CARSON – Without their captain, Robbie Keane, the struggling LA Galaxy could have wilted under the pressure of playing their Pacific Northwest rivals. Instead, they rose to the challenge and defeated Seattle 1-0 for their first win since Opening Day of the MLS season on March 6th.
Keane watched his team from a suite alongside former Galaxy star and soccer legend, David Beckham. With a sold-out crowd and soccer royalty in attendance, the Galaxy dominated possession and shots on goal in the victory.
“I thought we had more clean-cut chances,” said Sounders head coach Sigi Schmidt, after the match. “Their goalie made a ton of saves and I don’t think based on our performance we deserved to lose. I thought we were good if not better than they were.”
Alan Gordon scored in the 23rd minute on a rare double-header play that had the fans at StubHub Center jumping out of their seats. Brazlian midfielder, Juninho, sent a ball into the box off of a set piece that Omar Gonzalez headed from outside the six-yard box to Gordon who headed it into the top right corner of the net.
“Alan Gordon was a real man today,” added head coach Bruce Arena. “He got the winning goal and played strong for the entire 90 minutes. He played quite well today.”
Jamie Penedo was spectacular in goal for the Galaxy. The Panamanian keeper was under attack all night and made 10 tremendous saves while keeping a clean sheet.
“It was a very important game for us,” said Penedo through a translator. “There’s always three or four games in a season you mark on the calendar and this was one of them. It happened to come early in the season and I’m glad we got the result.”
Gordon’s lone goal proved to be the only scoring in the game as the reigning Western Conference foes squared off in a thriller.
“I was excited before the game, this was a big game for us,” said Gordon. “That’s why Bruce [Arena] brought me here, when guys are out, I’m called upon to step in and do a good job.”
Keane missed the match with an unreported groin injury that he apparently suffered in the Galaxy’s 2-0 loss to Vancouver last week.
Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena went with a new formation out of necessity. Gordon was the lone striker up front as the reigning MLS Cup Champions a 4-3-2-1 formation for most of the game.
Rafael Garcia made a surprising start in the midfield for LA. Garcia has not started since June of 2013, but played well in his first full 90 minutes of action in quite some time.
“He [Garcia] put in an excellent shift today,” said Arena. “He played a very good 90 minutes.”
There was a notable lack of star power on both sides of the pitch as the Galaxy played without Keane, Mika Vayrynen, Jose Villarreal, and Leonardo. Meanwhile, Sounders star, and USMNT captain, Clint Dempsey, missed the match with a hamstring injury.
Game Notes:
The LA Galaxy increased their unbeaten streak at home to 25 games with the win.
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