Photos courtesy of the LA Galaxy.
Javier Chicharito Hernandez scored his first goal for the Galaxy since July on Wednesday night against the Seattle Sounders.
It was all going right for the Los Angeles Galaxy on Wednesday night.
Hosting a Seattle Sounders team in contention for the top spot in the Western Conference, the Galaxy showed they were not going to be mere foils for the contending Sounders. The Galaxy created chances in the first half, with two chances being denied by the framework, LA then took the lead late in the second half, with the goal coming from Javier Chicharito Hernandez, his first goal in a Galaxy shirt since the MLS is Back Tournament back in July. With all that, the Galaxy seemed poised to grab another three points, keep its slim playoff hopes alive and perhaps make the case for interim head coach Dominic Kinnear to get the job full time.
However, in a season in which almost everything has gone wrong for the Galaxy, the end of Wednesday night’s match was indicative of how this season has gone. LA took a 1-0 lead deep into stoppage time, but a late goal from Raul Ruidiaz enabled the Sounders to avert disaster and settle for the draw.
“I thought we were good for the 3 points tonight,” Galaxy interim head coach Dominic Kinnear said. “I thought we played pretty good against Salt Lake. I actually thought we played better tonight. So the energy was good, the ball movement was good, I thought Perry [Kitchen] did a good job of trying to keep [Nicolas] Lodeiro’s touch to a minimum. All in all, very proud of the guys.”
Chicharito struck in the 78th minute for the Galaxy. Cristian Pavon played a ball for a sprinting Chicharito, who made a cutting move inside and played a ball between the legs of Joao Paulo. Efriain Alvarez received the pass, took a touch before springing Chicharito into the penalty area, and he fired a shot past Stefan Frei far post.
“He’s given us a lot of confidence and helped us not feel pressure and feel motivated and with a lot of confidence to try to do our best,” Chicharito said about Kinnear’s managing.
The Galaxy took the lead into stoppage time, and it looked like a major upset was imminent, but Seattle got one more chance in the 93rd minute and cashed in. Will Bruin played a ball to Ruidiaz, who passed it back to Joao Paulo, who then passed to Jordan Morris, who drew two defenders, which left Ruidiaz open, Morris got the pass off to Ruidiaz, who took a touch before firing a shot that got past keeper David Bingham for the equalizer.
“It does show you the attack and prowess of Seattle,” Kinnear said. “They are a very good team going forward and they take advantage of mistakes. Very very disappointed for the guys because I thought we deserved more tonight.”
The Galaxy were aggressive in the first half. The Galaxy nearly took the lead in the 15th minute, as Pavon sent a corner kick into the penalty area, Frei got a piece of the ball, but still found Sebasti by a mere an Lletget’s foot, Lletget kicked a ball upward and Daniel Steres headed a ball that hit off the crossbar and despite the Galaxy’s plea that the ball crossed the goal line, the ball bounced outside the goal line by a mere inches. The framework foiled the Galaxy again in the 26th minute, as Pavon played a ball to Sacha Kljestan, who played Ethan Zubak into the penalty area, Zubak shot a ball past Frei, but the ball instead hit off the far post.
