CARSON, Calif. – D.C. United's terrific start in their MLS opener was trumped by the LA Galaxy's superb second half, and an early lead forged through Lamar Neagle disappeared in a 4-1 defeat Sunday night at StubHub Center.
Neagle, making his club debut, scored on a superb shot in the fifth minute, and D.C. permitted LA virtually nothing until after the break, when Mike Magee came on to score twice, set up another goal and draw a penalty kick for yet another to disappoint the visitors.
“I can sit here and say it's not a 4-1 game, but it is a 4-1 game,” head coach Ben Olsen said during the postgame news conference. “And I feel that, overall, there's a lot to build from this game with this group. It's disappointing, and it hurts to give up four goals, but there's a lot of chances out there for us. Some good movement with a lot of new guys.”
Olsen gave starts to four newcomers – midfielders Marcelo Sarvas, Patrick Nyarko and Luciano Acosta, who played in the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal series against Queretaro, along with Neagle -- and was pleased with the energy and interaction over the first 45 minutes.
Neagle, who was cap-tied to the Seattle Sounders in the CCL, fired past diving LA goalkeeper Dan Kennedy and inside the right post after Chris Rolfe stripped the ball from Steven Gerrard and it ricocheted straight to him after an A.J. DeLaGarza tackle.
“It feels good to finally get in a game,” Neagle said. “I wasn't able to play in the CONCACAF [matches], so to finally get on the field and then score early was good. Obviously, I would have liked the final result to be a little bit better for my debut, but definitely some good stuff. We can take a lot of positives from it, we just have to get better.
“Benny said we have a lot of new pieces, a lot of moving pieces, and we'll get better in time.”
Olsen said his team was in some “disarray” to start the second half, after Nyarko had to come off at halftime because of concussion symptoms. The Galaxy “came out with a lot of energy ... started to go more direct. And we were under it.”
Daniel Steres headed home a corner kick in the 54th minute to tie the score, Magee netted the winner in the 64th, Robbie Keane converted a penalty kick in the 83rd, and Magee's glancing header from a Gerrard free kick was good for the fourth in the 87th,.
“The unfortunate part is they get two set-piece goals, and that's something we pride ourselves on,” Olsen added. “If you go away, give up two set-piece goals, it's going to be tough. ...
“We're a work in progress, but there's a lot of good to this group. The spirit's right, and we'll respond in the right way. We'll take the good, we'll fix some of the bad and move forward. It's a long year, [LA is] never an easy place to play, and we'll lick our wounds and get back out there next week.”
