Gyasi Zardes had a goal and two assists in the Galaxy’s 5-1 win over Philadelphia on Saturday
By Ivan Yeo
It’s that time in the MLS season again.
It’s that time when the Los Angeles Galaxy start to emerge from its early season shell and begin to blossom into an MLS powerhouse. Just three days after routing PSA Elite to advance in the U.S. Open Cup, the Galaxy took another step towards making another second half run in MLS on Saturday against the Philadelphia Union. LA kept the pressure on Philly throughout the match, scoring twice in the first half and three more times in the second half en route to a 5-1 win over the Union.
“I think the score does not indicate the game correctly,” Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena said. “I don’t think we were as dominate as the score would indicate. We were pretty sloppy in the game, but having said that, we finished some great goals.”
The win moves the Galaxy into a playoff position, where they are tied with the Portland Timbers for third in the Western Conference heading into its match with Portland on Wednesday at StubHub Center. The Galaxy (6-5-7, 25 points) are also one-point ahead of Sporting Kansas City, though that could change depending on SKC’s match with Real Salt Lake.
“We started slow, we didn’t convince but then we scored goals and that’s the most important thing, when you go out there and score goals,” Juninho said. “That made our team have more confidence and I think that’s the key.”
After a brief scare by the Union early in the first half, the Galaxy got things rolling starting in the 23rd minute. Stefan Ishizaki played a ball to Gyasi Zardes, who sprinted forward. Zardes played a ball to Baggio Husidic, he promptly played it back to Zardes, who then fired for the back post. The ball however hit off said far post, but Husidic got to the ball and fired a rebound shot into the back net to start the scoring for Los Angeles.
Goal number two came in the 35th minute, as Husidic sent Zardes from the left side, Zardes crossed into the penalty area and Juninho came into the box, took a touch and fired a ball past keeper Brian Sylvestre at the near post to make it a two goal game.
“I think we had a very good lineup in there with the amount of experience similar to last year,” Galaxy midfielder Baggio Husidic said. “I thought we played really well. We didn’t come out as good as we wanted to but we took control of the game after the first goal.”
The Galaxy refused to let up on the Union, and pushed across a third goal in the 56th minute. Juninho played a ball to Keane at the left side of the field, he deked out Phildelphia’s Richie Marquez, crossed a ball and Zardes timed his run just right and tapped a ball past Sylvestre into the back net.
Zardes’ goal was the start of a wild three minutes in the match. Philadelphia found the back net in the 58th minute, as Andrew Wenger played a ball to C.J. Sapong at the top of the LA penalty area, Sapong then fired a ball that beat Penedo near post to cut into LA’s lead. The Galaxy however responded a minute later by simply scoring another goal. LA won a free kick in dangerous territory, Juninho sent the set piece into the six-yard box, Gonzalez headed a ball high in the air and Ishizaki one-timed a volley past Sylvestre into the back net. LA finished off the scoring in the 65th minute, as Husidic again sprung Zardes, this time from the right side, Zardes crossed and Lletget fired the ball into the back net.
“I think there is definitely much more for this team,” Husidic said. “We weren’t as sharp in certain areas, created quite a few chances and I think once we start clicking a bit more and getting a bit more used to a similar lineup, we’ll get better and better.”
While there’s still a long way to go in the MLS season, the Galaxy have shown once again that they have once again weathered its early season blues and ready to start making some noise. The team is starting to get healthy, Lletget is starting to make his presence felt, Zardes is starting to find the back net on a consistent basis, and then there its this guy named Steven Gerrard, who arrives in July. With all those elements factored in, all signs point to the Galaxy readying themselves for a charge through the remainder of the MLS season.
