The LA Galaxy snapped a 350-minute scoreless streak in MLS regular season play on Saturday to win their second home game of the year, by a 3-0 margin over the Colorado Rapids at StubHub Center.
LA's last home win in the league came on April 7 against Montreal, although their home record (2-8-4) remains the worst in the league this year.
LA took the lead in the 18th minute, after Gyasi Zardes was clattered over in the box by Colorado goalkeeper Zac MacMath, and Romain Alessandrini converted the resulting penalty. Five minutes later, Emmanuel Boateng doubled the Galaxy's lead with a one-timer in the box.
Zardes notched his first goal of the 2017 season after the restart, poking in Alessandrini's cross to make it a rout for the home side.
Goals
- 18' – LA – Romain Alessandrini (PK) Watch
- 23' – LA – Emmanuel Boateng Watch
- 56' – LA – Gyasi Zardes Watch
Three Things
- VETERAN BOOST: The Galaxy dominated the game wire-to-wire, and two players who missed the last game made a big difference on the night. Alessandrini set the tone through the first half with his skill and workrate, and a goal and assist was fair return on his efforts on the night, while Jermaine Jones played possibly his best game in a Galaxy jersey. Against his old side, Jones maintained a steady, disciplined shift that lacked in fireworks but helped prevent the Rapids from getting any kind of momentum. The return of the duo may not solve all of LA's problems, but at the very least it certainly helped in this game.
- THE BREAKTHROUGH: The hope has to be that Zardes will gain some traction with this performance to finish the season strong. After a broken foot ended his 2016 season prematurely and a knee injury sidelined him during the US national team's annual January camp, Zardes had to wait to get back in action. And through 17 league appearances this year, he had yet to find the back of the net, leading to criticism from head coach Sigi Schmid that the team lacked a center forward. The goal scored against the Rapids (to go with an assist in setting up Boateng's tally) may or may not kickstart an uptick in form, but on his birthday of all days, it has to be a pretty great present.
- GENTLE WAVES: For all of the accolades the Galaxy will get on the night, the Rapids put in a remarkably sluggish performance. The teams ended up even on shots, 10 apiece, and Colorado edged LA in possession, with 51.8 percent, but they seldom controlled the ball in dangerous positions and a general lack of ideas seemed to plague them in attack. Newcomer Stefan Aigner made his debut for the Rapids in coming off the bench in the second half, but it was a "back to the drawing board" kind of game, not least considering the Galaxy's struggles at home this season.
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