Emmanuel Boateng assisted on the Galaxy’s lone goal against Club Tijuana on Tuesday night.
By Ivan Yeo
The Los Angeles Galaxy literally got its feet wet to start off 2017.
It was a soggy night at the StubHub Center for the Galaxy’s preseason opener against Club Tijuana. Despite the inclement weather, the Galaxy were finally able to play a competitive match following two weeks of training, and while the 1-1 draw didn’t mean much results wise, the Galaxy still were able to get some positives out of the match.
“It’s exactly what I thought it would be” Galaxy head coach Curt Onalfo said in his debut as Galaxy head coach. “Two weeks into preseason, there were some heavy legs. Everything wasn’t as sharp as it should be. But having said that, there were some really good things to build on.”
Both teams went with spilt squads for both halves. Jermaine Jones, one of several new acquisitions by the Galaxy in the offseason was one of the standouts in the first half, displaying his usual grit and toughness in the midfield while also involving himself in the offensive third several times. Jones was the only one of the new players to play Tuesday night, as Roman Alessandrini and Joao Pedro are still overseas awaiting their work visas.
“We’re two weeks in so 45 minutes is perfect,” Onalfo said. “The goal by the end of this week is to push to 60 and then keep moving it up to 90. I thought the amount of time was fine. I thought Jermaine was excellent.”
The star for LA in the second half was undoubtedly Emmanuel Boateng, who displayed the pace, speed and ball handling skills that got him into the starting 11 late in the season. Boateng had a hand in the Galaxy’s lone goal in the second half, as he held the ball on the left side outside the penalty area, juked his defender, then placed a perfectly weighted ball to Jose Villarreal, who slotted the shot in at the far post.
“We have a young squad, but even the young guys did well,” Galaxy defender Jelle Van Damme said. “I saw some good things, like building up and patience with the ball…so yeah, we can only improve.”
The Galaxy will have more time to improve with the start of the regular season a little than a month away. The improvement should come as Alessandrini and Joao Pedro arrive and the other players get more of their legs underneath them.
