Galaxy vs. Union: Liberty Prevails As Galaxy Fail To Takeover Match, Lose 1-2

It could be completely different; a few things break differently and the LA Galaxy are on a five match winning streak instead of once again wonder why things are broken. After surrendering three straight goals to lose a match when they were up 1-3 in San Jose, tonight the Galaxy failed to convert chances in the goal area and lost to the Philadelphia Union on a stoppage time goal 1-2.

"The reality is," said Landon Donovan, "we should be five wins in a row right now, now we find ourselves behind the eight ball again and it's difficult to take, but the reality is that it's over. We can either moan about it or we can wake up tomorrow morning and get ready for Chicago and that's what we're going to do."

For the Galaxy to have won tonight, they would have had to do better than 25% on shots taken inside the goal area. Robbie Keane had two such shots in the first ten minutes, both cleared off the line. Lopes had an opportunity on a loose ball, but it clanged off the woodwork. The only successful attempt was the Chad Barrett goal.

"We gave a game away," said Bruce Arena. "That’s a game that we should have walked away comfortably with three points... If you’re not going to take your chances, you’re wasting your time getting them. You don’t get any bonus points for creating chances...There’s nowhere else to look but inside our locker room. We have people in position to get us results and we don’t get it done."

The lone Galaxy goal came in the 73' after Juninho took over corner kick duties from Landon Donovan. The Union failed to clear this one, and Landon Donovan reset the play from the top corner of the penalty area. Donovan found Todd Dunivant on the touch line, then Dunivant sent a rolling cross in that Robbie Keane flicked on and Chad Barrett knocked in.

While that lack of accuracy is a definite negative, the biggest positive was the return of Omar Gonzalez. Playing forty-five minutes because the Galaxy don't have reserve matches for him to warm up in, Gonzalez had the defensive back line playing under more control than they've shown all year.

"I knew the whole week," said Omar Gonzalez. "We just took it day by day. Monday after the 45 minutes we were gonna see how I felt the next day. If I felt good, then I was gonna get the start."

Ultimately, what this loss comes down to is a lack of finishing. The Galaxy defense is still nowhere where it was last year, but is showing signs of coming together. Unfortunately, after coming to life the last two weeks, the Galaxy were back to shooting blanks tonight.