After a near scare in Sandy, Utah the Galaxy return to Southern California in a win or go home scenario against Real Salt Lake and Jaime Penedo has to continue his stellar play in goal for LA to win
#FirstToFiVe has been the phrase for the Los Angeles Galaxy throughout the 2014 regular season and now with a semifinals underway against Real Salt Lake, the road to five comes down to one final match with a clean slate for both sides in regards to the scoring department.
On Saturday afternoon at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah, the Galaxy and Real ended in a 0-0 draw in the first aggregate. But the Galaxy were extremely lucky to get out of Utah with just that.
RSL dominated just about every facet of the game and had Los Angeles on their heels for a much of the match.
Galaxy goal keeper Jaime Penedo, should be receiving dinner from his mates following his performance. Penedo was stellar as RSL spent most of the game breaking through the LA defense and hammering shots into the direction of Penedo. Nonetheless, Penedo came through with six timely stops to secure the draw.
Real Salt Lake ended up with a 16-3 edge in shots, including 6-1 on target over the Galacticos. Had it not been for an offside call in the 23rd minute, the Galaxy would be hot water entering the second aggregate Sunday afternoon.
Defensively LA played well, as RSL controlled the field for 90+ minutes, offensively they must play better. Potential league MVP Robbie Keane (right), along with Gyasi Zardes and Landon Donovan have to stretch the field and find an attack and keep RSL playing backwards.
RSL is stacked with talent, led by Alvaro Saborio (8 goals in regular season) and Javier Morales (9 goals, 12 assists), but the diminutive Joao Plata (5’3″) who led the team with 13 goals and 6 assists has proven to be a pest for the Galaxy.
Plata not only is short but his ridiculous speed makes him extremely shifty, making it tough for the Galaxy defenders to keep up. It seems as if someone is always open when Plata has the ball or is flying down the field. The attention instantly goes to him, leaving the defensive scheme in jeopardy.
However, the second leg of this Western Conference semifinals match is heading to StubHub Center in Carson where LA posted a 12-1-4 record during the regular season. That only loss was delivered by Real (1-0) at the season opener back on March 8.
From that point on, the Galaxy were untouchable within the friendly walls of StubHub, being unbeaten in their last 16 matches.
But this is the postseason. Regular season stats have been ripped up for they are meaningless. RSL remembers the type of success they had in the 2013 semifinals against LA and will not be intimidated coming to Southern California to put LA out again.
With the defense playing well in the first leg, the offense needs to show up in a big way Sunday. There will not be a tomorrow if RSL controls the ball for another 90+ minutes like they did last week.
Penedo bailed them out once, but twice in the MLS playoffs is a tall, tall task.
Game Note: Galaxy defenseman Omar Gonzalez picked up a yellow card in the first leg.
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