One is Enough for Galaxy

Steven Gerrard's goal was all the Galaxy needed.(Photo by Duane Barker)

Steven Gerrard’s goal was all the Galaxy needed.(Photo by Duane Barker)

By Tim Peterson

(Carson) -Steven Gerrard scored in the 66th minute and that was all the Galaxy needed to beat Houston 1-0 Friday night before 25,667 at StubHub Center.

The Galaxy had a couple of opportunities early but was unable to cash in. Robbie Keane had a penalty kick just eight minutes in but missed it wide right.

Houston’s Collen Warner was issued a yellow card in the 24th minute. In the 27th minute Galaxy goalkeeper Brian Rowe made a save on a shot by the Dynamo’s Alex.

Gyasi Zardes had a golden chance in the 30th minute but wasn’t able to get high enough to head in a pass from Giovani dos Santos right in front of the net. A Zardes cross failed to connect with a sliding Keane on the right side of the goal in the 32nd minute.

The teams went into the break scoreless.

A yellow card was handed to dos Santos in the 55th minute.

Rowe kept the Dynamo at bay again in the 61st minute as Giles Barnes got by the LA defense and fired a shot on goal but Rowe was there for the save.

The Galaxy finally broke through when Keane’s shot was blocked by Houston keeper Joe Willis, but Steven Gerrard followed it with a blast that sailed by Willis to break the tie.

Zardes nearly put LA up by two goals four minutes later on a boot from the right side but Willis made the stop.

Keane got free and scored in the 76th minute but the goal was nullified by an offsides call. The lineman had his flag up as Keane was firing away.

Three minutes of additional time were added to the second half, but the Galaxy held on.

The Galaxy improved its unbeaten streak to five with the win and it was their third consecutive shutout. Each team had just four shots on goal.

“We played well enough to get three points, not our best game. I think we made things a little difficult on ourselves,” said Galaxy coach Bruce Arena. “Obviously not converting the penalty kick early in the game and there were a few other chances I thought we could have been better with. I thought defensively we played well but give Houston credit, I thought they played hard.”

With the victory the Galaxy improved to 8-3-8 while the Dynamo fell to 4-9-6.

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