Galaxy defeat Seattle Sounders, 1-0, on goal by Robbie Keane
Six times this season the Galaxy have been given a second-half lead or tie to protect, only to watch it disappear in the time it takes to say “uh-oh.”
So when goalkeeper Brian Rowe lost the ball to Jordan Morris in front of his own goal in the second half of Saturday’s game with Seattle, he felt he was reliving a nightmare he had already seen too many times. Only this one had a happy ending, because when Morris finally gathered himself and got off a shot, defender A.J. DeLaGarza leaped in front of it, deflecting the ball wide to preserve a 1-0 victory over the Sounders.
“Being able to close out a game like that is massive,” Rowe said after the Galaxy’s second road win of the season, and their first in nearly three months. “We’re finally figuring out that last little piece that we need.”
Robbie Keane gave the Galaxy the only score they would need early in the first half, taking a pass from Gyasi Zardes on the edge of the six-yard box and lifting it over keeper Stefan Frei and into the top of the netting for his fourth goal in five games.
But then scoring hasn’t been a problem for the Galaxy, who lead the league with 31 goals. Preventing goals has been another story, although the Galaxy appear to be figuring that out too after recording shutouts in three of their last four MLS games.
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Rowe, who has five shutouts on the year, needed a lot of help in this one after the Sounders got off a season-high 22 shots. Yet he was called on to save only four of those because his defenders blocked nine others, including DeLaGarza’s game-winning stop on Morris in the 53rd minute.
The play began with a long through ball from Tyrone Mears that found Morris behind DeLaGarza on the edge of the penalty area. When the keeper dashed off his line to challenge Morris, DeLaGarza circled in behind to make the kick save.
“It was a tough play,” DeLaGarza said. “He had the whole goal to shoot at. You try to make yourself big.”
Added Rowe: “I was just hoping he’d be able to make a play there. So I definitely owe him a beer tonight.”
Seattle Coach Sigi Schmid might be reaching for something a little stronger; Saturday’s loss was not only the league-worst 10th of the season for his Sounders, but it also marked the third time in four games they failed to score.
It wasn’t for a lack of effort or opportunity. In addition to Morris’ near miss, Clint Dempsey put one shot off the goalpost, and Rowe one-handed another Dempsey shot over the crossbar. Rowe also frustrated Zach Scott on a clean header.
The last time the Sounders scored in Seattle was May 7. And when they failed to get another goal Saturday despite outshooting the Galaxy 22-7, they were booed off the field by the crowd of 40,813.
“The ball just didn’t bounce our way,” midfielder Cristian Roldan shrugged. “We have to live with that.
“On another day two of those go in and we win the game. They had one opportunity and took advantage of it.”
That chance came in the 15th minute after Dave Romney pushed a quick pass forward to Zardes, who spun away from his defender, raced up the left flank to the edge of the penalty area and slipped another pass around a sliding challenge from Chad Marshall to Keane. The Galaxy captain then reached back with his left foot to flick a shot under the crossbar for his seventh goal in his last seven regular-season appearances against Seattle.
It was also his second game-winning goal in two starts since returning from international duty with Ireland in the European Championship.
“Two games, two wins, two goals,” Keane said with a smile. “That’s all right, no?”
Follow Kevin Baxter on Twitter @kbaxter11
