Injuries fail to slow down streaking Galaxy
Injuries have decimated the Galaxy this season, testing the depth of a roster that was woefully thin to begin with.
The latest to go down is central midfielder Baggio Husidic, who fractured his left fibula less than eight minutes into last weekend’s win over Minnesota United. He is the third starting midfielder to be lost, joining Sebastian Lletget (foot fracture) and Jermaine Jones (strained knee ligaments) on the sidelines.
And that’s left coach Curt Onalfo with few options to fill out his lineup for Saturday’s road game with the San Jose Earthquakes (7 p.m., Univision).
“You guys can draw conclusions based on the person we put in and how he performed last game,” Onalfo said of his choices. “It’s just logical to play him again.”
That person is Rafa Garcia, who opened the season as the starting right back and is likely to join Joao Pedro in the midfield Saturday.
“With injury comes opportunity,” said Garcia, who hasn’t started since mid-March. “That was the case against Minnesota. And we felt comfortable stepping in there and getting the job done.”
The Galaxy (4-5-2) are unbeaten in their last four games, a streak which includes road victories in consecutive weeks for the first time since July 2012. With a league-high three away wins on the season, the Galaxy have already surpassed their total for road victories from all of 2015. They won four road games in 2016.
Gio dos Santos and Romain Alessandrini have sparked that streak, with Dos Santos scoring in three straight games and Alessandrini picking up five goals and three assists in five road games. Those streaks will be tested in San Jose, where the Earthquakes are unbeaten in six games this season.
The Galaxy have won just one of their last 13 regular-season road games with San Jose and have never won at Avaya Stadium, where Saturday’s match will be played.
“We’ve started games well. We’ve gotten the first goal. All things that help statistically give you the better chance to get results,” Onalfo explained of his team’s recent success. “But every game’s different.”
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