Gerrard scored his first goal in an LA Galaxy shirt on Friday night.
By Ivan Yeo
What a night for Steven Gerrard to make a first impression upon the Los Angeles Galaxy faithful.
Playing in his first MLS match against archrival San Jose, Gerrard made his impact felt in more ways than one on Friday night. Gerrard had a hand in three Galaxy goals, including his first goal in a Galaxy shirt, and LA turned a two-goal deficit into a 5-2 win at StubHub Center.
“I can feel my fitness getting there, 87 minutes under my belt,” Gerrard said. “I’m very pleased, starting to feel a little bit sharper so I’m very close to full fitness.”
The Galaxy found themselves in a deep hole after Quincy Amarikwa tallied twice in a three-minute span to stake the Quakes to a 2-0 lead. The Galaxy however got going in a big way soon after, as Gerrard was elbowed in the head in the 30th while jumping up for a ball and LA was awarded the penalty, which Robbie Keane converted moments later to get LA on the board.
Then came the big moment for Gerrard and the Galaxy faithful. It started when Baggio Husidic crossed a ball into the penalty area towards Sebastian Lletget, Quakes defender Clarence Goodson tried to cut it off, but the ball deflected off him and went right to Gerrard’s feet Gerrard immediately struck a ball that beat keeper David Bingham far post for the equalizer and the 27,000 at StubHub Center erupted.
“It was very pleasing to get off the mark,” Gerrard said.
With his first MLS goal in hand, now it was time for his first MLS assist. It came in the 64th minute. The Galaxy had a free kick outside the penalty area on the left side. Gerrard sent the free kick right into the six, Keane came in and touched a ball past Bingham into the back net to give LA the lead. Gerrard almost had a brace himself moments later, as LA had another free kick, this one in the top center of the box, Gerrard sent the set piece right on target, but it hit off the crossbar. Not that the Galaxy really needed it in the end, as they added two more goals, the first on another Keane penalty and a Lletget goal in stoppage time.
“You can see the combination, the one-two combinations that we are playing, and the way that we played with each other was very good,” Keane said about his connections with Gerrard. “We were finding Stevie more through the gaps. We had a few good combinations, and for the second goal as well. For my second goal, we whispered to each other before we went over, and we had a plan. It was all about the ball and managing it.”
It is obviously way too early in the Gerrard era in Los Angeles to draw any conclusions, but Friday’s game certainly gave Galaxy fans a glimpse of what’s to come once Gerrard fully establishes chemistry with his teammates. Considering the Galaxy are still without its Gold Cup players (Gyasi Zardes, Omar Gonzalez, Jaime Penedo and of course, Giovani Dos Santos), you can only imagine how scary the Galaxy could be once those four players return and establish a chemistry with Gerrard. The remainder of the season for the Los Angeles Galaxy, especially with matchups between the Seattle Sounders, New York City FC and the Portland Timbers just to name a few on the horizon, should certainly be interesting the rest of the way.
