CARSON, Calif. – The LA Galaxy made it very clear after their scoreless draw with Vancouver Whitecaps FC that they’re not hitting the panic button.
Yet.
Los Angeles saw their winless streak in league play extended to six games on Saturday in a drab 0-0 tie with Vancouver at StubHub Center. The draw capped a disappointing August that saw the Galaxy finish with a 0-2-4 record and slump to fourth in the Western Conference.
Although the Galaxy struggled to create opportunities until the Whitecaps grew tired in the second half, Galaxy boss Bruce Arena was adamant that he wasn’t frustrated in his team’s showing.
“It’s not frustrating,” Arena said. “[It was a] one-point game. That’s what I take from it. It’s not frustrating. Our guys gave a good effort. They played a good second half, I thought.”
As challenging as it was for the Galaxy to create opportunities on Saturday, they were forced to do so without three of their big stars for much of the match. Robbie Keane missed out on the game, while Steven Gerrard (hamstring issue) and Jelle Van Damme (left knee) exited in the first half.
With the Galaxy missing Gerrard and Keane, Vancouver was able to stifle Giovani dos Santos and Gyasi Zardes, limiting the duo from to just a combined five shots on the night. As Dos Santos and Zardes struggled, forward Alan Gordon grew increasing isolated and the team struggled to create clear-cut chances until the final half hour.
The Galaxy were close to finding the winner several times in the dying moments of the second half but the goal never came.
“Obviously, we didn’t score, but I thought [Vancouver] did a good job. Two big guys in the back were eating all of our crosses up; they did a good job defending the cross,” Gordon said. “You have to give them a little bit of credit; I think that we could be a little bit more dynamic and mix it up a little bit more.”
The Galaxy will hope to turn their fortunes around on Saturday when they host Columbus Crew SC in a match that carries considerable playoff implications with just eight games remaining in the season.
“It’s frustrating; we’re kind of stalled right now, can’t get anything going offensively. It’s a little bit frustrating; this feels like a loss, we need points,” Gordon said. “We’re at home and all you can do is look at some film and rally together; we can’t let this bring us down. At the end of the day it is a point, everything is going to be close at the end and we have to move forward and get ready for a tough game next weekend.”
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog atLAGalaxy.com/Insiderand contact him atLAGalaxyInsider@Gmail.com
