The Los Angeles Galaxy moved back into first place in the Western Conference on Saturday, after a 3-2 victory against the Colorado Rapids. Yet the manner in which they arrived at that scoreline left a bit of a sour taste in the mouths of the Galaxy players. If an outside observer didn't know any better, the attitudes shown by the players after the match would suggest a different result.
The Galaxy jumped out to a lead just four minutes into the game, as Alvaro Pires was the recipient of a fortuitous bounce that allowed him to find the back of the net from just a few yards out. The Galaxy doubled that score about a half-hour later off the boot of Edson Buddle.
As the second half begun, the Galaxy scored a third and looked to be cruising. But Colorado clawed their way back into the match, scoring twice within 10 minutes and giving the Galaxy more than a few anxious moments before the final whistle blew.
"It was an interesting game. When you play as well as we did in the first half and 10 minutes into the second half and lead by three goals, we made it difficult for ourselves because we stopped playing the ball around," said David Beckham. "Being in the locker room, it's like we lost the game. We're disappointed with the way we played in the last 30-35 minutes. But we got the three points. Overall we're happy with the three points, but there's still a lot of work to be done."
Ely Allen, who scored the winning goal, wasn't shy about admitting there were some nerves being fried towards the end of the game. Allen was substituted for in the 65th minute and had to watch the Colorado comeback from the bench.
"I put the towel over my head and kind of closed my eyes the last five minutes. But you have to trust in your teammates," said Allen. "At 3-1 I was thinking 'OK, one goal.' At 3-2, I was like 'eh.' When the ref finally blew the whistle (it was a) big relief."
One of the major turning points in the match came just before halftime when Alan Gordon and Facundo Erpen were both sent off following an altercation. With both teams down to 10 men, spaces started to open up on the field.
As the second half wore on, Colorado injected some speed into the game, bringing on Omar Cummings and Herculez Gomez. The move seemed to trouble the Galaxy, who had difficulty the rest of the match maintaining any possession.
"It shouldn't have made really that much difference as both teams were down to 10 men. There should have been more space on the pitch, and there was," said Beckham. "When you don't keep the ball and you don't keep possession, it makes it a tough game. Ten minutes into the second half we stopped playing our football and kept giving the ball away. When they've got players like they've got in their team, they're going to create chances."
The up-and-down nature of the Galaxy's performance has been a repeated theme throughout the season. Manager Ruud Gullit touched on the inconsistency of his side's performance after the game, before reminding the media that his team actually won the game.
"I think we failed to close the game early with so many opportunities early in the second half. You waste opportunities thinking it's going to be easy. It's never easy," said Gullit. "You get into unnecessary trouble because of that."
Still, whether it be by a three-goal rout or a one-goal nailbiter, the Galaxy have still picked up three important points in the standings.
"A win is a win. I'm sure we'd like to see the score be 3-nil, but 3-2 makes me have the game-winner," said Allen. "We're happy with the win, and that puts us in first place."
Greg Daurio is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
