CARSON, Calif. – The LA Galaxy sent a message to MLS on Saturday night with their decisive 2-0 victory over Vancouver Whitecaps FC: The early season doldrums are a thing of the past as the team that won the 2011 MLS Cup title has seemingly returned.
Saturday’s victory over the Whitecaps extended LA’s unbeaten streak to six games in all competitions—the club’s longest of the season—four of which have been shutouts. Following LA’s victory, the consensus in the Galaxy locker room is that the club is playing their best soccer of the season.
READ: Galaxy defense back at its best form in LA's latest win
“I think so. Consistently winning games, we haven’t done that really this year until now, so yeah, I guess it dates back to last year,” defender Omar Gonzalez told reporters after the match. “We just have to keep it going, keep on playing well and just make a good run.”
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With the combination of a sturdy defense and an in-form attack, LA has rocketed up the Western Conference standings in recent weeks. Currently, the Galaxy sit in fourth place, but are within reaching distance of third place Seattle, who are just one point ahead of LA and second place Real Salt Lake, who are three points ahead of the Galaxy. Both of those teams will visit The Home Depot Center next month. SCHEDULE
This run of form has carried over to CONCACAF Champions League play as the Galaxy are currently 2-0-0 in Group 5 play with two comprehensive victories over El Salvador’s Isidro Metapán and the Puerto Rico Islanders.
“In the league we’re 13-11-4 and we were 3-8-2 at one point. If you do the math, that’s pretty good, so we’ve been in real good form over the last couple of months,” head coach Bruce Arena told reporters after the match. “We’re positioned now to move up the ladder in the conference standings as well as a good position to move through the Champions League. So we’ve got a lot of work to do, we can play better, we know that and hopefully we’ll show that in September, October and November.”
Now, the Galaxy head into a two week international break with their next match not coming until September 14th against the Colorado Rapids. Although some may worry about the break cooling LA’s recent hot streak, the Galaxy believe that the rest will only boost the club’s performance down the stretch run.
“I think is actually going to be good for us, I think we need it,” said Arena. “I think we’re going to have two reserve games during the break, which is a real plus as well. I think it comes at a good time for us. We’ll be fine by the time September 14th comes around.”RESERVE LEAGUE SCHEDULE
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog at LAGalaxy.com/Insider
