The kids are alright: LA Galaxy II 1, Sacramento Republic 0

At this point, no team should consider LA Galaxy II an easy three points.

Los Dos won their third game in four so far in the 2020 USL Championship season, after defeating Sacramento Republic in LA’s home opener at Dignity Health Sports Park Saturday night.

Augustine Williams’ second-half goal was the difference on the night, as LA won their second straight game and are very quietly putting together a good start to the season.

Junior Gonzalez kept it steady with his lineup after last week’s win over San Diego Loyal.

The first half was fairly close between the teams, with Los Dos holding a slight edge in possession and Sac Republic a slight edge in shots, but the visitors started to really push after the 40th minute, with LA goalkeeper Abraham Romero making two key stops, one on Hayden Sargis and another on Dariusz Formella, while another Formella chance trickled just wide of the mark, all in a flurry just before halftime.

Los Dos found the breakthrough in the 72nd minute, as Augustine Williams had a sharp strike in the box off Jorge Hernandez’s free kick service, with Sacramento defender Tomas Hilliard-Arce unable to clear the ball before Williams’ shot.

While Sacramento are aiming to find their feet this season under new coach Mark Briggs, they came into this game unbeaten and have therefore got their first defeat of the year. This was a tough game for both teams, but Gonzalez’s squad not only played well in pinging passes around the field, they seem to have an element of grit to fight out one-goal results this season, too. It’s obviously early in the season but they really look like they can very much compete for a playoff spot this year if they continue to pick up results.

Los Dos are back in action Wednesday evening, when they will host San Diego Loyal and their head coach Landon Donovan for the first time. LA beat San Diego last week, so they’ll aim to pick up another three points against a pretty talented expansion team. Should be a another good matchup.

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