Giovani dos Santos scores first MLS goal in 3-1 Galaxy victory over the Sounders

Carson, Calif. -- In front of a packed house of 27,000 on Sunday at the StubHub Center, the Los Angeles Galaxy celebrated the MLS debut of the team's most recent blockbuster international acquisition, Giovani dos Santos, and in the process earned a 3-1 win over the Seattle Sounders.

Things did not start off too well for Dos Santos and company however, as just one minute into the game, ex-Galaxy forward Chad Barrett put Seattle ahead with a finish in front of goal from a cross.  Unfortunately for Seattle, he somehow pulled his hamstring after the goal and was forced to exit.

"At this point I am not shocked with anything that has happened," said Seattle defender Zach Scott of Barrett's injury. "The injuries have come in completely bizarre ways but what can you do other than just move on with it. We started the game well and at this point we just have to continue to try and be stingy in the back and get a goal here and there."

In the 13th minute, Gyasi Zardes evened the score when Juninho crossed the loose ball back towards goal and Zardes made a great finish touch with the outside of his foot to beat Stefan Frei.

LA went ahead 2-1 in the second half as Robbie Keane scored in the 47th minute with his 11th goal of the MLS season.  Steven Gerrard passed the ball out wide to AJ DeLaGarza, who crossed it into the box for Keane to finish.

"Well I think it is so exciting, who knows what the future holds, but the talent and the ability is clearly there," said Gerrard. "I think it’s up to us to produce. We have all the materials and upcoming teams are going to find it difficult to contain us."

Keane later helped put the game away in the 64th minute when he sent a through ball to Dos Santos, and Giovani scored his first MLS goal.

"Robbie Keane is a great teammate," said Dos Santos.  "I am very thankful for the assist and he has always shown me his affection and I am very thankful. It is always a pleasure to play next to him."

Keane was equally complimentary of his new teammate.

“When you score a goal and he got that assist as well, what more do you want from him? He’s not 100 percent fit, he’s probably 80 with the conditions as well," said Keane of Dos Santos, who only recently returned from an injury. "But as you seen, in the first 20 minutes, they got the goal and then we just sat back and made it difficult for us. The last 20 minutes of the first half, you could see signs as we were getting the ball to Gio’s feet quickly and he was causing a few problems."

After the game, players and coaches applauded the team's effort and attitude despite playing in hot conditions in the early afternoon.

"Obviously we battled back well," said Galaxy coach Bruce Arena.  "I think on the day I applaud both teams. We shouldn’t be playing games at 1 o’clock in the afternoon in the summer months. This was really challenging for the players and for our team to concede a goal early and have to fight back in these conditions is pretty good."

The Galaxy improved to 11-7-7 on the season, and will next travel to Dallas for a Saturday game on August 15 at 6 p.m. PT.

By Brian Kowalski
Reporter for TheDailySportsHerald.com