We said all along that this game would go one of two ways and unfortunately for the Union, injuries, lack of depths and fatigue were all going to be big factors in the journey to Los Angeles. Even more unfortunate was that it went down the route that didn’t result in a win..
The LA Galaxy stormed to a 5-1 home victory over the Union yesterday, now scoring 10 goals in their last two games following their US Open Cup triumph during the week. The Union came into the game battered and bruised, but they came in fighting.
The Union attained four corner kicks in the first fifteen minutes alone. Unfortunately, poor deliveries and bigger clearances saw only one quality chance produced. The ball fell to Edu who was able to jump up unmarked and head the ball, for the header to go wide, leaving the captain in a state of woe.
With such a strong start in the books, the Sons Of Ben were on their feet, the Union gave it everything early on..only for it to be stripped away just moments later with the first of Galaxy’s five goals. Baggio Husidic picked up a rebound following a Zardes shot come flying back off the post. The result was still the same..and it was the beginning of the end for the away side.
In what seemed like just moments, the Galaxy doubled their lead following a fantastic pass to Zardes who picked up the slicer behind Ray Gaddis, who then pinged in a cross to an unmarked Juninho who easily found the back of the net.
Following a goal set up by Robbie Keane in the early stages of the second half, the Union showed a sign of life and struck back almost instantly. It was Sapong who once again showed true character in being the lone striker for the Union. Another game, another goal for CJ after Andrew Wenger’s pass found its target perfectly. With Zach Pfeffer’s diagonal run providing enough distraction for the D, Sapong struck a beauty to score the Union’s only goal in the 90 minute affair.
However, celebrations were somewhat shortlived. Just one minute after the Union scored, Stefan Ishizaki sent a volley from the top of the box to re-enstate dominance. Sebastien Lletget was to be the player who netted the fifth goal, he found himself again completely open and rocketed a Zardes pass into the net.
The Union were simply outplayed in every sense of the word. The play was sloppy defensively and they were punished for it. With the exception of Maidana and Sapong, no particular performance stood out as impressive. Pfeffer again continued to contribute in all aspects of play which was promising, but as a whole the team need to rebuild. Defensively, they were often out of position at the timing of all Galaxy goals or found themselves watching helplessly.
The DOOP’ers return to the East Coast for a match on Wednesday evening against a Sounders side who are without Clint Dempsey. A small silver lining in a dark sky, but a rested Union may be able to bring the sunshine back.
