Galaxy Not at Its Best Against Best
It should be no surprise that the Galaxy came up with an extraordinary effort against D.C. United.
The surprise was, it was extraordinarily bad.
In a game even more lopsided than the score indicates, D.C. United rolled to a 3-0 victory before a raucous, singing crowd of 23,631 at RFK Stadium on Friday night.
“They came out and you could see the fire in their eyes,” Galaxy defender Danny Pena said. “We didn’t come out prepared to play, and when you’re not prepared to play, they’re going to make you pay.”
This was a matchup of the teams with the two best records in Major League Soccer. It was supposed to be a showcase for a Galaxy offense on pace to break D.C. United’s season scoring record.
But D.C. United attacked from the outset, keeping the Galaxy on its heels all night.
“Without a doubt, it was one of our better performances this year,” D.C. Coach Bruce Arena said. “Our defending tonight was a team effort. It started with the forwards.”
It started with Galaxy goalkeeper Kevin Hartman making a diving save in the second minute to save a goal by Roy Lassiter. Things got worse for the Galaxy (15-3) from there.
D.C. midfielder Marco Etcheverry seemed particularly intent on pushing upfield, moving frenetically through the defense. Time and again, he found teammates alone on the flanks.
On one such play, a long pass to Jaime Moreno led to a corner kick that resulted in the game’s first score, in the 23rd minute.
Etcheverry’s corner sailed just over a clot of players in the box and found John Harkes standing alone at the penalty spot. Harkes headed the ball past Hartman, who was screened on the play.
The Galaxy showed brief signs of life. Welton sent a cross that barely eluded Cobi Jones. Soon after, Ezra Hendrickson’s header sailed over the crossbar.
But as the Galaxy pressed forward, D.C. United (15-5) countered with a 3-on-2 break in the 34th minute. Lassiter, who had Etcheverry and Moreno on the wings, kept the ball and beat Robin Fraser to the left side. Lassiter then beat Hartman to the near post.
It was a case of the best defense being a good offense.
“L.A. is the type of team that will come at you fast and hard and strong,” D.C. defender Jeff Agoos said. “We had to keep the ball away from them.”
D.C. United put the game away in the 49th minute, when midfielder Ben Olsen took a throw-in and, with his back to the goal, sent a crossing pass that froze the defense. Moreno dove past Jones to head the ball into the net.
From there, the game--always testy between these teams--deteriorated. Hermosillo ended up with a red card in the 82nd minute for taking down Harkes.
Galaxy Coach Octavio Zambrano tried to keep his head about him. “There’s no sense for the dramatics,” he said. “I don’t think this is indicative of our team or what we can do the remainder of the season.”
But the Galaxy has yet to play well against the premier teams of the league. Consider: In three games against D.C. United and the Chicago Fire, the Galaxy is winless and has been outscored, 7-2.
At the very least, Zambrano is tinkering with his midfield. This week, the ever-changing lineup saw Pena and Paul Caligiuri push up from their defender spots.
And though his team still owns the best record in MLS, and still holds a lead over Chicago in the Western Conference, the players know something is missing.
“The chemistry is not totally there yet,” Hartman said. “Until we come up with a win against one of those teams, we can’t say we’re the best in the league.”
