The LA Galaxy spent much of Saturday's game against Columbus Crew SC the second best side, but it didn't matter in the end as a moment of magic from Baggio Husidic turned the game, resulting in a 2-1 Galaxy victory at StubHub Center.
Husidic's 78th minute goal opened the floodgates late in a tense battle, with the Galaxy's win giving head coach Bruce Arena his landmark 200th career victory in MLS.
Columbus largely controlled the proceedings in the first half, but lacked the final product to beat LA goalkeeper Brian Rowe. The Galaxy struggled to string chances together, but a good build-up just past the hour mark resulted in a shot by Sebastian Lletget that was saved by Crew SC 'keeper Steve Clark to keep the game scoreless.
But Husidic, who came off the bench in the second half, got the night's scoring started in style, as he took a feed from the left flank from Sebastian Lletget and unleashed a screamer from the corner of the box to beat Clark and break the deadlock.
And Giovani dos Santos scored what turned out to be the winning goal four minutes later, as he received the ball on a jailbreak play and chipped Clark to double the lead for the Galaxy.
Still, Columbus received a late consolation goal, as Ola Kamara's stoppage time penalty attempt was saved by Rowe, but substitute Adam Jahn followed up to score for Crew SC.
Box Score
- 78' – LA – Baggio Husidic (Sebastian Lletget)
- 82' – LA – Giovani dos Santos (Robbie Rogers)
- 92' -- CLB -- Adam Jahn
- Full Box Score
- Stats
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Three Things
- HISTORIC NIGHT: It was a nail-biter for both sides for most of the night, but the lasting memory from this game is likely to be Arena's achievement, reaching 200 career wins. He's just the second coach in history to reach that mark, and currently trails Sigi Schmid for most MLS coaching wins all-time, with Schmid at 228.
- CREW SC WITH VOLUME BUT LITTLE TO SHOW FOR IT: Through the first half, Columbus played the game on the front foot and for the whole game dominated the shot statistics, with 20 shots total and eight on target to LA's 12 and six, respectively. The apparent plan of the visitors trying to strike first and dictate the game from there was sound, but in the end, Columbus failed to take the lead and as they faded late, it cost them all the points.
- SUBS STEP UP: Husidic's tally will certainly be in the MLS Goal of the Week running, but Jahn continued the apparent trend of substitutes coming into the game and scoring, with both players notching their second goals for their current teams this year. It was a tough night on both sides with injuries and international duty decimating the coaches' lineup options, but it was still two subs who helped jumpstart the game.
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