CARSON, Calif. – It was a busy night at the office for the Colorado Rapids and goalkeeper Tim Howard, who held off a very potent LA Galaxy attack on Saturday night to help his team earn a 1-1 draw.
Shkelzen Gashi put the visitors ahead in the 51st minute, while LA’s Daniel Steres equalized 10 minutes later. Howard stifled a number of dangerous Galaxy shots throughout the night, and if it wasn’t for some spectacular saves among his five total, LA could have very easily taken all three points.
“A lot of everything we do is predicated on our defense,” Rapids head coach Pablo Mastroeni told reporters after the game. “It ignites our attack, it keeps us in games, and when it hasn’t been the case, Tim’s come up huge.”
Howard was a thorn in the Galaxy’s side all night, stopping an early chance for Gyasi Zardes with a sprawling save as well as others by Giovani dos Santos and Emmanuel Boateng. The US national team goalkeeper gave credit to his defense for handling the Galaxy.
“More than anything, we had to weather their storm,” Howard said. “I think you saw in the second half, we plugged those holes.”
LA were able to finish one chance on the night, as Steres headed in a corner kick from Steven Gerrard that ended up being the equalizer.
“We had given away too many corner kicks all game and it was difficult to defend,” noted Howard. “Obviously Steven [Gerrard] whips some really good balls in and the big fellas are always getting their head on it. I think when you give LA too many of those they are bound to score.”
Mastroeni feels that the entire squad’s effort was deserving of the result, especially on the road against LA.
“I feel it’s a point won,” Mastroeni said. “And more importantly, denying LA a chance to get all three. We have to grind every weekend to get to where we are, nothing comes easy. Nothing’s taken for granted, and we’re extremely pleased with the result.”
Howard echoed his coach’s sentiments on the match, noting that any points earned at StubHub Center are valuable.
“I thought we played pretty well for the most part,” Howard said. “Coming to LA and getting a 1-1, we’ll take that for sure.”
