CARSON, Calif. – It was just one of those days for the LA Galaxy.
The offensive juggernaut that scored 43 goals in their last nine games at StubHub Center was missing in action, as the Galaxy played the Montreal Impact to a scoreless draw on a muggy evening at StubHub Center.
Despite boasting a full arsenal of attacking weapons, including returning internationals Robbie Keane and Gyasi Zardes, the Galaxy couldn’t break down an organized Impact defense.
The draw was just the second time that the Galaxy have been shutout at StubHub Center this season, and the first since their 1-0 defeat on June 6 to Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
Given their recent success in front of goal at home what exactly went wrong? Well, according to Galaxy boss Bruce Arena—pretty much everything.
“Bad passing, inability to beat players one-on-one, bad crossing, not aggressive looking at the goal,” said Arena. “Not a good performance in the attacking end of the field.”
Apart from an opportunity in the 43rd minute that saw Keane force a save from Impact goalkeeper Evan Bush after a lovely through-ball by Juninho, the Galaxy attack was rendered ineffective by Montreal. The visitors’ organization disrupted the fluidity of the Galaxy attack, forcing them too often to make poor decisions in the final third.
Given the fact that LA had gone nearly 14 days in between matches, it might not come as a surprise that the Galaxy looked rusty, but according to Keane the bye week was no excuse for the poor showing.
“It was very frustrating; we weren’t at the races tonight. It was a lackluster performance, but full credit to them. They made it hard for us and they defended well, but we certainly weren’t at the races,” Keane said. “You could see that we had a few weeks off. It looked like that. We weren’t as sharp as we usually are, and you could see that in the performance.”
The Galaxy find themselves in third place in the MLS Supporters’ Shield standings, a point behind Vancouver Whitecaps FC and tied on points with FC Dallas with each team holding at least a game in hand. However, despite their position in the table and their second-straight disappointing performance, the team is hardly worried.
“It happens to all of us, but it’s only a couple of games,” Keane said. “I wouldn’t get too worried about it.”
Arena agreed.
“I don’t know how you use two games to determine the state of a team,” Arena said. “We’re 29 games into the season; we have … [the] third most points in the league. I don’t think the roof is caving in on us, we’ll be okay.”
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog at LAGalaxy.com/Insider and contact him at LAGalaxyInsider@Gmail.com.
