field on a stretcher. Borchers is a fine veteran player and I hate to see anyone suffer an injury.

With first half stats like those, you might say Lady Luck helped the Galaxy. Portland nearly scored several times, but luckily Brian Rowe saved all but one.

In the 41st minute, the Timbers worked the ball within the Galaxy defense. Eventually, they found Zarek Valentin at the top of the box and he drilled a shot past Rowe for Portland’s first goal. It appeared Fanendo Adi and Jelle Van Damme partially blocked Rowe’s line of sight.

 

In the second half’s first twenty minutes, the Portland Timbers stayed dominant despite the score. LA needed much more aggression and possession.

In the 63rd minute, Bruce Arena subbed in Sebastian Lletget for Boateng. He played well, but the Portland defense started to rough him up more. I like Boateng, but he needs a bit more development. Very speed, yet his judgment needs improvement.

Nigel De Jong’s game ended early, and luckily for the Galaxy—without any cards or close calls. Arena subbed Husidic on for De Jong in the 70th minute. I feared De Jong might have another encounter with a Portland player like last time.

In the 89th minute, the referee gifted Portland with a free kick. Lletget miss hit a ball with his arm and the referee called him on it. Fanendo Adi just barely headed the ball wide.

The LA Galaxy earned their first win in Portland since 2012. A lucky win in my opinion considering how much Portland dominated in both halves. I hoped Lletget might help LA score a third goal, but the Portland defense played well in contrast to LA who stayed on the defensive.

Stay tuned for the next LA Galaxy game against the Seattle Sounders on July 31!

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