CARSON, Calif. – The LA Galaxy were back to their old self after running rampant over the Philadelphia Union on Saturday evening, securing a 5-1 win in their most dominant performance of the MLS regular season so far.
The win appeared to have it all for the Galaxy as five different players scored in a victory where LA ran out a first choice lineup for seemingly the first time this season. So naturally after his team’s biggest win of the year, head coach Bruce Arena had only one response.
“I think the score does not indicate the game correctly. I don’t think we were as dominant as the score would indicate,” Arena said to reporters in his postgame press conference. “It was far from a complete victory tonight, and we have a way to go. But it is good to have some of these players back; it gives us a little bit more quality obviously in the final third. But we can play better than we did today.”
Well then.
The opening quarter hour of the match certainly back up Arena’s claims as the Union pressed the Galaxy and tallied four corner kicks before the Galaxy took hold of the game after Baggio Husidic’s opener in the 23rd minute. As soon as Husidic tallied his second goal of the season, the Galaxy were off to the races as they found the back of the net twice before C.J. Sapong pulled one back for the Union moments after LA’s third.
After that brief hiccup, the Galaxy bossed the match with Stefan Ishizaki and Sebastian Lletget scoring to complete the rout. As dominant as the Galaxy’s showing looked on the score sheet, Arena’s charges understood that their coach was dead-on with his assessment.
“Our passing can maybe get a little bit better and we could control and finish off games,” Lletget said after scoring his third goal in as many games. “Even though we finished in front of goal, I think we can keep possession a little better. But we’re working on it and we’re aware of it.”
Added Gyasi Zardes who tallied a goal and two assists in the win, “We’ve already forgotten about this game and we know that we can do better, at the same time, I’m trying to grow. I’m not trying to stay here and be satisfied with my performances. I want work hard and push myself more.”
Whether or not the Galaxy can truly show better than they did against Philadelphia, the win caps off a remarkable four days which saw the defending champions hit the back of the net 11 times in two matches.
Despite a strong week, the Galaxy understand that there is another gear that this team can reach.
“Tonight we played a little bit better and we won a game. I think we did very well as a team and today we scored a lot of goals,” Juninho said. “Different guys scored the goals tonight and I think that's the point. I think we're building as a team and I'm looking forward to the next game."
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog at LAGalaxy.com/Insider and contact him at LAGalaxyInsider@Gmail.com
