CARSON, Calif. – The LA Galaxy got a much-needed win on Friday with a dominant 2-0 victory over the Montreal Impact.
Romain Alessandrini scored his third goal in two matches, and Jermaine Jones added one of his own as the Galaxy outplayed an Impact squad that was reduced to 10-men for 47 minutes after Marco Donadel’s first-half red card.
The performance sealed the Galaxy’s first home win of the 2017 campaign as well as their first shutout. The Galaxy were all smiles following the confidence-building performance.
“It was great. There’s no two ways about it. Obviously, it feels good. It’s a win,” head coach Curt Onalfo told reporters. “The guys deserved it and getting the shutout was important especially given what happened last week.”
After a disappointing defeat in Vancouver a week earlier, the Galaxy’s star players responded as Alessandrini once again provided a spark as he hassled the Montreal defense throughout the 90 minutes. Meanwhile, Jones bossed the midfield and made a 40-yard run to open his account for the team.
The Galaxy also got strong showings from the likes of Nathan Smith at right back and Ema Boateng, who once again proved to be an pest along the flank.
“I thought we worked extremely hard; I thought we moved the ball well. I thought we were dangerous the entire game and that’s two games in a row where I feel like we were dangerous going forward. Those are positive signs,” said Onalfo. “Nothing comes easy, and we just have to keep improving and keep getting better and keep building on this and the momentum that we just gained from this win.”
Added Jones, “I think we controlled the game pretty good, but I still think we had some lapses in the game sometimes where we almost brought them back. But like I said, we had to get cleaner… I think we’re all happy now with the three points.”
As elated as the Galaxy were after Friday’s victory, the team understand that they’ll have to put their win behind them quickly as they turn their attention to next week’s cross-country trip to take on Orlando City SC.
“We need to work hard and focus on the next game,” Alessandrini said. “We need to forget this night. It’s in the past, and now we focus solely on Orlando.”
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog at www.LAGalaxy.com/Insider and contact him at LAGalaxyInsider@Gmail.com.
