Shorthanded LA Galaxy defeated by Portland Timbers

A depleted and later undermanned LA Galaxy side were unable to put up much of a fight vs. a well-oiled Portland Timbers, as the Galaxy were defeated 1-0 by the Timbers in a throughly frustrating afternoon at the StubHub Center.

Things for the Galaxy were bad enough when Portland got on the board early off a ruthless counter-attack: Diego Valeri managed to glide behind Rafael Garcia before squaring to Diego Chara for an easy tap-in.

But things turned from bad to worse when Jelle Van Damme was issued two yellow cards in quick succession, and all of a sudden the Galaxy’s captain and leader was ejected from the contest.

Emmanuel Boateng replaced Giovani dos Santos at halftime, but unfortunately the best LA could do was hold on. Romain Alessandrini made the most of a decent half-chance before wizzing a free kick just wide of the post late, but it was only a miracle Garcia clearance prevented the Timbers from sealing the match.