COLUMBUS, Ohio – LA Galaxy Insider Adam Serrano provides his Three Points to the Galaxy’s 4-1 defeat to the Columbus Crew.
CREW FLY OUT OF THE GATE…
Landon Donovan was honored prior to the LA Galaxy’s match with the Columbus Crew, but the home side stole the show once the whistle was blown.
Inspired by the play from Fredrico Higuain in the center of the field, the Galaxy found themselves in a back-and-forth match from the start. With Higuain pulling the strings and forcing Juninho and Marcelo Sarvas to double-team the Argentinian, space emerged for the Crew offense and after 23 minutes Justin Meram put Columbus ahead with a well-taken finish.
Columbus struck again 10 minutes later when Meram found Ethan Finlay who beat LA goalkeeper Jaime Penedo with a left-footed attempt.
...AND STAY HOT THANKS TO AN IMPRESSIVE COUNTER ATTACKING OFFENSE
Gyasi Zardes cut the lead Crew’s lead to one just four minutes into the second half to give the Galaxy hope but about 10 minutes later, Columbus rediscovered their swagger spurred on by a devastating counter attack.
In the 64th minute, an injury to Robbie Rogers forced Galaxy boss Bruce Arena to go to three in the back as Baggio Husidic was placed into the midfield. Although this move was intended to give LA a platform to attack Columbus, it was the Crew who found their groove as Ben Speas doubled the home side’s lead in the 74th minute. Six minutes later, a Crew counter attack resulted in a Higuain corner that Costa Rican defender Giancarlo Gonzalez slotted home to give the Galaxy their worst margin of the defeat of the year.
Despite conceding two goals in the second half, LA had plenty of opportunities, but were held due to an impressive performance by goalkeeper Steve Clark who notched four saves on the night.
GYASI ZARDES CONTINUES HIS SCORING RUN
The result wasn’t the best for the LA Galaxy, but Gyasi Zardes continued his torrid scoring streak.
Zardes found the back of the net in the 49th minute to for his 10th goal of the season. The 22-year-old forward from Hawthorne has now scored nine goals in his last 10 matches. Zardes was unlucky not to grab a second in the 83rd minute when he overran a Robbie Keane pass and missed a short-range attempt.
Although LA endured their highest margin of defeat of the season, Zardes’ goal gives LA hope heading into the stretch run.
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog at LAGalaxy.com/Insider and contact him at LAGalaxyInsider@Gmail.com.
