PORTLAND, Ore. – The goals were pretty, even if the LA Galaxy's win in Portland on Sunday wasn't always a thing of beauty.
After grabbing the lead via goals from Robbie Keane and Gyasi Zardes, the Galaxy survived the Timbers’ push and hot conditions to register a 2-1 win over the Timbers at Providence Park.
“It was an ugly win," Zardes said, "but it’s great to win ugly and I thought we did that today. We wanted to definitely come out aggressive and I thought we did that.”
Zardes made it 2-0 in the 11th minute by getting to the front of goal to meet a cross from Emmanuel Boateng, and head coach Bruce Arena said the two early goals helped the Galaxy manage a difficult afternoon.
“We were sharp. We had a chance to get a third goal as well,” Arena said. “A real good first half and guys battled and dealt with everything in the second half to get out of here with three points.”
The Galaxy carried momentum from Wednesday, when they scored three late goals to beat Seattle in a U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal, into Providence Park for a game watched by a national TV audience on ESPN.
“Bringing that mentality here to Portland was a great way to start this game out,” Zardes said. “I personally feel like we’re moving in a positive direction and we have to just keep working hard for each other.”
Four players in the starting lineup played significant minutes in Wednesday’s Cup match. Adding to the challenge of Saturday’s second half was a sun that beat down from overhead, which raised the temperature in the final half hour.
“You could see the guys who played on Wednesday struggle over the last 20-30 minutes,” Arena said. “We knew that was going to happen and we hung in there. That’s the most important thing.”
With Keane finishing a Giovanni dos Santos cross in the seventh minute and Zardes getting on the end of a Boateng offering, the Galaxy front four all contributed to the victory.
“I feel like as games go on we’re developing a better sense for each other in terms of Robbie Keane, Gio, myself and even Ema [Boateng],” Zardes said. “I thought we worked well together, especially in the first half.”
