The LA Galaxy have gone from dominant in April to sputtering in May.
By Ivan Yeo
There was no other way to put it other than a lost opportunity for the Los Angeles Galaxy.
Playing at home against a Colorado Rapids team that was winless going into the match and had just recently gone through a coaching change, even without Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who was suspended for the Galaxy’s next two matches following an incident with New York City FC goalkeeper Sean Johnson back on May 11, three points was almost certainly a lock for the Galaxy, right?
Not quite. The Galaxy wasted a flurry of chances throughout the match, and that eventually came back to haunt them late in the second half, as Andre Shinyashiki’s goal late in the second half enabled them to finally get that first win of the season, coming out of Dignity Health Sports Park with a 1-0 win.
“Really not happy with getting that result at home against that team who hasn’t won all year long,” said Galaxy defender Daniel Steres. “It’s a disappointing feeling, but it’s pretty frustrating as well.”
In addition to gifting the Rapids its first win of the season, the Galaxy were also sent to its fourth straight loss. In fact, the Galaxy have yet to get any points in the month of May, and its losing streak has seen them drop from second place in the Western Conference to fourth.
“I think every time you lose you can learn something,” said Galaxy head coach Guillermo Barros Schelotto. “You can realize this league is very even. Any team can beat you, like you can beat everyone. So, the year is long, its long; the season is long. We need to try to start to get the points and play better.
After 81 minutes where both teams had plenty of chances, but found that goal elusive, it was the Rapids that finally broke through in the 82nd minute. Shinyashiki chased down a forward ball and found himself leading a three-on-two break. Shinyashiki played a ball to Kei Kamara, who took a touch before getting a shot off that was saved by Bingham, but a pileup between Kamara and Bingham resulted in the ball taking a deflection and Shinyashiki one-time the rebound attempt in an empty net that gave the Rapids the lead.
It was the Galaxy that looked like it would bag a few goals in the first half. Nine minutes in, Uriel Antuna crossed a ball into the penalty area, Fabio Alvarez brought the ball down and fired a shot that was parried back into play by Tim Howard. A minute later, Joe Corona played a cross into the six-yard box and an overlapping Rolf Feltscher headed a ball at goal, but it was easily collected by Howard.
The Galaxy thought for sure they had a goal in the 22nd minute. Lletget sprung Feltscher into the penalty area, Feltscher got the cross off just before reaching the endline, Emmanuel Boateng touched a ball that got past Howard and Labas Abubakar, but the ball trickled towards goal, which was enough time for Kegan Rosenberry to rush in and punt the ball just short of the goal line. The Galaxy again missed a potential goal by mere inches in the 60th minute, as a Diego Polenta shot off an Antuna cross bounced off the near post and back into play.
“It might be too simple, but there were times that I think we got in good spots, but it was the right cross because we don’t have the biggest guys up there, or it’s just not at the right time,” said Schelotto. “We might need to figure out another way to pull the other teams out because they are kind of waiting for it now.
Then it was the Rapids’ turn to get some chances. Colorado had a golden opportunity in the 67th minute, as Jack Price sprung Sam Nicholson with a long ball, David Bingham came out to challenge Nicholson, who responded by firing a chip shot that got past Bingham and seemed certain to find the back net, but Giancarlo Gonzalez calmly raced back and made a sliding clearance just before the goal line. Another opportunity by the Rapids in the 76th minute was denied by the framework, as Nicholas Mezquida crossed into the penalty area, Kamara headed a ball towards goal, but went off the far post and out of play.
