Swimming in Utah: LA Galaxy’s Loss to Real Salt Lake
- Updated: September 25, 2015
Well, I hope this pattern veers in the right direction soon. When the LA Galaxy played Real Salt Lake on September 19, 2015, they failed to score a goal and produce a win. In fact, they have not scored nor won since their stunning 5-1 win on August 23 against New York City FC.
Starting Lineups and Substitutions
| LA Galaxy | Real Salt Lake | ||||
| 1 | GK | Donovan Ricketts | 18 | GK | Nick Rimando |
| 14 | D | Robbie Rogers | 7 | D | Jordan Allen |
| 22 | D | Leonardo | 4 | D | Jamison Olave |
| 4 | D | Omar Gonzalez | 21 | D | Aaron Maund |
| 20 | D | A.J. DeLaGarza | 2 | D | Tony Beltran |
| 17 | M | Sebastian Lletget | 19 | M | Luke Mulholland |
| 8 | M | Steven Gerrard | 5 | M | Kyle Beckerman |
| 19 | M | Juninho | 22 | M | Juan Manuel Martinez |
| 11 | M | Gyasi Zardes | 11 | M | Javier Morales |
| 10 | F | Giovani dos Santos | 8 | M | Joao Plata |
| 7 | F | Robbie Keane | 49 | F | Devon Sandoval |
| 12 | GK | Brian Rowe | 24 | GK | Jeff Attinella |
| 33 | D | Dan Gargan | 29 | D | Abdoulie Mansally |
| 9 | D | Alan Gordon | 12 | D | Elias Vasquez |
| 27 | D | Dave Romney | 27 | M | John Sertzer |
| 3 | M | Mika Vayrynen | 13 | M | Olmes Garcia |
| 6 | M | Baggio Husidic | 16 | M | Pecka |
| 16 | F | Edson Buddle | 23 | F | Sebastian Jaime |
This 2015 regular season has teemed with tension, struggles, and all around mishaps. Saturday resulted in another road loss—a recurring problem for the Galaxy. They have lost 8 games away from the StubHub Center, compared to only one loss at home. What do the Galaxy need to do in order to play better on the road?
My answer—I honestly do not know, but for sure, they have much room for improvement.
I’ve repeated myself dozens of times this season—the Galaxy’s defense must work harder and efficiently. The defense consistently breaks down when faced in the box. Omar Gonzalez watched the ball be played into the box and then stood still as Devon Sandoval scored the first goal for Real Salt Lake. Then, Juninho poorly tackled Juan Manuel Martinez inside the box, and the referee awarded RSL a penalty kick, which Javier Morales scored. On the third goal, Sebastian Lletget and Robbie Rogers both were caught watching—like Omar—and left Sandoval unmarked to head the ball past Donovan Ricketts.
Offensively the Galaxy played moderately well in the first half, but had difficulty making many chances in the second. The chances they took, however, Nick Rimando easily saved. He’s an exceptional goalkeeper (and I wish he earned more playing time with the USMNT). The Salt Lake defense also performed a good job of preventing the Galaxy midfield and forwards from creating many opportunities to score.
Overall, fans watched quite a poor match from the LA Galaxy, but a superb job by Real Salt Lake. LA’s next game will be against FC Dallas—a team that usually gives us trouble. It’s at the StubHub Center, so hopefully the Galaxy will have a better home game than they did against Didier Drogba and the Montreal Impact. Tune in on Sunday, September 27 at 6:30 Pacific Time to watch the LA Galaxy vs. FC Dallas match on Fox Sports 1!
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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