PORTLAND, Ore. – Before every road game, LA Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena gives his squad one simple command.
“Win ugly.”
And that is just what the LA Galaxy did on Saturday as the visitors bagged two early goals and then held on to earn a 2-1 win over the Portland Timbers at Providence Park. Robbie Keane and Gyasi Zardes scored in the opening 11 minutes before a Zarek Valentin goal just before the end of the first half put the Galaxy on the back heel for the rest of the match.
In past seasons, goals like the one Portland scored in late stages of the first half proved to be the Galaxy’s undoing, but on Saturday, Los Angeles showed off their new hard-nosed attitude.
“We knew that it was going to be a little ugly and the field got tough to play on,” Arena said. “Give them credit; they pressed, and our biggest mistake was giving up that goal at the end of the first half. We could have been in a position to, not sail through that game, but handle it a little bit better.”
Added Zardes, “It was an ugly win. Bruce always preaches to win ugly, and we did that today.”
The performance was anything but pretty aside from an 11-minute stretch when the Galaxy played some of their best soccer during an already dominant month of July. Thanks to some impressive buildup, the Galaxy put the Timbers down early with Keane and Zardes scoring in quick succession.
Valentin’s goal in the closing minutes of the first half changed the complexion of the game heading into the final 45 minutes. In the second half, it was the Timbers who dominated as they repeatedly pressed the Galaxy. The goal never came, however, as the Galaxy defense stayed resolute to earn all three points.
“It wasn’t a pretty second half. They kept coming and kept putting pressure on us,” midfielder Nigel de Jong said. “As a team, we defended pretty well. At the end of the day, the only thing that matters is bringing home the three points, especially when you’re leading in a place like [Portland].
“We learned from our mistakes at the beginning of the season, but we’re going to continue to keep progressing.”
After Saturday, the Galaxy have now earned seven out of a possible nine points in their last three matches away from StubHub Center.
With the Galaxy quickly turning closing out games into a science, Keane says the most important thing to do now is to keep it up.
“We can’t dwell on victories,” Keane said. “We have to carry on and continue to the next game. We have to repeat the same performances. We just need to keep being consistent.”
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog atLAGalaxy.com/Insiderand contact him atLAGalaxyInsider@gmail.com