Recap of June 13, 2015 Match: LA Galaxy vs. Columbus Crew SC

(Photo via Twitter User @LAGalaxy)

On June 13, the LA Galaxy played the Columbus Crew SC and hoped to end their almost year-long spell of failing to win an away match. It will be amazing if the Galaxy made it to the 2015 MLS Cup without winning an away match. The team played without A.J. DeLaGarza, Bradford Jamieson, and Robbie Keane due to their stints with the Guam National Team, the United States National Team, and the Republic of Ireland National Team—respectively.

Starting Lineups and Substitutions

In a surprise switch, Bruce Arena gave Sebastian Lletget his first career Major League Soccer start instead of having Edson Buddle start as originally planned. It turns out that Edson Buddle injured his groin and could not play. This decision played an important role later in the match.

The match should have started at 4:30pm Pacific Time, but a severe storm delayed it by two hours. It finally started around 6:45pm Pacific Time. As seen in the table above, Robbie Rogers and Jose Villarreal both returned to the starting lineup. Rogers had been dealing with an Achilles injury, while Villarreal injured his shoulder in the match against the New England Revolution.

Thirteen minutes into the match, Baggio Husidic started an amazing run! He and Robbie Rogers passed the ball between themselves three times before Rogers dribbled around and through four players. Emanuel Pogatetz and Tony Tchani then sandwiched him and knocked the ball loose right into Sebastian Lletget’s path. Lletget let the ball pass through his legs and to his left foot. With amazing precision and ball curve, he curved the shot around Steve Clark to the near post for his first MLS career goal!

For the rest of the half, the Galaxy outmatched the Crew, even though they failed to score another goal to prove it. They bombarded Clark with shots—5 on target, 4 off target, and 3 blocked shots.

His goal gave the LA Galaxy the lead for the first time in any game since Gyasi Zardes scored in the 27^th minute of the Galaxy’s match against the New England Revolution on May 31, 2015. Unfortunately, this lead only lasted fifty-two minutes.

For much of the game (sixty-five minutes approximately), the Columbus Crew kept the ball with an overall possession percentage of 57% to the Galaxy’s 43%. During the second half, the Galaxy never gained the upper hand.

In the sixty-sixth minute, the Crew finally drew blood against the Galaxy. Leonardo poorly attempted to tackle the ball away from Ethan Finlay, and as you probably guessed, it only caused Finlay to slightly stumble before he passed the ball to the penalty kick spot. Federico Higuain ran pretty much unguarded into the open space and pounded the ball past Omar Gonzalez, Dan Gargan, and Jaime Penedo. Higuain tied the match up at 1-1.

The Crew nearly took the lead with two plays ten minutes apart from Justin Meram, but luckily for the Galaxy, they have Jaime Penedo who protected the goal each time. Overall, the Galaxy could have played better, but the team had a solid match.

Unfortunately, Bradford Jamieson will not be returning to the starting lineup or the bench for quite some time. During a match with the U-20 Men’s United States National Team against Colombia (they won by the way), Jamieson suffered a concussion and the U.S. Soccer medical staff carried him off the field on a stretcher. Send some hopeful and happy thoughts his way because concussions are difficult injuries to suffer.

In the meantime, get ready for some more LA Galaxy action on June 20 when they take on the Philadelphia Union at 7:30pm Pacific Time in the StubHub Center! What will the next match bring? Will the Galaxy start a new at-home winning streak? Will A.J. DeLaGarza return to the starting lineup after injuries and a phenomenal stint with the Guam National Team?

Sebastian Lletget Makes the Most of His Surprise First Start for the LA Galaxy

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!

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