CARSON, Calif. – Coming off Wednesday’s difficult loss to San Jose, the best thing that could happen to the LA Galaxy is to put it behind them immediately.
Luckily for LA, they will have the opportunity to wash their mouths clean of the Earthquakes’ 3-2 come-from-behind win soon enough, as they visit the Houston Dynamo on Saturday in an MLS Cup 2011 rematch (2:30 pm ET, NBC Sports Network, LIVE CHAT on MLSsoccer.com).
“It’s good to have a tough game on the weekend so soon,” Galaxy midfielder David Beckham said.
But unlike the last time LA faced Houston last November, the Galaxy will be heading into this matchup with little momentum. They are 0-4-2 in their last six games and two of the four goals they’ve scored in that span came in Wednesday’s defeat.
But while recent results won’t give the Galaxy much confidence, part of Wednesday’s performance will.
“There’s a lot of head-scratching going on,” Galaxy defender Todd Dunivant said, “but it’s important for us to know that we have to learn from our mistakes [Wednesday] ... because it was a good performance. You look at this game compared to our last game” – a 1-0 loss to Chivas USA in the SuperClásico – “and it’s night and day. We have to build on that.”
The Galaxy held a 2-0 lead through 75 minutes against San Jose. While a red card to Hector Jimenez had forced the Galaxy down to 10 men, Mike Magee was able to score the second goal and a poised LA side appeared ready to get back in the win column.
WATCH: LA surrender late two-goal lead
“We know we played well, but also we’re extremely disappointed,” said defender Sean Franklin. “We can’t be up 2-0 at home and [allow] three unanswered goals. That’s just unacceptable.”
The Galaxy hope to snap more than one streak against Houston. Aside from their six-match winless streak, they have gone down to 10 men and have conceded a penalty in each of their last two games. Misfortune has been rampant this season for Bruce Arena’s club and they hope that will change soon.
“When you’re in a run like this, sometimes you need a little bit of a break and a little bit of luck,” Beckham said. “It’s hard to say it but I think we haven’t had that in certain games.”
