CARSON, Calif. – The LA Galaxy are one of Major League Soccer’s hottest clubs heading into their clash with the Portland Timbers on Saturday, and according to several of Bruce Arena’s men, they owe their recent run of form a trip to the Rose City last month.
When the Galaxy met the Timbers in U.S. Open Cup on June 29 at Providence Park, the team was reeling with just one win in eight matches. But in front of a packed crowd in Portland, the Galaxy turned their luck around earning a 1-0 victory over the Timbers and passage into the Open Cup Round of 16.
Since their win in Portland, the Galaxy have won four-straight matches in all competitions including a 4-2 win over Seattle Sounders FC in the Open Cup quarterfinals on Wednesday.
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“Mentally, I believe that we got a boost from our game in Portland in Open Cup. Since then, we’ve earned four wins, and we’ve repeatedly kept the [shutout],” defender Jelle Van Damme, who gathered his teammates together in celebration after that win in Portland in June, said. “I think you can see and feel it that everyone, in general, is more confident. We’re going to try to keep it up as much as possible.”
Defender A.J. DeLaGarza, who has been a key figure in defense in recent weeks, agrees.
“After we won that game, we were so excited and pumped up; it felt like we were coming together,” DeLaGarza added. “When you see guys who worked hard in that game for 90 minutes plus… we wanted to continue that. We’re definitely starting to come together.”
Despite their win in June, Providence Park has not always been kind to the Galaxy.
In seven trips since Portland entered the league in 2011, the Galaxy have earned a 2-3-2 record in all competitions at the notoriously raucous venue. Matches in Portland in recent years have been incredibly wild affairs with the last three games decided by last-minute goals.
Saturday’s match promises to be another difficult one with high temperatures and an early afternoon kick-off expected to make the Providence Park turf that much tougher to play on.
Although the date with the MLS Cup champions will be a challenging affair, the Galaxy believe that they’re ready for the challenge.
“We need to keep going. Playing away from home is always difficult, especially playing on turf that you’re not used to,” captain Robbie Keane said. “We’re in a good run of form at the moment. We’re quite capable of going out there and getting three points.”
PROVIDENCE PARK • Portland, Oregon
July 23, 2016 • Week 20 • MLS Game #200
12:30 pm PT (ESPN, MLS LIVE)
A mouthwatering prospect is ahead in a meeting of Western Conference high-fliers as the Portland Timbers play host to the LA Galaxy on Saturday afternoon at Providence Park before an ESPN audience. The Timbers sit right on the red line, their undefeated streak now at nine games following their 3-1 win against arch-rivals Seattle Sounders FC last Sunday at home. The Galaxy have won three league games in a row, all by shutout, following their 1-0 win against the Houston Dynamo last Friday evening at StubHub Center.
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- Diego Valeri scored a pair of goals as the Timbers extended their undefeated streak to nine games with a 3-1 win against arch-rivals Seattle Sounders FC on Sunday afternoon at Providence Park. Valeri is now tied for fourth in the MLS Golden Boot standings, one goal behind teammate Fanendo Adi, who scored his 10th goal of the season in the contest.
- The Galaxy won their third consecutive game – all by shutout – and extended their undefeated run to five games in league play in a 1-0 win against the Houston Dynamo on Friday evening at StubHub Center. Steven Gerrard scored the game’s lone goal; he has a goal and three assists over the last four games.
- The teams are meeting for the second time this season. Fanendo Adi gave the Timbers the lead early in the second half, but an own goal pulled the Galaxy level late as the teams reached a 1-1 draw April 10 at StubHub Center.
- The Galaxy haven’t won on their last four trips to Portland, with the last two ending in draws. The only Galaxy victory all-time in Portland came July 14, 2012 – a 5-3 victory.
- The Timbers have won once all-time in Carson, a 5-2 win last Oct. 18 in the final meeting between the teams, that win also snapping a five-game winless streak vs. the Galaxy. The Galaxy have won five of nine meetings there, with two draws.
REFEREE: Alan Kelly. AR1 (bench): Ian Anderson; AR2 (opposite): Kyle Atkins; 4th: Tyler Ploeger
MLS Career: 47 games; FC/gm: 26.5; Y/gm: 2.9; R: 38; pens: 57
SUSPENDED: none
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: POR: Alvas Powell
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: LA: A.J. DeLaGarza, Daniel Steres
DISABLED LIST: none
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (15 meetings): Timbers 4 wins, 22 goals -- Galaxy 6 wins, 29 goals -- Ties 5
AT PORTLAND (6 meetings): Timbers 3 wins, 12 goals -- Galaxy 1 win, 9 goals -- Ties 2
- Coaches record: Caleb Porter vs. LA: P10 W3 L2 T5 -- Bruce Arena vs. POR: P15 W6 L4 T5
LAST MEETING (MLS):
4/10: LA 1, POR 1 (own goal 84 - Adi 52)
- The Timbers took the lead in the 52nd minute when Fanendo Adi latched onto a through ball from Diego Valeri, cut to his right in the penalty area and lashed a low drive into the bottom right corner.
- But the Galaxy found the equalizer six minutes from time when center back Nat Borchers dove to nod Sebastian Lletget's driven cross into his own goal.
- LA GALAXY (4-4-2): Brian Rowe - Robbie Rogers (Rafael Garcia 8), Daniel Steres, Jelle Van Damme, Ashley Cole - Mike Magee, Nigel de Jong, Baggio Husidic (Alan Gordon 82), Sebastian Lletget - Giovani dos Santos (Bradford Jamieson 64), Gyasi Zardes
- PORTLAND TIMBERS (4-2-3-1): Adam Larsen Kwarasey - Alvas Powell, Jermaine Taylor, Nat Borchers, Chris Klute - Jack Jewsbury, Diego Chara - Darlington Nagbe (Ned Grabavoy 76), Diego Valeri (Darren Mattocks 89), Lucas Melano - Fanendo Adi.
