CARSON, Calif. – Is Gyasi Zardes back?
Well, that remains to be seen, but the forward was impressive in his finest performance of the year on Saturday. Zardes notched his first goal of the 2017 campaign while also winning a penalty and tallying an assist in the Galaxy’s 3-0 victory over the Colorado Rapids.
“It’s great just to score again. I’ve been out for a long time, and now I’m back,” said Zardes who celebrated his 26th birthday on Saturday. “I’ve been working extremely hard, so it’s nice to hit the back of the net.”
The 26-year-old forward looked back to his old self from the opening whistle as his strike partnership with Bradford Jamieson IV gave headaches to the Colorado backline. Inside the first 20 minutes, Zardes created the Galaxy’s first goal when he was brought down by Rapids’ goalkeeper Zac MacMath setting up a Romain Alessandrini penalty finish.
Zardes’ wasn’t done there, however, as moments later he found Ema Boateng for the easy finish to help double the lead. He was rewarded for his play with a goal of his own in the 56th minute when the birthday boy extended his right foot to redirect an Alessandrini cross into the back of the Colorado net.
For head coach Sigi Schmid, it was clear that an “anvil” had been lifted from the shoulders of his Homegrown striker.
“[When you score,] you can walk a little bit prouder, and you can be more relaxed and more confident when you get there. For him, it was a very important goal.”
Schmid wasn’t the only one pleased by Zardes’ tally as his teammates were quick to rally around the striker.
“Gyasi has been working really hard. I know a lot of people have been criticizing him, but I thought a lot of his movements helped stretch them even when he didn’t get the ball,” Boateng said. “He opened a lot of space [for us] to operate, and I’m happy for him to get his goal. Hopefully, that helps his confidence for the rest of the year.”
Added captain Jermaine Jones, “Every game we’ve said to him that he had to keep working and the goal would come. That’s the game of a striker. … I think that it’s amazing for him that he scored on his birthday.”
With just eight games remaining in the regular season, the Galaxy are hopeful that Saturday’s performance is only the start of an end of the season run for Zardes.
“It feels great to hit the back of the net,” Zardes said. “And it gives me the motivation to keep working extremely hard to progress as a striker and try to get more goals for the rest of the season.”
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog at www.LAGalaxy.com/Insider and contact him at LAGalaxyInsider@Gmail.com