Carson, Calif. -- After a tough stretch of three winless games, including a 3-0 road loss to Real Salt Lake last weekend, the Los Angeles Galaxy bounced back Sunday night with a much-needed 3-2 home win at the Stubhub Center against FC Dallas.
The Galaxy immediately came out in championship form with two goals in the first 15 minutes, putting FC Dallas at a major disadvantage for the rest of the night.
In the 11th minute, Giovani dos Santos scored off a Gyasi Zardes pass by flicking the ball to the far post with a defender draped all over him. It was dos Santos’ third goal in MLS competition and gave LA a 1-0 lead.
Then, in the 14th minute, the Galaxy took a 2-0 lead when dos Santos dribbled towards the defense and passed off to Robbie Keane at the top of the box. Keane's shot to the corner of the goal nicked the post and went into the net.
"We started off sharp," said Keane. "We had good movements from myself and Gio. It was a good start, and it was nice to get the early goal."
The Galaxy's strong start was very important considering that LA has struggled to find the net lately. In fact, in their last three games they didn’t score at all, which was befuddling after having a summer filled with high-scoring outings.
FC Dallas got one back in the 35th minute with a combination of hustle and a fortunate bounce. On the play, the ball was sent towards goal from midfield and took a favorable bounce when Robbie Rogers was defending Michael Barrios. Barrios managed to head it over Donovan Ricketts and into goal making it 2-1.
"We conceded that goal and put them back on the game," lamented Galaxy coach Bruce Arena. "Give their player credit, number 21, for not quitting on that play but we could have done better."
Starting off the second half, LA turned up the heat with a near goal by Robbie Keane that hit the crossbar. A subsequent corner-kick led to an opportunity in the box, as Steven Gerrard picked up a loose ball and slotted it home for a 3-1 lead. It was his second goal in MLS competition.
Gerrard earned high praise from Keane for his efforts.
“It was an energetic performance," said Keane of Gerrard. "He just makes simple passes that people wouldn’t appreciate unless you’re playing with him. To give the simple ball to a striker and take out two or three players, it’s the best ball for a striker and the team. It eliminates a lot of their players. He did that a lot tonight."
LA almost had a fourth goal when Keane took a shot from 20 yards out that beat Jesse Gonzalez, but hit the crossbar.
With a 3-1 lead and the Galaxy back to their dominant offensive ways, the defense, led by Omar Gonzalez and AJ DeLaGarza, locked down FC Dallas for the most part. Even a threatening redirected free-kick in the 78th minute was nullified when Ricketts deflected the shot with a diving save.
FC Dallas did add another goal to make it 3-2 in the waning minutes, as Harris scored on a Hollingshead pass, but it was too little, too late.
LA now goes back on the road to face the Seattle Sounders before having their last regular season home game against Portland later in October.
"There’s one team with 50 points and that’s us," said Arena. "We got 50 in the bank; somebody else has to get that. That’s the most important thing. We will get our team ready for a tough game next week.”
By Brian Kowalski
Staff Reporter for TheDailySportsHerald.com
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