CARSON, Calif. – Giovani dos Santos ended his drought in the LA Galaxy’s 3-2 defeat with the New York Red Bulls on Saturday.
Dos Santos provided the team’s second goal as Los Angeles battled back from a two-goal deficit to earn their first point at home since March 31. The goal was dos Santos’ first since May 27 of last year.
During his 79 minutes of play, the Mexican forward was aggressive as he was pushed higher up the field than he had been during his second-half shift last week.
Rather than drop deep to receive the ball, the 28-year-old Mexican international found himself in advanced positions allowing more space for Ola Kamara, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and Romain Alessandrini – as evidenced in the graph below of his shots and completed passes.
Head coach Sigi Schmid was among those pleased with his showing.
“Gio did a good job of pushing high. I thought he played well. When Ibra dropped, he pushed forward, and he was on the right spot for the goal. … Obviously, it’s his first significant minutes coming from an injury so it should get better.”
And Ibrahimović agreed.
“Gio did well. If he didn’t do good, it was because of the mistake of other players. He needs to have balls. He needs to control the game. If we don’t find him, it’s not his fault; it’s our fault because he’s in the right position to get the ball, so we need to find him. … He did a good game, and he scored a nice goal
But for the talented Mexican striker, it wasn’t about his goal or his positioning; it was about the result.
“For me, as I always say, I want to win. For me, this year hasn’t been about me. It’s all about the team. I want to end this year in the best way, so I’m just trying to help the team. It doesn’t matter if I score or if I don’t score. I only want to win the game.”
