LA Galaxy 5-1 Central FC – 2015-16 CONCACAF Champions League
Giovani Dos Santos punctuated a fine debut for the LA Galaxy on Thursday night with a goal in a 5-1 CONCACAF Champions League romp over Trinidad and Tobago’s Central FC, then nearly netted a second.
Alan Gordon and Raul Mendiola scored first-half goals and Gyasi Zardes tallied from a penalty kick soon after the break before Dos Santos and Ignacio Maganto added late strikes in a physical, sometimes testy affair marked, at least in the first 45 minutes, by questionable refereeing decisions.
The Mexican star, signed last month from Spanish club Villarreal, came on a dozen minutes into the second half of a Group D encounter dominated from start to finish by LA, helped move the ball around as LA looked to build on a two-goal advantage, then hit the net in the 76th minute and nearly did so again, firing wide five minutes later.
He drew “Gio!” chants from a crowd of 13,625 at StubHub Center as he entered the field and after tallying as LA matched its CCL high for goals, set in their 2012-13 opener, a 5-2 rout of El Salvador’s Isidro Metapan.
The Galaxy have scored 30 goals in their last six competitive games at StubHub.
