Sporting Kansas City brought the LA Galaxy's Zlatan Ibrahimovic-induced good vibes to a screeching halt on Sunday night, confidently grinding out a well-earned 2-0 road victory at StubHub Center via second-half goals from Daniel Salloi and Johnny Russell.
Bossing possession and calmly repelling a steady stream of speculative Galaxy crosses, SKC's back line showed signs of returning to top form after looking leaky in their first few games of 2018, goalkeeper Tim Melia making 10 saves. At the other end, Salloi opened the scoring by following up on a loose ball in the LA penalty box with a shot that David Bingham will wish he'd done better with.
Russell widened the lead with a twinkle-toed dance through the subpar LA back line, and while the Galaxy attack could rue hitting the woodwork and going close on a few occasions, they ran out of ideas down the stretch. Ibrahimovic entered to provide a late spark, but Melia would not be beaten.
Goals
Three Things
- THE BIG PICTURE: The buzzword leading up to this one was Zlatan, of course, but reality check may be a more common phase around Carson, California in the week ahead. Sporting look more like themselves, while the Galaxy aren't sure just who they are at the moment.
- MOMENT OF THE MATCH: Russell's cheeky, slashing run to split Ashley Cole and Daniel Steres before poking past Bingham was a backbreaker for LA, leaving Ibrahimovic and fellow substitute Sebastian Lletget with too high of a mountain to climb when they entered seeking to lead a late rally.
- MAN OF THE MATCH: SKC had several contenders for this honor, but birthday boy Johnny Russell edged out Tim Melia with his solo golazo, forceful attacking movement and seven successful dribbles out of nine attempts.
Next Up
- LA: April 14 at Chicago (3:30 pm ET | Univision, Twitter - Full TV & streaming info)
- SKC: April 15 vs. Seattle (4 pm ET | ESPN - Full TV & streaming info)
