CARSON, Calif. – Robbie Keane has been hobbled with a hamstring strain for several weeks, but during the LA Galaxy’s 5-0 demolition of Real Salt Lake, you’d have no idea that the club’s dynamic Irishman was carrying a knock.
Keane scored his eighth postseason goal in just his 14th playoff appearance in the Galaxy victory while also adding three assists to bring his career total to six since joining LA in 2011. Even though Keane’s ability to exploit the spaces provided by the Salt Lake defense appeared unhindered, the Irishman admitted after the game that he was in less than stellar condition.
“Honestly, I felt awful before the game,” Keane said. “Bad back for the last two days. Bad hamstring. I wasn't feeling great until the game started moving.”
Once the whistle blew, Keane seemed fit as a fiddle as he assisted on two goals by Landon Donovan as well as Marcelo Sarvas’ lone tally to lift the Galaxy to a comfortable result over the visitors.
“We knew we had to get the first goal. In the first ten minutes, we knew we had to get the first goal. Once we got that, they opened up even more and we got the second one early as well. I think for them then the game was over,” said Keane. “They had to go for goal, so obviously there was a lot of space for us to counterattack and defend well. That's the reason we won the game. We showed intensity from the start to the finish.”
Even though Keane is carrying a number of knocks, there will be little time to rest for the Irishman who will join up with the Republic of Ireland for their upcoming Euro 2016 qualifier against Scotland at Celtic Park in Glasgow on Nov. 14 before playing the U.S. National Team four days later in London.
Keane is scheduled to return to the Galaxy prior to their Western Conference Finals first leg against the winner of the Seattle Sounders FC/FC Dallas series.
