CARSON, Calif. – LA Galaxy Insider Adam Serrano provides his Three Things We Learned from the Galaxy’s 4-2 defeat to Seattle Sounders FC.
SOUNDERS MAKES THE WASTEFUL GALAXY PAY
The LA Galaxy opened the scoring on Sunday, but then everything went wrong for Bruce Arena’s men.
The Galaxy dominated the run of play in the first half, but a herculean effort by Sounders ‘keeper Stefan Frei kept the Galaxy at bay and allowed Seattle to stay in the game. The Galaxy could have been up 3-0 in the first 30 minutes but Frei made multiple big saves on Giovani dos Santos.
After Seattle equalized on a Jelle Van Damme own goal, the visitors came alive in the second half due to inspired play by forward Jordan Morris, who notched his first career brace against the Galaxy.
The victory was the Sounders first win at StubHub Center since the 2009 season. A full 2,598 days ago.
LA’S SUPPORTERS’ SHIELD HOPES ON LIFE SUPPORT
Not only did the LA Galaxy fail to clinch a berth in the 2016 MLS Cup Playoffs, but Los Angeles may have seen their Supporters’ Shield hopes go up in smoke against Seattle.
The defeat to the Sounders snapped the Galaxy’s 16-game unbeaten run at StubHub Center and left the Galaxy still five points back of the Dallas. After such a disappointing loss, the Galaxy will need an inspired performance against FCD next week in Frisco to turn their luck around.
Although the Galaxy’s fate is still firmly in their hands, they’ll need to put Sunday behind them to avoid another late-season slide like the one they suffered last year.
ROBBIE KEANE GETS BACK ON THE SCORE SHEET
Perhaps the only silver lining in Sunday’s match was that Robbie Keane once again found the score sheet.
In just his second game back from injury, Keane bagged a brace in the Galaxy’s defeat to Seattle. Aggressive from the get-go, Keane was consistently lurking on the back shoulder of Seattle defender Roman Torres and in the 20th minute, he broke through for his 11th career goal against the Sounders. Keane added his 12th with a late penalty kick goal in the second half.
After declaring that he was ready to shoulder more of the offensive burden for the Galaxy, Bruce Arena will be hopeful that the goal is among the first of many for Keane as the season winds down.
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog atLAGalaxy.com/Insiderand contact him atLAGalaxyInsider@Gmail.com
