Los Angeles Galaxy win by 1-0 against Philadelphia Union
The Galaxy struck a win by 1-0 over the Philadelphia Union at the Home Depot Centre on Saturday. Leonardo Ribeiro finished off well on a free-kick from David Beckham to score the all important goal of the game.
Although the Galaxy were destroyed by 4-1 against the Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto, their win against the Union clearly proves that they are ‘Comeback Fighters’.
Though, this was a low scoring match but it involved a lot of body-play from both the sides. The referee had a busy day on the field, cautioning nine players with an ejection of the Galaxy midfielder, Chris Birchall, in the second half. The Galaxy
held well with the ball on the forward line, despite of the loss in the central midfield.
The skipper, Landon Donovan, came back after performing the national team duties and regained the charge from Beckham. Omar Gonzalez and Donovan Ricketts were the other two players, who got a place in the line-up after missing out against the RSL.
However, the Union had to feature without their key player, Justin Mapp, who was left out because of an injury.
The Galaxy played a possession game in the first half and did not allow the opponents to impose any sort of real attack on them. Though, the Galaxy had the possession for a better part of the first half but their mode of play was not offensive. They
were holding it more instead of making something out of it.
The goal resulted from a set-piece magic from the English midfielder, who launched a free-kick right into the penalty area. Leonardo only had to dodge the opponent’s midfielder, Stefani Miglioranzi, before heading the ball into the net and providing
his team with a decisive lead.
The Union started off the second half with a bit more aggression and attack on the ball. Juninho Pernambucano had the first real opportunity in the second half, when he kicked the ball into the crossbar.
Birchall’s sent-off was a real advantage for the Union, the Galaxy become relatively more tighten in their approach from thereon.
The Union brought in Jack McInerney and Roger Torres in place of Sheanon Williams and Kyle Nakazawa in the closing times of the game. Donovan and Juan Pablo Angel took some attack back to the Philadelphia but Los Angeles could not control his header
and posted it off-target. After that, the Galaxy started to play safe and had tightened the back line. It was first loss of the season for the Union in addition to a couple of wins.