LA Galaxy 4-1 Philadelphia Union
Boosted by a Galaxy goal scored in the second minute, Donovan nabbed his 135th and 136th goals in MLS regular season play, surpassing Jeff Cunningham to become the League’s all-time leading goal scorer on his first goal.
Robbie Keane:
“The way we played [on Sunday] was the old Galaxy,” said the Galaxy captain. “I said a few weeks ago that there is a big performance coming from this team and tonight was one of those.”
Second half they had to come out a little bit more. We were lucky with the two goals we got—in the first couple of minutes and after the half time we caught them cold a little bit,” said Keane. “So, once you got that, Landon personally and the whole stadium relaxed a little bit more. Once the second goal went in, you could see the relief in everybody, certainly Landon. The performance of the whole team in general was fantastic.”
“It was our own errors and I felt like we gifted [Los Angeles] the game,” said Union midfielder Maurice Edu, fresh off a call-up with the U.S. men’s national team. “We gave some goals to them, but in saying that, we have another game on Saturday here in LA again and it’s a chance for us to find a way to get back on the right track.”
Brazilian midfielder Leonardo kicked off the score sheet in the second minute, redirecting a header past Union goalkeeper Zac MacMath. The Union would press following the goal, creating chances of its own, but were unable to find the net. It was the quick counter attacking nature of the Galaxy and miscues from the Union defense that found the Galaxy (4-3-3, 15 points) finishing off four of its nine shots on goal. Galaxy forward Robbie Keane scored his seventh of the season directly off a Union miscue in the second half.
The Union would pull one back in the closing moments of this match as second half substitute Zach Pfeffer was fouled in the box by Galaxy homegrown player Raul Mendiola. It was the second game in a row in which Pfeffer’s play on the ball led to a Union attempt from the spot. Maurice Edu buried the penalty kick attempt.
“We can’t give up a goal two minutes into the game and play from behind,” Union midfielder Danny Cruz said. “Obviously, if you look at the end the result you can see that it’s a poor performance and we aren’t happy. We just can’t start a game like that and we continue to do it week in and week out…eventually, it takes a toll on you.”
