Spiced-Up Galaxy Is a Winner
Carlos Hermosillo didn’t need 11 games to make an impact with the Galaxy this season. He needed only a little more than half an hour.
Hermosillo’s goal in the 32nd minute of his first game back from the Mexican First Division gave the Galaxy a one-goal lead in its most productive half of the season as it built a two-goal lead at halftime and held on for a 2-1 victory over Chicago before 18,102 at the Rose Bowl on Saturday night.
Playing before nearly 5,000 fans above the Galaxy average, Hermosillo, the only Mexican-born player on the squad, was the benefactor of beautiful passing by Danny Pena, Simon Elliott and Roy Myers.
Pena began the play with a pass through Elliott’s legs into the 18-yard box. The ball went to Myers, who fed to Elliott, who found Hermosillo for the crossing shot past Fire goalkeeper Zach Thornton.
“It was a great play. Basically, they left me alone in front of the net,” said Hermosillo, who was scoreless in his first 10 MLS games last season. “All I had to do was cross it.”
Thirteen minutes later, Elliott went from giver to receiver, taking a crossing pass from Mauricio Cienfuegos that found Elliott open just inside the left corner of the goalie box.
It was Elliott’s first MLS goal.
The Galaxy dominated the first half, outshooting the Fire, 10-2, including a 5-0 edge in shots on goal. The Galaxy also had five corner kicks to the Fire’s one.
It was the Galaxy’s first multiple-goal game of the season, and with the victory Los Angeles (7-6 and 15 points) improved to 10-0 when Hermosillo scores or assists. It is hoped his return will help what had been an inept offense, one that had a league-low eight goals coming into Saturday’s game.
But it did come with a price.
Defender Paul Caligiuri, one of the big reasons the Galaxy has the top-ranked defense in the league, received a red card in the 51st minute, forcing the Galaxy to play shorthanded the rest of the game.
Caligiuri, who must sit out the Galaxy’s next game, Saturday at D.C. United, spiked Chicago’s Manuel Lagos in the thigh while it appeared he was going for the ball.
“I think it would have been harsh to give that a yellow card,” Caligiuri said. “I honestly thought when I first saw the red card that [referee Brian Hall] pulled out the wrong card.”
The card came four minutes after Chicago’s Josh Wolff scored his fifth goal to make it 2-1. The rest of the game was filled with physical play, including three yellow cards for the Fire. Chicago (6-6, 18 points) had several scoring chances, but the Galaxy defense stiffened and did not allow another shot on goal.
“In the first half, we played our best soccer all year,” Caligiuri said. “In the second, we faced every dilemma. It said a lot about our character to play that way down a man against the defending champions.”
