Giovani Dos Santos scores in his MLS debut to put the Galaxy up 3-1. (Photo by Duane Barker)
By Tim Peterson
(Carson) – Giovani Dos Santos had a goal and an assist in his MLS debut and the Galaxy broke a tie with two second half goals to beat the Seattle Sounders 3-1 Sunday before a sold out crowd of 27,000 at StubHub Center.
The game was tied at one at the half but Robbie Keane quickly untied it in the 47th minute when he scored in front of the net off assists from Dos Santos and AJ Delagarza. Dos Santos got his in the 64th minute as he beat his defender and fired one by Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei for a 3-1 lead. The advantage held up the rest of the way.
“I feel very happy. We gave up a goal early but we came back and I’m very happy with the victory,” Dos Santos said.
The early goal that Dos Santos was referring to came in the first minute of the match. Chad Barrett put Seattle up 1-0 just 51 seconds into the game stunning the fans and the Galaxy into temporary silence. But LA quickly recovered as Gyasi Zardes tied it 12 minutes later when he received a pass in front of the net from Juninho and slid it into the right corner.
Sebastian Lletget won the corner play and then found Juninho who served it up to Zardes on a platter.
Galaxy goalkeeper Orlando Ricketts kept it tied with a great save off of a Seattle blast in the 25th minute. Keane had a run on the right side in the 28th minute but it was broken up by a Seattle defenseman.
Gyasi Zardes scores to tie the game with the Sounders 1-1. (Photo by Duane Barker)
Seattle’s Erik Friberg picked up a yellow card for taking down Dos Santos in the 38th minute. But Steven Gerrard’s free kick sailed wide right. Two minutes of additional time were added in first half but it remained tied.
After Keane’s goal Gerrard was denied as he had an opportunity on the right side but was turned away by Frei.
Ricketts made a another nice save off of a blast after a Seattle player got by Rogers in front of Ricketts.
After Dos Santos gave LA a two goal lead he was replaced by Gordon in the 69th minute.
Rogers made up for the miscue by clearing the ball off the line in the 70th minute just before it rolled into the net.
Gordon hits the post from the right side off a nice feed from Sebastian Lletget in the 71st minute as both sides were attacking.
Gordon had another shot with a bicycle kick in the 80th minute that sailed high over the net. Two minutes of additional time were added before the Galaxy went on to win.
“I give credit to both sides. We shouldn’t be playing at 1:00 in the afternoon in the summer months. It was very challenging,” said Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena. “But we battled back well after giving up a goal early.”
Dos Santos likes the possibilities for the Galaxy. “I can see great possibilities for this team. Hopefully we can get a title,” he said.
The Galaxy improved to 10-7-7 with the win while the Sounders dropped to 10-12-2.
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