Star Shines Again, but Not for Galaxy
He may no longer be with the Galaxy, but Welton still rules the Rose Bowl.
The Brazilian forward, traded from the Galaxy to Miami on June 1, broke a 1-1 tie with a goal in the 64th minute as the Fusion ended the Galaxy’s winning streak at four with a 2-1 Major League Soccer victory before 60,433 at the Rose Bowl on Sunday night.
With superb goaltending from Garth Lagerwey, the Fusion (5-12) managed a 1-1 tie at halftime despite being outshot, 10-2. The Galaxy (9-7) had a 3-1 advantage in shots in the second half before Welton took a pass from Henry Gutierrez, split two defenders, and beat Galaxy goaltender Kevin Hartman from just inside the 18-yard box.
It was Welton’s second goal with the Fusion after going without a goal in nine games with the Galaxy before the trade.
“It was a personal thing for me tonight,” said Welton, who had 28 goals and 16 assists in 69 games in more than two years with the Galaxy. “I’m very happy with the Fusion, at the same time I’m happy to score the game-winner against my old team.”
The player the Galaxy got in the three-team deal, Roy Myers from New York/New Jersey, scored his the first goal for his new team.
Myers ran a give-and-go with Danny Pena, passing to Pena, then getting it back after freeing himself before beating Lagerwey in the 38th minute to make it 1-1.
But aside for Myers’ goal, Lagerwey frustrated the Galaxy, finishing with six saves--four from point-blank range. The biggest save came in the 89th minute, when he stopped Carlos Hermosillo’s spinning kick from 10 yards out.
Hermosillo had a goal in each his previous three games since returning to the Galaxy from Mexico.
Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid said the most disappointing part of the game was losing before the largest Rose bowl crowd of the season, and the biggest since 1996.
“Today we played indecisive,” he said. “In the first half we had four or five good chances and came away with only one goal. If we put away some of those we would’ve taken command and taken them out of their game.”
The victory was the first on the road this season for the Fusion.
Other MLS Games
Jeff Baicher scored in the fifth round of a shootout to give San Jose (10-7) a 2-1 victory over D.C. United (11-6) before 73,123 at Palo Alto, in a match that followed the U.S. women’s 2-0 World Cup victory over Brazil. It was a MLS-record eighth shootout victory of the season for San Jose . . . Ante Razov had two goals to lead Chicago (9-7) to a 2-1 victory over Dallas (9-9) before 17,621 at Dallas. . . . Joe-Max Moore had two goals to lead New England (8-8) to a 3-2 victory over New York-New Jersey (5-11) before 28,986 at Foxboro, Mass. . . . Stern John had two goals for the second consecutive game to lead Columbus (11-5) to a 3-0 victory over Colorado (10-4) before 51,025 at Denver.
