Galaxy a Winner by Knockout Over United
It looked more like a night of fights at the Forum than a match between teams with the best and worst records in Major League Soccer.
When the final bell had rung, the Los Angeles Galaxy had emerged with a 3-1 victory over Washington D.C. United on Saturday night before 21,874 at the Rose Bowl.
The dramatics seemed to agree with the Galaxy (6-11), which hadn’t scored a goal in two earlier losses to the league-leading United (13-5). Los Angeles led, 2-0, at halftime and was rarely challenged by a team that has scored the most goals (40) in the league.
The fisticuffs started in the second half with Washington hoping to rally.
The Galaxy, winning its second consecutive game for only the second time this season, reacted angrily when the United scored its first goal on a shot by midfielder Richie Williams in the 55th minute to trim the lead to 2-1.
Five minutes later, Galaxy defender Danny Pena was given a yellow card for a dangerous slide. A scuffle followed and referee John Weselak needed five minutes to cool tempers.
“We’re not supposed to criticize the officials by order of the league, but that play deserved a red card in my opinion and I hope the league responds accordingly,” United Coach Bruce Arena said in a postgame news conference. “I’ll be waiting to see if anything comes about it.”
Less than a minute later, Los Angles defender Paul Caligiuri pushed Washington midfielder Marco Etcheverry after the ball had gone out of bounds. Another scuffle followed, but Weselak issued no cards.
Tempers on both teams reached the boiling point in the 65th minute when the United’s Ben Iroha was given a red card for tackling forward Cobi Jones from behind when Jones was one-on-one with goalie Scott Garlick.
Most of Washington’s starting lineup surrounded Weselak, protesting the call. Etcheverry carried his dismay too far, also receiving a red card for unsportsmanlike conduct. Iroha was booed and had water bottles thrown at him as headed for the locker room. Etcheverry took his cue and decided to seek refuge on the bench.
With only nine players for the final 25 minutes, the United could hope only not to embarrass itself. Los Angeles put the finishing touches on perhaps its best game of the season by scoring its third goal in the 78th minute on a short goal by Welton off an assist from Jones. Jones has scored a point in each of his last four games.
“There is a rivalry between these two teams, so tempers are going to flare in this kind of a game,” said Galaxy interim coach Octavio Zambrano, who is 3-2 since replacing Lothar Osiander last month. “When you take all the cards away, I think we still played a very good game. We need more consistency, but we improved tonight.”
Midfielder Chris Armas opened the scoring in the ninth minute with a hard shot from 35 yards out that rolled off the fingertips of goalie Garlick and into the goal.
In the 27th minute, forward Eduardo Hurtado scored only his second goal of the season with a hard shot to the left corner of the goal after a pass from Mauricio Cienfuegos. Hurtado led the team last season with 21 goals.
