MONTREAL –LA Galaxy Insider Adam Serrano’s Three Points to the club’s 2-2 draw with the Montreal Impact. Gyasi Zardes and Alan Gordon scored as the Galaxy extended their unbeaten run to six games.
GALAXY BACK THREE EXPERIMENT FAILS…
With Todd Dunivant and A.J. DeLaGarza unavailable and two other outside backs on the mend, Bruce Arena opted to start a three-man back line to dire results in the first half.
From the start, the Impact’s speed and movement across the field befuddled a Galaxy defense that struggled to deal with the lack of numbers. With the defense stretched and no wing-backs providing cover, the Galaxy found themselves vulnerable to the pace of Montreal. The Impact made the Galaxy pay twice in the second half as Marco Di Vaio and Ignacio Piatti scored on nearly identical counterattack goals that saw the LA defense running toward their own net.
The experiment came to an end at the start of the 45th minute as Robbie Rogers replaced Stefan Ishizaki, allowing the Galaxy to return to their familiar 4-4-2 formation.
…LA GALAXY FORMATION CHANGE PULLS THEM LEVEL…
The return to the 4-4-2 formation paid immediate dividends for the LA Galaxy who quickly erased their two goal deficit.
With Rogers in the match and four in the back, the Galaxy began to control possession and wrestled momentum away from the home side. LA needed just 14 minutes to tally their first goal as a Juninho pass from beyond the penalty area landed perfectly for Gyasi Zardes who tapped it in from close range for his 15th goal of the season.
Inspired by the goal, the Galaxy continued their push and pulled level when Alan Gordon finished a play set up by Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane. The goal is Gordon’s third since joining the Galaxy last month.
…BUT THE THIRD GOAL NEVER CAME
After erasing the Impact’s two goal lead, the Galaxy had their chances to take full points from the encounter, but the goal never came.
With the score level, the teams traded chances, but both goalkeepers shined. In the 77th minute, LA goalkeeper Brian Rowe was called into action to stop a Di Vaio attempt from close range. After Di Vaio’s attempt, the Galaxy began to find their footing once more, but were kept at bay by Montreal ‘keeper Evan Bush who made four saves on the night.
Ultimately, the Galaxy will feel like they dropped two points against the Impact, but to travel nearly 2,600 miles to Montreal and earn a point will be a coup as they head down the stretch run.
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog at LAGalaxy.com/Insider and contact him at LAGalaxyInsider@Gmail.com.
