PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad – It wasn’t pretty down in Trinidad and Tobago, but the LA Galaxy got the job done. Barely.
Alan Gordon scored in the 83rd minute to give the Galaxy a 1-1 draw against Central FC at a sweltering Hasley Crawford Stadium. The draw gives the Galaxy the point needed to clinch Group D and book their ticket to the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions League.
LA went down just three minutes into the match when Willis Plaza slipped through the defense and beat goalkeeper Brian Rowe to give the hosts the lead. The goal put the Galaxy in an early hole that they struggled to get out of until Gordon found the back of the net to give LA the point needed to advance in the competition.
“It’s not the performance that we wanted, and it certainly wasn’t pretty but we’ve said all along that we’d rather have the results then play pretty at times,” Alan Gordon told LAGalaxy.com. “This was certainly one of those times, and we’re thrilled to be taking this team in the knockout stages.”
After Plaza’s goal, the Galaxy were forced into a dogfight with a Central FC team that sought to outwork the Galaxy in the oppressive Port-of-Spain humidity. When the Galaxy did get through the defense, Central FC goalkeeper Jan Michael Williams was there to keep LA off the board making several clutch saves to keep the Couva Sharks ahead.
It wasn’t until the introduction of substitutes Raul Mendiola and Jose Villarreal that the Galaxy found their way around Williams and the stout Central defense. LA’s goal came in the final 10 minutes when Mendiola cleverly found Gordon for the equalizer.
“Our subs came in and made a difference,” Gordon said. “We fought hard to come back in this game. It wasn’t easy, but it was a good character win. … It was really difficult. We dug ourselves a nice hole a few minutes into the game, but there’s a lot to be said for how we fought back. There were a lot of guys that fought real hard.”
The Galaxy return to CONCACAF Champions League play in October when they travel down to Guatemala for their final group stage match. Despite the fact LA have the group sewed up, the match in Central America is critically important for the club, as they look to improve their seeding for next year’s quarterfinals.
“We got the point that we needed to win the group,” said Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena. “It’s nice to know that we’re in the competition next year. We look forward to our next match, and hopefully we can do well to improve our position in the seeding.”
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog at LAGalaxy.com/Insider and contact him at LAGalaxyInsider@Gmail.com
