CARSON, Calif. – When the LA Galaxy returned from last Sunday’s match at Pizza Hut Park, they did so with something unfamiliar. For just the second time this season, they posted a loss.
The trick for the team this week may be to not let the loss linger, but players said there’s no chance of that happening.
“I’ve already forgotten about last game," defender Omar Gonzalez said at training on Tuesday. "It’s just a crazy way to end the game, with the lightning delay and stuff like that and having to come back out. Just a tough one to swallow but I think we’re going to do well to come out here and practice and get ready for Saturday.”
WATCH HIGHLIGHTS: FC Dallas 2, LA Galaxy 1
The Galaxy will host the New York Red Bulls in a huge matchup on Saturday night (11 pm ET, ESPN2) and will enter the match with 15 points on the strength of a 4-2-3 record. Still, the club was a few minutes away from taking one point from Texas. The match was suspended in the 83rd minute due to lightning and after more than a one-hour delay, the teams played out the final few minutes, which was still enough time for Brek Shea to find the back of the net with a swerving ball from the left side of the penalty area.
“With the wind and the rain coming and going and the rain being the size that it was – those weren’t little droplets of water, they were huge," said Gonzalez, a Dallas native. "At the end of the day, I think we still played some pretty good soccer and just had a couple of lapses there where we should have done better. I didn’t think we came out bad or anything, just a crazy cross that happened to go in.”
Last weekend’s match is not one the team will need to break down and figure out what went wrong, nor will it necessarily ignite a fire in coach Bruce Arena to crack the whip on the team as their previous loss did. The Galaxy were flattened by Real Salt Lake by 4-1 on March 26 and in the team’s first training session afterward, Arena yelled at players more than he usually does.
This time around, though, defender Todd Dunivant said the way the match unfolded was mostly favorable for LA.
“It was hard to point to anything that was done wrong, anything like that,” the defender said. “We’re playing with a lot of confidence right now and a bit unlucky to come out of that game without a win or even a draw. We’ve been playing well the last few weeks and feel like we’re going to continue that momentum going forward.”
