The Los Angeles Galaxy picked up a vital three points Sunday evening against Real Salt Lake, getting their first win in nearly two months in a 3-2 victory at The Home Depot Center. But despite the win, the Galaxy came away from the game knowing they still had several areas in which they need to improve if they are going to make a realistic push to get back into the Western Conference race.
Los Angeles moved up to nine points in the standings, but still trails fourth-place Colorado by six. Even with games in hand, it is going to take a string of good results to move back into the thick of things, but Sunday was at least a step in the right direction.
"Obviously it was great to get the win and that's really the only thing that's important for us at this point. I felt pretty good about the way we attacked," said Galaxy head coach Frank Yallop about his team's performance. "We have a lot of work to do in certain areas. I'm happy all around but now we need to regroup and get ready for our game next Saturday. It's nice to have a smile on my face for a change."
Cobi Jones scored the game-winner against RSL, getting his second goal of the season in the 65th minute. The veteran leader has been with the Galaxy since Season One and echoed his coach's thoughts, hoping the win will trigger a turnaround in the Galaxy's fortunes this year.
"I thought it was a very good game for us in the aspect that we created chances and we actually finished them. Secondly, I thought it was a good aspect for us to actually close the game out," said Jones. "That's very important. It looked like they had some opportunities to come back, but we didn't fold, we didn't cave in. That was the most important thing for us to try and start the process of turning this season around."
Once again it was a different looking Galaxy squad that took the field. Yallop's hand was again forced, thanks to injuries and players missing with international duty.
By the end of the game, five players had made their first appearance of the season for Los Angeles. Two of those players just arrived in L.A. -- Edson Buddle and Abel Xavier, and they combined for the Galaxy's second goal. Xavier provided the assist to Buddle's goal in the 25th minute. Buddle fell to his knees following the goal, thankful to have a huge weight lifted off his shoulders.
"It's been a while since I scored," said Buddle. "It was my first goal in a new place and I want my teammates to believe in me. In this first game, to get the butterflies out, it felt good to score. I never expected to get a ball from Xavier, so it feels good. Hopefully we can continue to do stuff like that and get behind defenses."
Yet another Galaxy forward who got a monkey off his back was Nate Jaqua. Jaqua scored his first goal of the season and his first since coming to L.A., to open the scoring in the third minute, but like his coach, he knows that there is still more work to be done for Los Angeles to reverse the season trend.
"It wasn't the prettiest goal, but it hit the back of the net and that's all that matters," said Jaqua. "The win definitely gives us a little momentum and takes a bit of a weight off, but it doesn't mean anything if we don't come out next week and get a result."
As far as where the Galaxy need to improve, Jaqua said he thought that while the Galaxy's movement off the ball on offense was better against Real, there are several areas that still need work.
"(We need) to improve all over. We need to have a more consistent game and play a 90-minute game," said Jaqua. "We can't have any letdowns or mental breaks and we need to keep the ball a little bit better."
Those will be tough tasks to follow through on against Columbus, the Galaxy's next opponent. Despite its record, Columbus has been a difficult team to break down, having drawn more than half of its games this season.
Greg Daurio is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
