STANFORD, Calif. – LA Galaxy Insider Adam Serrano provides his Three Things We Learned from the LA Galaxy’s 2-1 defeat to the San Jose Earthquakes presented by SNHU.
JELLE VAN DAMME’S UP AND DOWN NIGHT
Jelle Van Damme had an interesting night.
In the first half, the LA Galaxy captain notched his first goal in an LA Galaxy uniform nearly a year-and-a-half since joining the club. Van Damme opened his account with a beauty as he smashed a Jose Villarreal free kick into the back of the net.
Van Damme was a rock throughout the night making seven clearances, two tackles, and two blocked shots but it was not enough as San Jose battled back for the victory. The match only got worse after the final whistle as the defender was shown a second yellow for dissent which will rule him out of Tuesday’s home match against Real Salt Lake.
CURT’S KIDS BATTLE BUT CAN’T FINISH THE JOB
Curt Onalfo’s squad was shorthanded again with 12 players unavailable for Saturday’s Cali Clasico but came within seconds of earning a hard-fought point at Stanford Stadium.
Onalfo’s young side battled for 90 minutes against an Earthquakes squad that was buoyed by a crowd of more than 50,000 in attendance on Saturday. After going up on Jelle Van Damme’s first-half finish, Los Angeles remained solid defensively and nearly doubled their lead before being caught on the break by Chris Wondolowski. The Galaxy were eventually undone in stoppage time when San Jose found a late winner from Shea Salinas.
Although the defeat was frustrating for Onalfo and his squad, the match will provide a valuable learning experience for the youngsters going forward. Los Angeles can also take solace in the fact that ten of the players who saw minutes in the match came through LA Galaxy II, showcasing the success of the team’s development system.
GALAXY AT THE MIDWAY POINT OF THE SEASON
The LA Galaxy completed their 17th game of the season on Saturday, and head coach Curt Onalfo must feel bullish about his team’s prospects heading into the second half of the season.
The Galaxy sit in sixth place in the Western Conference with 22 points from 17 matches. The fact that Onalfo’s team has performed so well and remained in the playoff chase is a minor miracle given the team’s brutal injury woes that have robbed the Galaxy a starting XI worth of players in recent weeks.
As the likes of Baggio Husidic, Sebastian Lletget, Romain Alessandrini and many others return from injury, Los Angeles have put themselves in position to march up the Western Conference standings and qualify for the postseason once again.
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog at www.LAGalaxy.com/Insider and contact him at LAGalaxyInsider@Gmail.com.
