LA Galaxy fall to Colorado Rapids in final preseason tune up

The LA Galaxy closed the preseason with a poor result Saturday night, succumbing to the Rapids 3-1 at Dignity Health Sports Park.

LA Galaxy

With a central midfield pairing of rookie Emil Cuello and Servando Carrasco replacing the tireless Jona dos Santos, LA were destined to struggle in the middle of the park. Unfortunately David Bingham took a direct ball to the face off a breakaway early and was forced to exit in place of Matt Lampson.

The Galaxy’s first real opportunity came 20 minutes in off a piece when Romain Alessandrini lifted a cross to the back post that Daniel Steres redirected to Ola Kamara but his header went wide. Ten minutes later Zlatan fired a cannon outside the box that slightly careened over the bar.

It would be the Rapids drawing first in the 42nd minute after Kei Kamara beat Jorgen Skjelvic to a cross and deftly placed a header past the stranded Matt Lampson and in.

The Galaxy came out in the second half with a sense of urgency, but despite a few Romain Alessandrini half chances and a questionable no-call on a penalty shout LA continued to fall short in front of net despite dominating possession.

Colorado would double the lead in the 69th off a clever finish from Diego Rubio, but Zlatan Ibrahimovic would outmuscle Axel Sjoberg to nod home an Uriel Antuna cross to give LA hope. However a Daniel Steres error in the back would result in a Diego Rubio tap-in to essentially kill off the match.