Man of the match? The woodwork.
The LA Galaxy played the Seattle Sounders toe-to-toe in the first half, looking far more composed than in recent games with decent pressure on the ball, and good passing through midfield. That pressure resulted in a goal, with the Galaxy never retreating into a defensive shell.
The Galaxy should have scored on two additional chances, but Stefan Frei stood tall in the net and denied shots by Lletget and Raveloson.
The Galaxy would wish they had those chances back when Fisher gave up a clear penalty after Roldan broke through down the right. After Ruidiaz converted, the second half was mostly Seattle and the Galaxy being saved by the woodwork not once, but twice. The midfield caved with the insertion of offensive players as Vanney searched for three points. The Galaxy still could have pulled it off at the very end of the game, but Kévin Cabral somehow managed to mess up a three on one. In all seriousness, could the Galaxy hire Landon Donovan to spend hours drilling counter strategy and passing into Kévin?
The Galaxy were lucky to get out with a point in the 1-1 draw, and that would have been great earlier in the season. Now it sets up a must-win game against Minnesota on Sunday. If LAFC wins against Vancouver, and RSL beats Portland, things get even squeakier.
See you for desperation soccer on 11/7.
Player Ratings
Excellent
No one this time around.
Good
- Jonathan Bond – save on Ruidiaz in the 34th minute, and grabbed the rebound (it wasn’t a penalty). Near disaster in the 54th minute after he dropped a floated shot. Reaction save onto the crossbar to end the game and save the point.
- Chicharito – great reaction, great goal in the 19th minute off what looked like the back of his foot!
- Sebastian Lletget – sent in the corner that led to the first Galaxy goal. Another volleyed shot similar to how he earned goal of the week to end the first half, but robbed by Frei. Want to see more from him in the run of play.
- Nick DePuy – headed assist to Chicharito on the Galaxy goal. Great tackle preventing a pass into the box in the 31st minute. Beat by Ruidiaz in the 34th minute but Bond made a decent play. Important clearance in the 62nd minute. At the beginning of the year, if you had Nick as the inked in starter with Williams, go play the lottery. Man of the Match
Okay
- Samuel Grandsir – great through ball into Cabral in the 67th minute.
- Rayan Raveloson – giveaway in the 37th minute led to Ruidiaz shooting just wide. Nearly scored in the 48th minute, but shot straight at Frei off a corner (still a great save by the goalkeeper).
- Daniel Steres – late sub to try and get the point.
- Efraín Álvarez – sent in a lovely freekick to Cabral in the 23rd minute that Cabral couldn’t convert (hit the defender on his pass). Didn’t do much else and didn’t combine with Araujo.
- Julian Araujo – giveaway in the 68th minute and was bailed out by his friend the goalpost. Not his usual self in the attack.
- Derrick Williams – bad clearance straight to a Seattle head led to some danger in the box in the 41st minute. Other than that, not much else wrong.
- Jonathan Dos Santos – helped move the ball in the Galaxy-heavy first half.
Poor
- Oniel Fisher – sent in a dangerous cross in the 18th minute that was well defended by Seattle…and led to the corner that resulted in a goal. Bad leg sweep in the 49th minute led to a deserved penalty. Good physical defending on Morris in the 64th minute. Niko has been poor defensively for several games it’s true, but not sure Fisher was the answer. Then again, Villafaña must be rusty.
- Kévin Cabral – decent run and pass in the 14th minute that looked destined for a shot on goal, but Chicharito was just offside. Absolutely muffed a promising 3-on-1 counter in the final minutes.
- Sacha Kljestan – lost his man at the end of the game, bailed out by Bond and the crossbar.
- Victor Vázquez – off target.
What do you think? Leave a comment below.