The LA Galaxy offered no excuses after they were slapped around Saturday night by the Vancouver Whitecaps in a 2-0 defeat that wasn't nearly as close as the score suggests.
The Whitecaps possessed great energy and utilized a speedy counterattack and superb defending all over the field to dominate LA (1-2-2), who were shut out for the second straight week as their winless streak reached four games.
“We have no excuses,” head coach Bruce Arena said on Time Warner Cable SportsNet's postgame show. “We were soundly beat over 90 minutes. They out-competed us from the start, and, as a starting point, if you don't have the battle in you, the right kind of [drive to be] competing in a game, you have no chance.
“We didn't position ourselves to be able to win this game. And give Vancouver credit: They simply outplayed us from start to finish.”
The Galaxy looked good only in fleeting moments, primarily to start the second half. But they couldn't match the Whitecaps' passion and struggled to win balls, hold possession or slow down their foes' speedy attackers.
They were outshot 18-6 – Kekuta Manneh had seven shots on his own – put just one shot on frame and came close to scoring only once, when Edson Buddle nodded a Stefan Ishizaki cross over the bar in the 84th minute.
If not for Jaime Penedo, who made seven saves and had to parry three dangerous balls, the 'Caps might have scored five or six.
“They were the better team all around,” said captain Robbie Keane, who was tracked all night by Russell Teibert. “They kept the ball well, they counterattacked very, very well, and at the end of the day, they scored two goals. So you just have to hold your hands up and accept we weren't good enough tonight and they were the better team.”
Said defender AJ DeLaGarza: “I don't think any guy [for LA] won his battle tonight.”
The Galaxy's struggles became apparent pretty early. Vancouver possessed in Galaxy territory much of the first half, creating several good opportunities. After LA's initial push after halftime, the Whitecaps looked thoroughly in charge.
Vancouver had an extra man in midfield, and they were willing to keep their defenders home and rely on their speed, especially Manneh's, to generate their attack. Zardes said there were “multiple times I wasn't a threat going forward,” and Keane had little influence on the encounter.
“We got beat in every aspect of the game,” Arena said. “There's no area we can feel good about. ... Can't take anything good [from this]. Maybe, personally, every player can look at their performance and make sure that it doesn't happen again.”
