FRISCO, Texas – LA Galaxy Insider Adam Serrano offers his Three Points to the LA Galaxy’s 1-0 defeat to FC Dallas on Saturday night at FC Dallas Stadium.
RED CARD KILLS GALAXY PUSH FORWARD
WATCH: Leonardo receives red card
Following a drab first half, the LA Galaxy were knocking on the door with two chances early in the second half, but LA’s attacking mindset took a major blow after a red card was issued to Leonardo in the 60th minute of play. LA would earn a penalty kick of their own eight minutes later, with Raul Fernandez denying Landon Donovan, but their chances from the run of play fell off almost completely.
Ultimately, rather than push for a go-ahead goal, the Galaxy were forced to make a pair of defensive-minded substitutions as Arena opted to remove Jack McBean and Marcelo Sarvas in favor of Tommy Meyer and Rafael Garcia. LA’s defensive shell held—even creating several opportunities on the counter attack—but in the 87th minute, FC Dallas defender George John headed in the rebound of a Michel corner kick to give FC Dallas a 1-0 victory. LA threw numbers forward following the goal including playing Omar Gonzalez as a target striker, but could not find a late equalizer.
The Leonardo red card could play have huge repercussions for the Brazilian defender’s place in the starting XI as Tommy Meyer was solid in his first match since the preseason and will likely have a starting role against Sporting Kansas City next weekend with Leonardo suspended.
TWO HUGE PENALTY KICK SAVES PROVIDE DRAMA
WATCH: Cudicini saves PK
It’s not often that a game contains a penalty kick save, let alone two, but there was drama on high in the LA Galaxy’s 1-0 defeat to FC Dallas.
The first penalty call came in the 60th minute when referee Baldomero Toledo whistled Galaxy center back Leonardo for hindering the scoring opportunity of Blas Perez, leading to the Brazilian’s ejection.
Kenny Cooper stepped up to take the penalty, but Carlo Cudicini dove to his right to stop the penalty, which was subsequently cleared for a corner. The save was the first by a Galaxy ‘keeper since April 21, 2012 when Josh Saunders saved an Omar Cummings penalty to preserve a 2-1 LA win in Colorado.
Eight minutes later, the Galaxy had an opportunity of their own from the penalty spot when Jose Villarreal was brought down by George John inside the box. Landon Donovan stepped up to take the penalty, but he too went to the right, only to see his shot saved by FCD ‘keeper Raul Fernandez. A miss from the penalty spot is a rarity for Donovan, who is now 34 for 38 all time in MLS regular season and postseason play and he had not missed a regular season penalty since the 2011 season.
COCHRANE MAKES HIS MLS DEBUT IN LOSS
A knock suffered against Monterrey forced Todd Dunivant from the Galaxy’s game day roster on Saturday, allowing rookie Greg Cochrane to make his professional debut.
The rookie from Louisville was dealt a difficult task as he was matched up against FCD’s dynamic Brazilian winger Jackson, but did not appear to shrink from the challenge as he was able to neutralize the attacker for much of the game. Cochrane also provided a spark on the offense side as he sent in several dangerous crosses while also forcing a save from Raul Fernandez in the 59th minute of play. However, his best moment came in the 61st minute when following Carlo Cudicini’s penalty kick save, he made a last gasp clearance to prevent a rebound shot.
Cochrane has already drawn rave reviews from coaches and teammates for his poise on the training field and after a solid performance against Dallas, the rookie should continue to be a part of the club’s rotation in the future.
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog at LAGalaxy.com/Insider and contact him at LAGalaxyInsider@Gmail.com
