CARSON, Calif. – After 75 minutes on Sunday night, the LA Galaxy trailed the New York Red Bulls by two goals. Things looked gloomy for the home side.
But with the raucous support of the 25,671 in attendance at StubHub Center, the Galaxy mounted a comeback via goals from Mike Magee and Ashley Cole to earn a 2-2 draw that left head coach Bruce Arena was extremely proud of his squad’s fight and effort.
“I think it would have been a shame if we had walked off that field losing,” Arena told reporters. “Because, over 90 minutes, we played pretty well. We certainly made mistakes that cost us, but I think on the night we played pretty well and deserved to get at least a point out of it."
The comeback effort was sparked by second-half substitutes Magee, Baggio Husidic, and Emmanuel Boateng, who added speed and bite to the Galaxy’s attack.
“It looked like it spelled doom for us,” Arena said. “In the second half, we started pretty well, and then conceded the first goal and obviously the second one. But a tremendous effort by our guys. I thought the players that came into the game, Husidic, Magee, and Boateng did a great job to get us back in the game.”
Cole scored the equalizer in the 89th minute, his first in MLS. Steven Gerrard whipped a cross into the left side of the box that fell to Cole, who calmly finished from a tight angle.
“I feel a little bit lucky,” he said. “With a deflection off a Red Bull player, I was just there to take a shot, and lucky for me it went in.”
“When Bruce brought us in, that’s what he wanted to look for, that hunger and desire,” Cole added. “We know if we ever go down in a game, we have the players to dig in and never give up, and the quality to score goals.”
Arena echoed that sentiment.
“I can’t be more pleased with our team and the character they shared at the end of the game to try and get back in it and get a point, and maybe three points," he said.
