LA Galaxy draw at home against Colorado Rapids, 1-1

Carson, Calif. -- The Los Angeles Galaxy have not looked their best in recent weeks without their full lineup of starters, but despite such circumstances, the team has managed to escape with wins or draws in their last three matches, including a thrilling victory against Sporting KC on an Omar Gonzalez header in the closing minutes.

On Saturday night versus the Colorado Rapids, LA was without Robbie Keane and AJ DeLaGarza, but the champions continued to fight on with Gyasi Zardes making plays at forward, Rafael Garcia playing well in the midfield, and Gonzalez holding down the backline.

In the first half, LA controlled the ball and had the majority of the scoring opportunities.  About 10 minutes into the game, Gonzalez played a long ball over the defense to Baggio Husidic.  Baggio chipped it over the charging Colorado goalkeeper, Clint Irwin, but it went over the crossbar.

Zardes also was active and had two scoring chances that came up empty.  In the 28th minute, Zardes got the ball and sent a strong shot to the lower left corner, but Irwin was able to deflect it.  Then in the 34th minute, Zardes had a good chance after Dan Gargan’s header, but missed the ball on his shot.

In the 40th minute, the Galaxy gave up the ball trying to do too much in the midfield, as Gonzalez’s pass went straight to Michael Harrington who immediately passed to Gabriel Torres.  Torres sprinted past Garcia and Gargan, then shot past the charging Jaime Penedo to the far corner for a 1-0 Colorado lead.

As the game progressed, LA appeared to have a tough time scoring, so Bruce Arena brought in Juninho, Stefan Ishizaki, and Alan Gordon in the second half.

In the 75th minute, the Galaxy earned a corner-kick.  Ishizaki took the corner-kick, finding Gordon who managed to isolate himself in the box.  Gordon, who has had great success with substitute goals since returning to the Galaxy, headed the ball to the far corner for a 1-1 tie.

“Good goal," said Galaxy coach Bruce Arena.  "Alan certainly knows how to come into a game, and that’s a real skill. He continues to do it, so I give him a lot of credit.”

With the momentum now on the Galaxy's side, the 16,676 fans in attendance hoped to see a game-winner in the final minutes.

However, that enthusiasm quickly dissolved, as Colorado appeared to win the game in the 83rd minute when Lucas Pittinari nodded a free kick off the left post, causing the ball to carom across the goal for Cronin to put away the rebound. But Pittinari was just ahead of LA's defense before the first shot, and an offside flag kept things even.

The Galaxy are now 3-2-4 on the season, and are back in action next Wednesday, May 6, on the road at Rio Tinto Stadium against Real Salt Lake at 6:30 p.m. PT.

By Brian Kowalski
Staff Reporter for TheDailySportsHerald.com