LA Galaxy vs. Red Bulls Player Ratings

Recent injuries left the Galaxy with a funky lineup to start the game with Jonathan Dos Santos and Rolf Feltscher missing. LA did have a bright start forcing two immediate saves on Luis Robles; and had what looked like a goal, but was later correctly ruled offside. That said, lapses in defense led to New York’s subsequent goals, and Dave Romney had an absolute stinker – encouraging NY to attack down his side and pull the Galaxy defense all out of sorts.

In the second half, LA pulled back a goal after a moment of brilliance from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and a fantastic finish from Ola Kamara. After some extra effort from Romain Alessandrini and Ashley Cole, the Galaxy turned the corner and scored their second goal, coming off a scramble in the box, with Giovani Dos Santos (HE LIVES!) scoring after what felt like EONS.

But reality came calling again with Romney (!) giving up a penalty (don’t slide with your arms up in the air), and New York walking away with three points.

Player Ratings

Good

· Ola Kamara – fantastic movement leaving the NY defenders in the dust to start the game. Was a bright spot down the left. Good run and shot wide after NY’s second goal. Great finish on a fantastic pass from Zlatan.

· David Bingham – point blank save in 19^th minute, and another great save later in the game after the defense shifted right to help Romney.

· Romain Alessandrini – sent in a great cross to Ibrahimovic that everyone expected to be in the back of the net. Served in LA’s only key passes in the first half, and in general looked much healthier and spry versus previous weeks. His energy and effort was a nice turning point in the second half.

Okay

· Zlatan Ibrahimovic – missed a wide open (and I mean wide open) header after a great cross from Romain. Looked rusty and too cute in his passing in the first half and needed to find his teammates. Did exactly that on LA’s first goal with a stunner of a pass to Ola Kamara, and looked like he scored the leading goal only to be inches offside.

· Sebastian Lletget – ended up playing deep with Kitchen as the Galaxy were overrun after their opening bright 15 minutes. Faded out of the game and played quite deep.

· Giovani Dos Santos – good start to the game with a nice pass to set Kamara free, then took a shot forcing Robles into a save. Then proceeded to go missing in the middle and earned a yellow card out of sheer frustration. Resurfaced after a scramble in the box following a corner, and scored!

· Chris Pontius/Ema Boateng – late subs.

Poor

· Perry Kitchen – He needs to protect the defense more instead of playing level with Lletget. Not to mention, the majority of his forward passes into the attacking half were once again misses.

· Michael Ciani – with Romney completely missing on NY’s goal. Important leg preventing a shot on goal in the 13^th minute. Had a few nice tackles but was also beat a few times in the second half, then had to be subbed due to cramps.

· Ashley Cole – misplayed NY on their second goal, on the wrong side of the player. Decent shot in the 58^th minute and kept the play alive leading to the Galaxy’s goal scoring corner. But can’t get good marks as part of a defense at sea.

· Jorgen Skjelvik – just missed a goal off a corner to start the game. Got turned defensively a few times. Beat by Bradley Wright-Phillips on NY’s second goal.

Putrid

· Dave Romney – with Ciani completely missing on NY’s goal, bailed out by Ciani after an absolutely miserable pass directly to a NY player. Inexplicably kept shifting towards the center causing the Galaxy defense all sorts of problems. Nice headed assist to Gio on LA’s second goal. Then takes it all back giving up a penalty minutes later.

Man of the Match: Ola Kamara. Great movement, nice goal. The Galaxy need more of that going forward