HOUSTON – Giovani dos Santos and Steven Gerrard earned the deserved praise following the LA Galaxy’s 4-1 destruction of the Houston Dynamo on Friday, but one player’s showing could pay just as many positive dividends for the team going forward.
Midfielder Baggio Husidic opened his 2016 account during Friday’s win with his eventual game-winner in the 21st minute of Los Angeles’ victory in the Lone Star State.
The finish was an opportunistic one as Husidic found himself alone in the box after Houston goalkeeper Joe Willis punched away a cross by Giovani dos Santos, with the ball at his feet, the 26-year-old calmly brought down the ball and slotted the winner home.
“The goal, it was coming pretty quick, so once I got it past him I had a few seconds to get to the ball and the ball came down quite nicely, and I put it in,” Husidic recalled. “I just tried to hit it on target and into the ground, so I’ll take it.”
A mainstay in Bruce Arena’s rotation thanks to his utility and work rate, Husidic is hopeful that he’ll be able to regain the scoring touch that aided Los Angeles so significantly during their run to a championship two years ago.
“Yeah, the first goal of the season, so it’s always nice to break the ice a little bit there,” he said. “It was a well-needed goal after we started as bad as you can possibly start a game, so it was good to bang one in real quick and after that to get that lead was a big motivator for us.”
