Los Angeles Galaxy win big over Philadelphia, 5-1

Carson, Calif. -- Following a tough 1-0 loss at home versus Vancouver, and a subsequent 1-1 draw on the road in the rain at Columbus, the Los Angeles Galaxy returned home to face Philadelphia on Saturday night.

Apparently, they were due for a scoring outbreak.

With several absent players returning to the lineup, including Jaime Penedo, Omar Gonzalez, AJ DeLaGarza, Juninho, Robbie Keane, and Gyasi Zardes, the Galaxy looked like a completely different team on the pitch, as they soundly destroyed the Union, 5-1.

Philadelphia initially got off to a solid start, earning the first five shots of the game.  However, the momentum changed quickly in the 23rd minute, when Zardes and Baggio Husidic darted towards goal with the ball. Husidic left it off for Zardes and his shot got past Philadelphia goalkeeper Brian Sylvestre, but hit the post.  Husidic collected the rebound and put it underneath Sylvestre for the 1-0 lead.

Then, in the 35th minute, Zardes took the ball up the wing and sent in a great cross to a streaking Juninho, who one-touched the ball past his defender with his left foot for a 2-0 Galaxy lead.

LA built on the lead even more in the 56th minute when Zardes made another quality pass downfield to Keane, who shook his defender and then crossed the ball to Zardes.  The youngster scored with a shot to the upper part of goal, as the two combined to take on five Philadelphia defenders on their own.

In the 58th minute, the Union scored with a C.J. Sapong shot, but that goal only temporarily halted the Galaxy onslaught, as one minute later Los Angeles made it 4-1 with a Gonzalez header to Stefan Ishizaki that he one-timed with a strong shot into the net.

The Galaxy would put their finishing touches on the win when Zardes assisted on another goal with a pass to Sebastian Lletget, who slotted home the team's fifth goal from the top of the box.

The victory was much-needed for LA, as they will host Portland on Wednesday night on ESPN at 8pm, and then travel to San Jose on Saturday.  Currently, LA sits in the fourth place spot in the Western Conference.

By Brian Kowalski
Reporter for TheDailySportsHerald.com