Jones’ goals rally Galaxy to a tie
Cobi Jones had a pair of goals, and the Galaxy erased a two-goal deficit in the second half to earn a 2-2 tie with the Kansas City Wizards on Saturday night in front of 22,637 at the Home Depot Center.
The Galaxy veteran came off the bench and had his first multi-goal game since Aug. 10, 2002, against New England.
“I’m happy with the situation, coming off the bench at that point,” Jones said. “I did what I was expected to do ... in that position, which is to make a change. With the two goals, I affected that.”
It was only the second time the Galaxy (3-5-4) has come from behind to earn a point this season. L.A. fought back from a 1-0 deficit against Chivas USA on May 20 to earn a 1-1 tie.
“I hope that’s something that all the players start believing and knowing, that we can go out there and score and win games,” Jones said.
The tie finishes a four-game Galaxy homestand in which the team was 2-1-1 after a slow start to the season. Coach Frank Yallop said that the Galaxy probably would not have come back two weeks ago and that its confidence is building.
“Us coming back from two-nil down was obviously a positive from our side of things,” Yallop said. “I guess a draw was fair.... What I liked about it, and I’ve got to take positives out of certain situations, we kept going and we nearly won.”
Indeed, Jones was just wide on an attempt in the 83rd minute that would have given the Galaxy the lead.
After a first half in which the Galaxy held Kansas City (6-5-4) without a shot on goal, the Wizards took advantage of a pair of defensive miscues.
Chris Klein attempted to clear Jack Jewsbury’s pass in the 47th minute, but Yura Movsisyan, who played at Pasadena City College, intercepted the ball, dribbled between Klein and Abel Xavier and beat Joe Cannon to put Kansas City ahead, 1-0.
Four minutes later, Cannon misplayed a ball headed back to him by Ante Jazic, and Davy Arnaud kicked it into the back of the net.
Jones cut the deficit in half for the Galaxy in the 61st minute with his third goal of the season. Carlos Pavon’s shot ricocheted off the right post, and Jones sent the rebound past former Galaxy goalkeeper Kevin Hartman.
Landon Donovan collided with Nick Garcia when Donovan went to retrieve the ball and Garcia attempted to kick the ball away. Kyle Martino and Garcia exchanged heated words before being separated, and Garcia received a yellow card.
The Galaxy continued pressing, which kept Kansas City on its heels.
Donovan retrieved the rebound off his corner kick in the 75th minute and passed to Jones, who found the right side of the net to even the score.
In the first half, however, the Galaxy couldn’t make the final pass that could have given it its first goal.
Martino missed to the left on a 20-yard shot in the ninth minute, and several wayward crosses by Donovan ended other Galaxy chances in the first 45 minutes.
Martino created one of the Galaxy’s better chances of the first half when he maneuvered around a defender in the left corner, but Pavon’s shot off Martino’s cross was wide left.
Pavon, who made his Galaxy debut in the second half Wednesday against Chicago, started Saturday night.
Hartman, who played for the Galaxy from 1997 to 2006, stopped Kelly Gray’s shot in the 24th minute.
