Zlatan Ibrahimovic added another goal to his 2018 tally for the Galaxy on Thursday night,
By Ivan Yeo
There were plenty of fireworks at the StubHub Center on this Fourth of July.
The Galaxy organization provided its annual postgame fireworks show, but both the LA Galaxy and DC United provided some of their own on the field on Wednesday night. The Galaxy jumped out to a two-goal courtesy of first half goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Chris Pontius, but DC United held their own, erased the deficit with goals from Zoltan Stieber and Darren Mattocks enabled DC United to end its long road odyssey with a 2-2 draw against the Galaxy at StubHub Center.
“We weren’t good enough in the second half, but more than anything the same thing in San Jose,” Galaxy head coach Sigi Schmid said, referring to last week’s match in which it let a two-goal lead slip away and had to settle for a draw. “We had a two to nothing lead and we give a goal to the opponent that allows them to resuscitate themselves and breathe life into their game, and that’s something that we can’t do.”
While the Galaxy will surely look at the result as two points dropped, DC United will surely take the result, as its long ordeal of road games finally comes to an end next week when next Saturday, DC United opens its brand new stadium, Audi Field, located in the heart of downtown Washington D.C., and will do so with its headline acquisition, striker Wayne Rooney, who will be available for that game next week.
“I think it is a good way to finish what was a very long road trip,” DC United head coach Ben Olsen said. “Four months of being on the road has been a grind for these guys. Now we get to go home and open up a new stadium which we are all excited about.”
The Galaxy struck just five minutes in. Dave Romney received a ball from Ashley Cole and immediately crossed into the penalty area. Ibrahimovic wrestled with Oniel Fisher for positioning, and it was Ibrahimovic that won the battle, as he one-timed a left-footed volley that beat keeper David Ousted into the back net.
The Galaxy doubled its advantage 20 minutes later, as Pontius brought down a ball with a touched that enabled him to cut left, Pontius then fired a left-footed volley himself, and just like Zlatan, his shot beat Ousted, only this one was more to the far post area, and the Galaxy were quickly up 2-0. DC United however had an answered just a minute later, as Luciano Acosta dribbled around Cole, then played Stieber into the penalty area and Stieber slotted a shot past David Bingham far post.
The second half was back and forth, with DC United creating some dangerous chances while the Galaxy had two goals called back for offside. It was DC United’s presence that finally paid off, as they scored the equalizer in the 85th minute, Paul Arriola passed a ball to Mattocks, who then dribbled in between two Galaxy players inside the penalty area before firing a shot that beat Bingham into the back net.
“You can see guys at 2-2 understanding what it was going to take for the last 10 minutes to get something out of this game,” Olsen said. “Everybody dug in and found the way to a valuable point.”
While DC United can now start eagerly awaiting the opening of its brand new stadium and Rooney’s arrival, the Galaxy will have the opportunity to put this result behind them, as they turn around and prepare for the Columbus Crew at home on Saturday.
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