COLOMBUS, Ohio – The LA Galaxy simply can’t buy a win right now.
Los Angeles saw their winless streak extended to 10 games on Wednesday with a 2-0 defeat to Columbus Crew SC at MAPRE Stadium. The contest was a wild, and at times, controversial one as the Galaxy were at the wrong end of three crucial Video Review decisions as referee Stefan Stoica issued a red card to Ashley Cole, called a penalty on Jonathan dos Santos, and overturned a Daniel Steres goal.
Despite all the bad breaks, the Galaxy were in the game throughout thanks to two penalty kick saves by Jon Kempin but again, unable to get a victory.
“If we didn’t have bad luck, we’d have no luck,” head coach Sigi Schmid said after the game. “That’s just where we’re at right now. Every stoppage seems to always go against us.”
Schmid refused to blame the decisions by the Video Assistant Referee for the Galaxy’s third consecutive defeat. After the match, Schmid revealed that midfielder João Pedro confirmed to him at halftime that he touched the Steres shot in the 26th minute that ultimately overturned Los Angeles’ goal.
Columbus eventually capitalized on the man advantage with Ola Kamara and Justin Meram finding the back of the net in the 45th minute and 90th minute respectively, overcoming a herculean effort from Kempin who stopped penalty kicks in each half. Apart from Kempin, the Galaxy struggled as they failed to register a single shot on goal and extended their scoreless streak to 265 minutes.
Amid the struggles that have seen the Galaxy go 0-9-1 in their last games and winless in league play since May, Schmid called upon someone from his squad to step up and take a leadership role.
“For us, it’s a situation of continuing to work on our soccer and playing better soccer,” Schmid said.
“Sometimes, there’s elementary mistakes that we’re making in terms of our marking and I need a few guys to step up and be louder on the field.
“Last year, the team had a great leader in Robbie Keane and right now, there’s a little bit of a void especially down the middle of the field. You need guys to step up and say, ‘I’m in charge here.'"
A full 11 points out playoff positioning with 10 games remaining in the season, the Galaxy’s dreams of reaching the postseason are quickly evaporating. They’ll look to kickstart a rally on Sunday when they host their archrival San Jose Earthquakes in a game needed to turn their fortunes around.
“I can’t say anything else. We just have to go win,” Steres said defiantly. “We keep having things happen to us, and we just have to fight back. We’ll go home, and we’ll fight again.”
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog at LAGalaxy.com/Insider and contact him at LAGalaxyInsider@Gmail.com.