CARSON, Calif. – LA Galaxy Insider Adam Serrano provides his Three Things We Learned from the Galaxy’s scoreless draw with FC Dallas.
ROTATED LINEUP SHUTS OUT LEAGUE-LEADERS FC DALLAS
A heavily rotated LA Galaxy squad held their own on Sunday against league leaders FC Dallas.
With the Galaxy’s seeding decided, Bruce Arena opted to rest Ashley Cole, Giovani dos Santos, Steven Gerrard, and Robbie Keane. The lack of big-name stars didn’t hurt Galaxy defensively as LA gave the eventual Supporters’ Shield winners a run for their money throughout a cagey affair at StubHub Center.
Not only did the Galaxy’s mix of veterans and youngsters need to play without some of their biggest stars, but they were forced to preserve the draw—the team’s 16th of the season—with 10 men after Jeff Larentowicz went down with a head injury in the closing minutes.
LANDON DONOVAN GOES 90 MINUTES AHEAD OF PLAYOFFS
Landon Donovan went 90 minutes for this time since ending his retirement in the Galaxy’s draw with FC Dallas.
In just his second start since returning last month, Donovan was forced to carry the offensive load for a young Galaxy team that was pushed to the limit by Dallas. For all the Galaxy’s offensive struggles, Donovan nearly put the Galaxy ahead in the 58th minute when he nodded a Raul Mendiola cross just wide.
Donovan has stated for the last two weeks that he’s back to full speed and after Sunday’s match, Bruce Arena will have to make a decision about whether to keep the 34-year-old in the starting lineup when the Galaxy’s postseason campaign begins later this week.
GALAXY TO HOST REAL SALT LAKE IN MLS CUP KNOCKOUT ROUND GAME
The LA Galaxy will begin their campaign for a sixth MLS Cup against Real Salt Lake.
By virtue of RSL’s defeat to Seattle Sounders FC and the Portland Timbers’ stunning collapse against the Vancouver Whitecaps, the Galaxy will host Salt Lake on either Wednesday or Thursday next week in the MLS Cup Knockout Round Game. Los Angeles won the season series with Salt Lake with a win and a draw over the Utah-based club.
The two teams are quite familiar with one another having met each other six times in MLS Cup Playoffs competition.
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog atwww.LAGalaxy.com/Insiderand contact him atLAGalaxyInsider@Gmail.com
