VANCOUVER, B.C. – Goals from trialist Paulinho Le Petit and Hector Jimenez on either side of halftime gave the LA Galaxy a 2-2 draw with the Vancouver Whitecaps in Reserve League play at Empire Field on Sunday. The Galaxy led 2-0, but a pair of goals from Long Tan in the game’s final 30 minutes gave the Whitecaps a share of the points.
The Galaxy grabbed the game’s first goal in the 31st minute when the Brazilian, a trialist from the NASL’s Fort Lauderdale Strikers, scored his first goal for the club. Miguel Lopez raced onto a poor back pass, forcing Vancouver goalkeeper Jay Nolly to come off his line. Nolly was first to the ball, but his sliding clearance went only as far as Le Petit, who settled the ball before chipping it into the open net from the edge of the area, giving the Galaxy a 1-0 lead.
Almost immediately after the goal, the Whitecaps had their first chances of the game, but Tan headed over from the center of the box.
Paolo Cardozo, Lopez and Jack McBean each had chances in the final 15 minutes of the half, but could not capitalize and the Galaxy went into the half with a 1-0 lead.
They would double that lead just six minutes into the second half with Hector Jimenez scoring his second of the year for the reserves. McBean collected the ball at the top of the box and cut past one defender before clipping the ball into the path of Jimenez, who rounded Nolly and side-footed a shot into the back of the net to make the score 2-0 in favor of the Galaxy.
The home side pulled a goal back on the hour when Ben Fisk, a second half substitute, hit a low cross that went through the box to Tan, whose first time shot beat Brian Perk to make the score 2-1.
Following the Vancouver goal, the Galaxy pushed to restore their two-goal advantage with Cardozo proving to be a constant threat in the center of midfield and Adam Cristman, who replaced Lopez at halftime, blazing a shot over from the top of the box in the 70th minute.
LA were made to pay for that miss as Tan scored his second of the game just a minute later to tie the score at 2-2. Alexandre Morfaw played Tan in behind the Galaxy defense and he hit a low shot just past the dive of Brian Perk and inside his left post for the equalizer.
Le Petit nearly scored his second of the game in the 75th minute, slicing a shot just wide of the right post after pouncing on a giveaway by Vancouver in their own defensive third.
With the draw, the Galaxy are now 1-5-1 on the season for four points, all of which have come against the Whitecaps. The Galaxy won 2-1 when the two sides met at The Home Depot Center last month. LA will be back in action in the Reserve League on Saturday, September 3 when they travel to Portland to face the Timbers.
WATCH: Galaxy vs Whitecaps Match Recap
LA Galaxy (1-5-1) vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC (0-3-2)
July 31, 2011 – Empire Field
Scoring Summary:
LA – Paulinho Le Petit 1 (Unassisted) 31’
LA – Hector Jimenez 2 (Jack McBean 2) 51’
VAN – Long Tan 1 (Ben Fisk 1) 60’
VAN - Long Tan 2 (Alexandre Morfaw) 71’
Misconduct Summary:
VAN – Greg Janicki (Yellow Card) 33’
VAN – Alex Morfaw (Yellow Card) 86’
LA Galaxy – Brian Perk; Bryan Jordan, Dustin McCarty, Dan Keat (Drew Murphy 85’), Ryan Thomas; Chris Birchall (Jeff Payeras 46’), Paolo Cardozo, Hector Jimenez, Paulinho Le Petit; Jack McBean, Miguel Lopez (Adam Cristman 46’).
Subs Not Used: Kevin Guppy, Kyle Davies.
Vancouver Whitecaps FC – Jay Nolly; Wes Knight, Bilal Duckett, Greg Janicki, Russell Teibert (Derrek Bassi 90’); Jeb Brovsky, John Thorrington (Alex Morfaw 21’), Peter Vagenas (Ben Fisk 59’), Michael Nanchoff (Caleb Clarke 77’); Nizar Khalfan, Long Tan.
Subs Not Used: Brian Sylvestre, Phillipe Davies.
