CARSON, Calif. – LA Galaxy Insider Adam Serrano provides his Three Things We Learned from the Galaxy’s 3-1 Knockout Round victory over Real Salt Lake.
EMA BOATENG > REAL SALT LAKE
Ema Boateng proved to be a one-man wrecking crew once again against Real Salt Lake.
Boateng notched two impressive goals against Salt Lake to send the Galaxy through to the Western Conference Semifinals against the Colorado Rapids. The most impressive goal came in the 26th minute when he dribbled past Demar Phillips and beat Nick Rimando to put Los Angeles ahead for good. The Ghanaian speed demon now has four goals all-time against the Utahans.
The 22-year-old’s speed proved to be the difference against a defensive-minded Salt Lake squad, and he’ll face a similar test against the Rapids. With Colorado expected to drop into a defensive shell, Boateng’s speed and ingenuity will be one of Bruce Arena’s primary weapons in the Western Conference Semifinal.
ALAN GORDON SHINES IN FIRST CAREER PLAYOFF START
The ole’ vet still has it.
Alan Gordon made his first career postseason start at the ripe old age of 35 in the Galaxy’s runaway victory over Real Salt Lake. One of the Galaxy’s most in-form players at the end of the regular season, Gordon notched his fourth goal in seven games when he opened the scoring by nodding in a Giovani dos Santos header to give the Galaxy an early lead. Gordon’s impact wasn’t purely felt on the score sheet, however, as he proved to be a handful for the Salt Lake defense.
Gordon exited the match in the 51st with what appeared to be a right leg injury and was replaced by Robbie Keane. With Gordon possibly dealing with a knock, the Galaxy will have a choice on whether to start Gordon or Keane in the West Semifinal first leg on Sunday.
LA GALAXY TURN THEIR ATTENTION TO THE COLORADO RAPIDS
With Real Salt Lake vanquished, the LA Galaxy will now take on the Colorado Rapids in the Western Conference Semifinals.
Los Angeles host Colorado in the first leg on Sunday at StubHub Center in what promises to be an exciting contest. The two teams played a trio of cagey matches this season with Colorado defeating the Galaxy in Commerce City on a controversial late goal before the teams took part in a scoreless draw in June at StubHub Center. The two sides drew yet again in August with Giovani dos Santos scoring the lone goal for the Galaxy in a 1-1 draw.
The series will be the first meeting between the two teams in the postseason since the Galaxy eliminated the Colorado Rapids in the Western Conference Final back in 2005. We all know what happened that year.
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog atwww.LAGalaxy.com/Insiderand contact him atLAGalaxyInsider@Gmail.com
