Photos courtesy of the LA Galaxy.
Sebastian Lletget, left, carried the night for the LA Galaxy with a brace..
By Ivan Yeo
It’s official, the Los Angeles Galaxy are back on track.
If it wasn’t official after they upset LAFC at Banc of California Stadium back on August 22 in the first game of the regular season restart, if it wasn’t official after they picked up two more wins against the San Jose Earthquakes and the Portland Timbers, then certainly another win at LAFC’s expense will go a long way towards convincing a lot of people. Led by Sebastian Lletget’s brace, the Galaxy got its fourth straight win courtesy of a 3-0 win against LAFC at Dignity Health Sports Park.
“We going very good, we are happy with the team that’s playing at a wonderful level,” Galaxy head coach Guillermo Barros Schelotto said. ” I am very proud because the players worked really hard in bad moments where you can find sometimes some problems when you don’t get good results. Everyone [has a good character], are really good professionals and I am happy for them.”
After a scoreless first half, the Galaxy seized the advantage in the 52dn minute. Emiliano Insua chipped a ball forward, Cristian Pavon chased it down, LAFC keeper Pablo Sisniega came off his line and Pavon chipped a ball over Sisniega and into the back net.
Things got even better for the Galaxy a minute later, as Mark Anthony-Kaye made a bad pass, which was intercepted by Julian Araujo, Kaye then compounded the error when he chased down Araujo, then committed a harsh tackle that got Araujo on his left shin. Referee Allen Chapman saw the play unfold right in front of him, which left him with the easy decision to issue Kaye the straight red, forcing LAFC to play with 10 men the rest of the match.
The Galaxy put the match out of reach later in the half. Lletget got his first goal of the match in the 73rd minute, as they had a corner kick outside of the LAFC penalty area on the right side, Pavon sent the set piece into the box, Lletget swooped in and shot the ball through traffic and past Sisniega into the back net to double the lead. Lletget sealed the three points for the Galaxy in spectacular fashion in the 83rd minute, as Rolf Feltscher crossed into the LAFC penalty area and an unmarked Lletget leaped and scissors-kicked a ball off the grass and got the perfect bounce, as the ball beat Sisniega far post to put the match out of reach.
“It’s something that you always dream about,” Lletget said about the goal. “It’s the perfect looping ball set perfectly for you. You hope you connect good on it and thankfully it did. When it hit the back of the net, it was a dream. Especially in a clasico or a rivalry game, it makes it even more crazy.”
While neither side found the back net in the first half, it wasn’t for lack of effort on the part of either side. The Galaxy’s best chance came in the 32nd minute, as Feltscher sent a left-footed ball to an unmarked Ethan Zubak, who was also behind the LAFC defense. Zubak, who scored his first career goal against LAFC back in that August 22nd match, was not as fortunate this time around, as he sent the shot over the framework.
LAFC had a golden chance to grab the lead right before halftime, but was agonizingly denied by the framework. Kaye sprung Bradley Wright-Phillips with a left-footed long ball into the penalty area, Wright-Phillips chased down the ball and one-timed a chip shot that got past keeper David Bingham, but did not get past the near post, as the ball bounced off the post and in the hand of Bingham.
“We have to keep our head high,” LAFC”s Latiff Blessing said. “We know that things are not going good but you know, (but) we’re going to come back. It happens. It happens in football so, I think we’re going to keep going.”
LAFC will indeed keep going on Wednesday night, as they travel to Utah to face Real Salt Lake before hosting the Portland Timbers next Sunday evening. The Galaxy meanwhile will have a week off before travel up north for the other in-state derby matchup with the San Jose Earthquakes.
