SEATTLE – Just a month ago, the LA Galaxy were plagued by late game collapses, but during Saturday’s 1-0 road win over Seattle Sounders FC, Bruce Arena’s men showed that they might have put their defensive troubles behind them.
After Robbie Keane’s goal put Los Angeles ahead 15 minutes in, the Galaxy’s defense was resolute as they kept Seattle off the board. The shutout was the team’s third consecutive clean sheet across all competitions and their fifth total in league play this season.
The performance was hardly pretty, but after struggling to shut down teams during the first half of the season, the shutout was a sign that the Galaxy’s defense has turned the corner.
“We’re learning. We lost points in maybe three or four games this year in similar games on the road,” Galaxy boss Bruce Arena said after the game. “It’s good to see we’re growing and understanding what we need to do to close out games. We did it a week ago in the Open Cup in Portland, and we’re beginning to do that now.
“It’s three clean sheets in a row – two league games and one Open Cup game – so that’s good.”
Although Seattle dominated possession and outshot the Galaxy by a whopping 22 to seven, the visitors’ defense remained stout, blocking nine Seattle shot attempts. Whether it was Jelle Van Damme winning ball after ball in the air or Brian Rowe coming up with clutch saves, the Galaxy needed a team effort to keep the Sounders off the board.
No play better epitomized the Galaxy’s gritty performance than A.J. DeLaGarza’s heads up block off the line on a Jordan Morris shot inside the penalty area in the 53rd minute. After Morris slipped by DeLaGarza and then Rowe, the Galaxy’s veteran outside back threw his body in front of the rookie’s shot to stop a sure goal.
“It was a great ball in and I think if that’s grass, that kind of skips by, but it hit the turf and bounced straight up and hit off his shin right into his path,” DeLaGarza recalled. “At that point, I just tried to cover B-Rowe and hoped he could make a play, so I didn’t have to. Luckily he hit it kind of close to me, and I was able to just reach out and poke it away.”
“I think after he hit it, I saw it was going right at AJ [DeLaGarza], so I was just hoping he would be able to make a play,” Brian Rowe added. “So, I definitely owe him a beer tonight.”
With the second half of the season looming, the Galaxy are determined to prove that their showing in Seattle is not an aberration.
“I think it is important that when you put in a performance like we did today, you continue to carry on and not rest on your laurels,” Keane said. “That’s something we certainly look at, and we can continue to defend and play the way we do. We always have other players in the team that can score goals, and that was the case today.”
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog atLAGalaxy.com/Insiderand contact him atLAGalaxyInsider@Gmail.com
