The Los Angeles Galaxy came into Saturday night's visit by the New England Revolution riding a three-game winning streak in all competitions. The offense had gotten off the mark, having scored six goals in their last two games, and the Galaxy added an early first-half goal against the Revs to that total.
But then wheels came off in the second half as Taylor Twellman and the Revolution came from behind to claim a 3-2 victory.
It was the second time this season that a brief stretch of defensive breakdowns cost the Galaxy a chance at points. Earlier this year against FC Dallas, the Galaxy allowed Carlos Ruiz and Kenny Cooper to score goals just minutes apart in a game that ended with the Galaxy on the losing end of a 2-1 scoreline.
Los Angeles was the more energetic team to open the night Saturday, but at the half-hour mark things started to turn around. Still, even after withstanding a late first half barrage from the Revolution, the Galaxy entered the locker rooms holding the lead and with a chance to regroup.
Instead it was the Revolution who came out with more fire to start the second half, scoring two goals in the first seven minutes to take the lead.
"We talked about it (at halftime). We have to start correctly. We have to start right. We have to try and get the next goal," said Frank Yallop about his team's slow start in the second half. "You can't expect a team like New England to relax and see it through to one-nil. They're going to come at you, and they're going to try to score. We've got to meet that, and I don't think we did. We obviously didn't."
Momentum had taken a decided shift though in favor of the Revolution before halftime. New England outshot L.A. by a 6-2 margin in the first half; several of those chances came in the latter stages of the opening 45 minutes. But it was a breakdown on a set piece in the second minute of the second half that was the first step towards losing the game.
"We let them score on a set piece, which has kind of been our weakness all year long. After that our discipline went out the window," said Galaxy 'keeper Joe Cannon. "For whatever reason we were just giving them way too much of the ball. As a leader of the defense I have to say something here or get the guys fired up. Especially coming out of the locker room at halftime.
"Being the home team normally you are the ones coming out with a bit more energy. It's disappointing. It's the fourth game of the year and we missed out on a huge chance to get points."
The Galaxy still looked a bit shellshocked following the game. Nobody seemed to have an answer for what happened, or how the game got away.
Despite being knocked back on their heels in the second half, the Galaxy did manage to fight their way back for an equalizer. The Galaxy won a series of corner kicks from a period of sustained pressure. Eventually, in the 84th minute, the Galaxy capitalized when Tyrone Marshall hit home to provide what looked to be a share of the points.
But while the Galaxy were still celebrating their goal, New England came right back down the field and took the three points back within seconds. It was that third goal -- Twellman's second -- that had Yallop the most upset.
"I was very disappointed with the third goal after getting back in the game. Maybe we didn't deserve to be in the game, but we get back to 2-2," said Yallop. "To give up a goal off the kickoff is poor. I thought it was too simple for New England to break out against us. If you're scoring two goals at home I expect to get at least a draw out of it."
Most of the people in the stands hadn't even stopped cheering Marshall's goal when Cannon was fishing the ball out of his own net. It was a complete breakdown, and it was a goal from which the entire Galaxy team can point the finger of blame at themselves.
"The third (goal) is the one that we can look at ourselves and say where'd we go wrong in a few different places," said Albright. "To let Taylor (Twellman) get in that spot. I think it was partly over-celebration at that point. We didn't go up 3-2 at that point -- we tied 2-2 and we were kind of catching our breath."
The Galaxy have seven long days before their next game, when they take on Chivas USA -- who will be looking for revenge following their 3-1 defeat in the first Super Clasico this season. Los Angeles will have plenty to work on, and will need to avoid any defensive lapses if they want to avoid digging a huge hole at the beginning of the season for the second consecutive year.
Greg Daurio is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
