TORREÓN, Coah. – The LA Galaxy saw their hopes of CONCACAF Champions League glory go up in smoke after a 4-0 defeat to Santos Laguna at Estadio Corona in Torreón on Tuesday.
Martin Bravo notched a brace while Ulises Davila and Djaniny also found the back of the net for the Guerreros. Santos will now take on the winner of the Club América and Seattle Sounders FC series in the CONCACAF Champions League semifinals.
“Clearly, Santos was the better team tonight,” Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena said. “They started in an aggressive fashion; they were technically better than us and fitter. At this time of the year, they’re just a better team than we are.”
After a hectic opening 15 minutes, Santos Laguna struck first blood in the 19th minute when Martin Bravo was able to clean up a Jelle Van Damme clearance off the line for the opening goal. Ulises Davila doubled the Guerreros’ lead just minutes later when his shot deflected off a defender and sailed over Dan Kennedy.
Los Angeles nearly cut the lead to one shortly after, but Giovani dos Santos saw his close-range header stopped by a one-handed save by Agustín Marchesín. The save was crucial as the home side added to their lead shortly after when Djaniny scored off a set piece to give Santos their third.
Down three to start the second half, Bruce Arena’s squad desperately tried to claw back into the game only to concede Bravo’s second of the evening in the 61st minute.
“Sometimes it’s hard to explain. We just got beat on corners and counterattacks. We put ourselves under pressure,” A.J. DeLaGarza told LAGalaxy.com. “There were times that we weren’t stepping to anybody, and it was just way too easy at times. We did better in the second half…but guys were dead to that after the last 25 minutes. It’s hard to do that for 90 minutes. We’ve got to be smart and not do that after we’re losing 3-0.”
Their participation in CCL complete, the Galaxy now turn their focus to the start of the MLS regular season which begins on Sunday at StubHub Center against D.C. United. Although LA’s participation in the CCL ended on a sour note, the Galaxy have high hopes for the season.
“This was a rude awakening,” said A.J. DeLaGarza. “We’ll see what we’re made of on Sunday.”
Added goalkeeper Dan Kennedy, “We’ll address what went wrong in this result, but we’re very disappointed to be out of the tournament. When you have a bad result, it’s best to get right back to it. We face D.C. in our home opener on the weekend; now we just have to get going.”
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog at LAGalaxy.com/Insider and contact him at LAGalaxyInsider@Gmail.com
