Okay, so the Galaxy’s road-win on Saturday doesn’t exactly amount to breaking the curse of the Bambino. Still, it must have been nice for the Galaxy players to hit the showers Saturday night with the monkey off their backs. The last time the Galaxy won away from the StubHub Center was almost a year ago to….interestingly enough, the Colorado Rapids.
I think it was one of the things on my mind when I first came into the team. I knew the record on the road hadn’t been too healthy of late, so it was important that we got back to trying to win on the road. It’s a big three points tonight and a wonderful second half team performance. First half was a bit of a hit and miss, we were slow off the blocks again, but we showed immense character to come back into the game.
-Steven Gerrard
Due to the fact that former Galaxy midfielder Marcelo Sarvas was recovering from knee surgery earlier this year when the Galaxy played the Rapids at the StubHub Center, this was the first time Sarvas has suited up against his former teammates. And it was Sarvas who opened the scoring in the 12th minute off of what looked to be some sloppy defending by the Galaxy. Though the Rapids looked good early on, by the 35th minute or so, the Galaxy started to turn the tables on the hosts, and the Rapids resorted to throwing numbers in front of their penalty box to defend their lead.
Shortly after half-time, Sebastian Lletget and Juninho engaged in a quick give-and-go and Lletget hit a left footed blast that positively rocketed past Clint Irwin into Colorado’s net for the equalizer. In the 69th minute, Steven Gerrard sliced a shot towards goal only to see Irwin bat it away – fortunately for the Galaxy, Alan Gordon was waiting in the penalty box for the rebound.
After the Galaxy gained the advantage, Colorado started throwing numbers forward to get the equalizer. Colorado fought desperately for a goal and, in a moment laden with subtext, Marcelo Sarvas tussled a bit with Gerrard, lashing out at the man who had taken his place in the Galaxy midfield.
Though Colorado had little choice, the danger with its approach was that it exposed itself to the counterattack. During stoppage time, Robbie Keane, the Opportunistic-Hunter-of-Goals, raced towards James Riley after a throw in, literally took the ball from him, trotted down the field while whipping his head over his shoulder to confirm that Gerrard and Edson Buddle were in full sprint to join him, passed the ball to Gerrard who swiftly passed it back to Keane and watched while Keane knocked the ball home.
The guys get an A+ for their effort. I felt that if we gave an effort as a group tonight, as a team tonight, over time the quality would show and make a difference in the game and it certainly did.
-Bruce Arena
The final score: LA Galaxy 3: Colorado Rapids 1. A good night for the Galaxy and its newest midfielder, Steven Gerrard who, enjoying his first road win with the Galaxy, gamely subdued Colorado fans hooting their displeasure from the stands by blowing kisses to the crowd as he left the field.
The Galaxy will face off in the first round of the CONCACAF Champions League this Thursday against Central FC of the TT Pro League.