The LA Galaxy fell to Swedish side Hammarby IF 2-1 at Tele2 Arena Monday night in Stockholm.
Robbie Keane opened the scoring in the 7th minute, converting a penalty after Gyasi Zardes was taken down in the box.
Hammarby responded immediately with Erik Isrealsson skillfully directing a left-footed volley inside the 18 yard box after Omar Gonzalez failed to clear the ball.
Both sides had good chances in the first half. Gyasi Zardes narrowly missed a 1 v. 1 with goalkeeper Johannes Hopf, while Robbie Rogers cleared the ball off the line after Mans Sodervist chipped Jaime Penedo in the box.
The second half wasn't as kind to LA. In the 47th minute, Linus Hallenius nodded home a simple header after lackluster pressure from Rogers.
Soon afterwards, Juninho was sent off after body checking Linus Hallenius as the last man just outside the box. After that the match died down some, as Hammarby were content with the lead and LA's pre-season fitness started to show.
Jose Villareal replaced Bradford Jamieson IV after an injury, and Brian Rowe, Tommy Meyer and Nacho Maganto saw time as well.
Dan Gargan missed the game with a slight knock suffered in training, while AJ DeLaGarza continues to be sidelined with a bone bruise.
Thoughts? Problems with the live stream make it difficult to take in all the action, but there were positives. Bradford Jamieson IV looked better than during the closed door scrimmage against the Sounders, though he's a work in progress. Jose Villareal showed well after replacing BJIV, flexing his technical ability and adding more competition to the battle for the left midfield starting job.
SuperDraft first round pick Ignacio Maganto has continued to shine when given minutes.
Nacho is the closest analog in terms of the kind of things our system gets from the LM.
— Sean Steffen (@SeanSteffen) February 16, 2015
The Galaxy will now head back to Dublin in anticipation of Saturday's friendly vs. Shamrock Rovers.