By Ivan Yeo
LA Galaxy 2 : 1 Columbus Crew
Opposing coaches don’t normally agree on a whole lot of things, but LA Galaxy’s Bruce Arena and Columbus Crew’s Gregg Berhalter certainly agreed on one thing after Saturday’s match.
Arena and Berhalter do have some history together, as Arena brought Berhalter to the Galaxy in 2009 and became a veteran presence on the Galaxy backline for three seasons, culminating in an MLS Cup title for Berhalter in 2011, his last year as a pro.
Nevertheless, both Berhalter and Arena agreed that a special moment was needed to settle matters between the Crew and Galaxy at the StubHub Center on Saturday night. That special yet pivotal moment occurred in the match, and fortunately for the Galaxy, it was to their benefit, as Baggio Husidic’s wonder strike in the second half propelled LA to a much-needed 2-1 win over the Crew.
“I would say this game was going to be decided by something special, and that was Baggio’s goal,” Berhalter said. “It was a wonderful shot and that’s what this game was about today; something special decided it.”
The win is the Galaxy’s first in over a month, when it defeated the Portland Timbers by the same score line back on July 23. Since then, the Galaxy drew in five matches and lost one, and while the Galaxy did collect points during that span, a win was a much-needed kick in the step for the Galaxy, who are now in a three-way tie for second place in the Western Conference.
“Yeah, we needed that win,” Galaxy striker Giovani Dos Santos said. “Everyone gave their best today and I think we deserved to win.”
After 77 minutes of stalemate soccer, the Galaxy finally got a breakthrough by chance. Sebastian Lleget held the ball at the left side outside the Crew penalty area, played a ball back to Husidic, who took a quick touch before firing a laser off his right foot from about 20 plus yards out, the ball sailed past a diving Steve Clark into the far post net and the crowd at StubHub Center erupted.
“At first when I got it and took a touch forward, I wasn’t going to shoot it, I just took a touch to cross the ball and find someone. But it just played out perfectly and I took a chance,” Husidic said. “We’ve been talking about it all week, to be a bit selfish and shoot the ball, and I did.”
The Galaxy put its grasp on the match in another opportunistic matter four minutes later. Robbie Rogers’ slide tackle on Dilly Duka’s pass sent the ball to the feet of Dos Santos, who immediately sprung for the Crew goal. Dos Santos made his way into the box despite Crew defender Waylon Francis’ last minute gasp to close space, Dos Santos chipped a ball over Clark into the back net for the two goal lead.
Yet even with a two-goal lead late in the second half, some last minute drama was required in this back-and-forth battle. Columbus’ Nicolai Naess played a long ball into the penalty area, Galaxy defender Daniel Steres initially shielded Adam Jahn from getting to the ball, but it continued forward towards Ola Kamara, Steres tried to make a play on him, but collided and took Kamara down inside the six-yard box and referee Kevin Stott awarded the Crew the penalty. Kamara stepped to the penalty spot, but his shot was stopped by Brian Rowe. The Galaxy however could not clear the ball out of the box and Jahn swooped in and buried the rebound shot to cut into the Galaxy’s lead. LA however was able to wilt away the remainder of the match.
“The goal tonight was to get three points. That was accomplished,” Arena said.
Yes the win was accomplished, and it carried a special meaning for Arena, as it was his 200th career MLS win. Arena however was mostly concerned with how his roster would shape up after a string of injuries his team. Gyasi Zardes is out for the season due to a foot injury sustained in last Saturday’s match against Vancouver and Robbie Keane, Steven Gerrard and Jelle Van Damme missed Saturday’s match as well. Arena inserted Lletget, Mike Magee and Raul Mendiola into the lineup and Robbie Rogers made his return to the starting 11 for the Galaxy. Arena praised Mendiola’s performance on Saturday night.
“He’s a fighter; he’s skillful,” Arena said of Mendiola. “He’s the kind of player that when you pick sides you’d like to take him because he’s going to battle for you.”
The Galaxy are back at it on Wednesday, as they travel to Utah for a monster showdown with one of the teams they are tied for second place in the West, Real Salt Lake, on Wednesday evening.
