Robbie Keane boosted the Galaxy attack against Houston on Friday night.
By Ivan Yeo
The’s no doubt the Los Angeles Galaxy have missed Robbie Keane for the last month.
Keane, the league’s reigning MVP had missed the Galaxy’s last seven matches due to a groin strain. At first, LA didn’t appear to miss him, as they won the first two games that Keane missed, against quality opponents, the Seattle Sounders and Sporting Kansas City no less.
However, the last five matches have clearly illustrated the Galaxy’s need for Keane in the starting 11. LA went 0-2-3 in its previous five matches and in those five matches, the Galaxy scored just three goals, including one goal in the last 270 minutes.
However, on Friday, the Irishman made his return to the pitch for the Galaxy against the Houston Dynamo. Keane started off the bench, but entered the match in the 56th minute, and LA attack from that point on was much better, certainly there was more fluidity added upon Keane’s arrival, and because of that, LA turned what would’ve been another uninspiring draw (or worse) into a 1-0 win.
“He’s an influence,” Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena said. “He’s been out for so long and to ask him to play for 35 minutes is pushing it a little bit. I think under the circumstances he did really well.”
Clearly the best example of Keane’s impact on the team was the winning goal, which came deep in stoppage time. LA center back Leonardo sent a long ball deep into Dynamo territory, Alan Gordon leaped and headed the ball into the 18-yard box, Keane tracked it down and attempted a one-timer, but was blocked by David Horst.
Keane however recovered the ball, then sent a perfectly weighted ball into the six-yard box, Gordon headed a ball softly towards goal and the ball sailed over Houston keeper Tyler Deric and crossed the goal line into the far post netting.
“If he isn’t going to shoot, he is going to look for me in the back post, So I faked him side to the back post and he played a wonderful ball,” Gordon said of Keane’s pass. “I did my best to get it back post and it just kind of looped in.”
It’s not coincidence that the Galaxy’s slow start has coincided with Keane’s absence. Granted the Galaxy have started past season’s slowly, but there’s not doubt slow start this year’s slow start can be attributed to Keane’s absence, and the five games prior to Friday’s match would serve as an indication of that. It’s not just the results, or the lack of goals during those results, but rather LA’s play during that stretch. At times, LA’s attack looked sluggish and uninspiring for the most part. Sure the Galaxy created chances, but the chances of those scoring opportunities being capitalized on by LA sometimes ranged from slim to none.
“I’m not a player that eases into things,” Keane said. “As soon as I’m ready, I want to jump right in and help the team as much as I can. When you’re going through a little bit of a rough patch as we are at the moment, what is important is winning games.”
As the Galaxy forge ahead with the remainder of their season, if there was any doubt about Keane’s importance to the LA Galaxy lineup, all those doubts were erased on Friday night. Sure Keane may miss more time for LA, and the team might be able to weather those storms whenever they come in the short term, but if the Galaxy are to contend for its sixth MLS Cup and fourth in five years, the Galaxy are going to need Robbie Keane to be at his best for LA to raise another MLS Cup.
