Another subpar showing led to another goalless game, and the LA Galaxy have now gone 279 minutes since they hit the net and nearly a month since their last victory.
Real Salt Lake overran them 3-0 Saturday night at Rio Tinto Stadium, with the Galaxy conceding right at the start, giving away a penalty kick before a half-hour had passed. LA then surrendered another goal eight minutes into the second half to end any remaining suspense.
It wasn't the lack of firepower that bothered the Galaxy, which created some decent chances in the first half. It might well have led to goals if Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando hadn't stopped harsh shots by Steven Gerrard, Robbie Keane, and, at the finish, Alan Gordon.
LA couldn't match RSL's vitality nor their effort, struggled to contain attacking midfielders Javier Morales, Juan Manuel Martinez and Joao Plata, and watched helplessly as Devon Sandoval tallied twice.
There were defensive miscues on every goal. There was the tea;s inability to clear a corner kick, leading to Sandoval's third-minute opener -- with Omar Gonzalez failing to track him in the box. Then Juninho's poor judgment gave Morales a 28th-minute spot kick. Later, in the 53rd, Sandoval headed home after Martinez ran circles around Leonardo.
Galaxy coach Bruce Arena called the opening 45 minutes “a comedy of errors on our part.”
“I thought we did a good job of winning balls and having some opportunities to counter [in the first half], and our passing was poor,” Arena said on Time Warner SportsNet's post-game show. “We were never able to execute properly where we could win a ball and create an advantage going forward. Our passing was poor, our decision-making running off the ball was not good, and it resulted in a really inconsistent first half, and, obviously, it cost us the game.”
Things were just as tough at the other end, especially on the right side of LA's backline, which was overrun by RSL's midfielders.
“I thought we came together pretty well after [RSL's first] goal,” Gonzalez said. “We had some good possession, we had a few good chances, but they never amounted to anything, and it was real difficult to get around their guys. Javier Morales was floating in between us [on the backline] and the midfield line, and Plata was floating in there, and Martinez, as well. They just made it really difficult... I don't think we figured it out. They overloaded [on their left] and we just weren't getting into tackles.”
A.J. DeLaGarza, LA's right back, called it a mismatch.
“Sometimes, Gyasi [Zardes, the right-sided midfielder] and I were 3-v-2, 4-v-2, and we just couldn't get around the ball with those kinds of numbers,” he said.
Gonzalez's prescription: The Galaxy need to “be meaner, a little more aggressive.”
“Just foul them to foul them,” he said. “[Send the message that] they can't just have their way with the ball and do whatever they want.”
Keane noted how difficult it is “in any game when you concede in the first couple of minutes away from home.” But he's not concerned that LA has gone more than three games without a goal, including a 1-0 loss Aug. 28 at San Jose and last weekend's scoreless draw at StubHub Center with Montreal.
“Of course, you want to score goals, but we know with the players we have in this team, we're going to continue to score a lot of goals," he said. "That's one of those things. Every team goes through a couple games like that.”
