VANCOUVER, B.C. – LA Galaxy Insider Adam Serrano provides his Three Things We Learned from the LA Galaxy’s 4-2 defeat to Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
SECOND HALF MELTDOWN DOOMS GALAXY
Jelle Van Damme described the LA Galaxy’s second half collapse to Vancouver Whitecaps FC in a concise, if not vulgar manner: “We f*ked up.”
Heading into the second half, the Galaxy held a slim 2-1 lead, but once the second stanza began it fell to pieces as individual mistakes doomed Los Angeles. Too often in the final 45 minutes, the Galaxy’s conceded the ball in dangerous areas freeing Vancouver to challenge the defense and eventually find the back of the net. Goalkeeper Clement Diop also shouldered the blame after the match, stating that he needed to better during Vancouver’s turnaround.
After the game, the Galaxy were introspective stating that the team will need to look in the mirror and recover from the issues. The Galaxy face a quick turnaround with a match at home against Montreal Impact on Friday where they’ll need to learn from their mistakes if they’re to earn their first home win of the fledgling season.
ROMAIN OPENS HIS ACCOUNT WITH BRACE
Romain Alessandrini proved to be a game-changer yet again for the LA Galaxy with a brace in Saturday’s defeat.
Alessandrini opened his account in the 26th minute when his shot kissed the post and then bounced off the head of goalkeeper David Ousted, in a strike that was initially ruled an own goal. The Frenchman doubled his total just four minutes later with a finish off a stellar bit of combination play between Jack McBean and Ema Boateng.
As the tide turned Vancouver’s way, Alessandrini kept fighting with several dangerous runs that threatened to put the Galaxy back in the game. Although the Galaxy slumped to 1-3-0 on the year with their loss, Alessandrini’s play is a bright spot from a sour night for Los Angeles.
GYASI ZARDES MAKES HIS 2017 DEBUT
Gyasi Zardes returned to action for the first time since last August going 23 minutes against Vancouver.
Zardes appeared relatively clean on the ball in his first competitive appearance since last summer completing six of his nine passes on the evening. Despite being unable to make an impact, his presence will be a positive for Curt Onalfo after a frustrating result.
As Onalfo looks to bring Zardes along, expect the forward to see more minutes on Friday when the Galaxy return home to host the Montreal Impact at StubHub Center.
Adam Serrano is the LA Galaxy Insider. Read his blog atwww.LAGalaxy.com/Insiderand contact him atLAGalaxyInsider@Gmail.com
