CARSON, Calif. -- The LA Galaxy went into Wednesday night hoping to snap their recent winless and goalless streaks. Standing in their way was the league-leading Colorado Rapids. Both teams had their fair share of close chances, but neither side could net in the 0-0 draw at StubHub Center, continuing LA’s rough streaks.
Goalkeeper Brian Rowe came up huge a number of times throughout the night, saving powerful efforts from Colorado’s attacking core of Kevin Doyle, Marlon Hairston, and Marco Pappa.
Despite extending their winless streak to six matches, and scoreless run in league play to 302 minutes, Rowe and the Galaxy aren’t too worried. They are confident they can get out of their funk.
“We’re not pushing the panic button,” Rowe told reporters. “On the inside, we’re confident in each other in knowing that each game is an opportunity to get that streak started in the right direction.”
On the positive side for LA, Wednesday saw the return of Giovani dos Santos to the lineup as well as Steven Gerrard who subbed in during the 2nd half. With Gyasi Zardes and Robbie Keane still on international duty, young forward Jack McBean earned the start up top alongside dos Santos after the Galaxy officially announced his signing from LA Galaxy II earlier in the day.
It was an exciting day for McBean, who originally signed with the team back in 2011 as a 16-year-old. Wednesday was his first start for the first team since 2013, after playing the last few years with Los Dos.
“It’s weird, it’s been almost three years,” McBean said after the match on his return to the first team. “To be back is good, and I felt like I fit in a lot better this time than before, and hopefully things only go up from here.”
Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena commended the young forward’s performance on the night.
“I think Jack had a good game,” Arena commented. “He made a bunch of good plays on both sides of the ball. He held the ball up, drew some fouls, created a few chances, and for his first game this year, I thought he was very good.”
Now the challenge for McBean is to continue progressing while Zardes and Keane remain away. Arena hasn’t quite decided his role moving forward.
“We’ll see,” Arena said. “We won’t have our other strikers back for a while, but obviously, if he’s not playing with the first team, he’ll play with Galaxy II.”
