SAN JOSE, Calif. – The LA Galaxy booked their ticket to the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals for the first time since 2011 thanks to well-taken goal by Jose Villarreal and a gritty performance by a youth-laden lineup that lifted LA to a 1-0 win over the San Jose Earthquakes on Wednesday.
Thanks to the play of youngsters like Villarreal, Nacho Maganto and Raul Mendiola, the Galaxy got a bit of revenge after their defeat to the Earthquakes just days earlier. Whereas LA’s veterans looked gassed in the closing stages of the weekend defeat, there was plenty of pep and enthusiasm from the young guns against the Earthquakes at Avaya Stadium.
Feisty from the get-go, the Galaxy needed just one goal to seal the victory as Kenney Walker delivered a splendid long-ball to Villarreal who took a perfect first touch and easily placed his shot into the San Jose net.
“The defender was too busy with [Alan] Gordon who was holding the ball. I did the looping run behind the defender, and Kenney put in a great ball. I just did the rest,” Villarreal said.
Down a goal, San Jose threw numbers forward in search of an equalizer but due to an organized Galaxy defense led by a veteran core that included Leonardo and A.J. DeLaGarza, the Earthquakes could not get on the score sheet. When the Earthquakes did have looks on goal, goalkeeper Brian Rowe was up to the task as the 26-year-old made three saves to preserve the shutout.
“Being up a goal in the second half, you just have to not concede and show a bit of grit. I think that all of our guys did a great job in battening down the hatches and making sure that we kept the zero,” Rowe said. “All these guys are trying to prove their places and get into the starting XI for the first team. They’re all hungry and they’ll fight to win.”
Added Alan Gordon who captained the Galaxy for the first time in his career, “We had a tremendous amount of fight. Everyone was eager and hungry to be there. We stuck with each other for a whole 90 minutes which was just great. Everyone gave a great effort for the team and knew what their role was.”
With six games remaining on the Galaxy’s docket for the month of July—including their Open Cup quarterfinal against Real Salt Lake— the team’s youngsters should have every opportunity to carve out minutes in Arena’s lineup.
“We have to prove to Bruce that we can do it,” Villarreal said. We just have to compete out there, and show that we’re young guys and we’re going to fight till the end.”
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog at LAGalaxy.com/Insider and contact him at LAGalaxyInsider@Gmail.com.
