You can’t go back: Vancouver Whitecaps 2, LA Galaxy 1

The LA Galaxy tried to keep their generally good season going with another road win against the Vancouver Whitecaps at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday, but this time the other team got the upper hand, as the Galaxy lost 2-1 in the teams’ second encounter in recent weeks.

Rayan Raveloson got the Galaxy off to another fantastic start, but they couldn’t get the lead to hold up, as the Whitecaps flipped the game in the 2nd half and got three much-needed points of their own.

The Galaxy brought back Derrick Williams in his first game eligible from suspension, with the rest of the group pretty much the same as the last game for LA.

And they didn’t wait long to get off to a hot start, with Rayan Raveloson scoring his second goal in two games off a feed from Victor Vazquez just five minutes in, his flick-on header beating Thomas Hasal in Vancouver’s goal.

Ethan Zubak then grabbed his second goal in two games, but he was well offside in the buildup and it was called back just before the half-hour mark.

Samuel Grandsir tagged the crossbar in the 37th minute, but his beautiful curling effort clanged off and away as LA knocked on the door for a second goal in the game.

The Whitecaps started to get a grip on the game in the final minutes but they couldn’t find an equalizer before the break and the teams went to halftime with the Galaxy leading 1-0 behind Raveloson’s goal.

The Whitecaps found their breakthrough in the 48th minute, through Deiber Caicedo, with a wonderful half-scissor kick off a rebound, a beautiful goal that Jonathan Bond had no chance at stopping.

The game was once again a slog as it wore on, like it was the last time these teams played here, and neither team really had many good looks, as they combined for three shots on target through the first 75 minutes.

While LA pushed to get a go-ahead strike, it was the Whitecaps who managed it, with Cristian Dajome and Brian White playing keepaway from a growing group of Galaxy defenders in the box, until Dajome got the space to score in the 77th minute.

White nearly scored himself from distance a couple minutes later, but Jonathan Bond got a hand to the strike to make sure it stayed out.

This should be seen as a frustrating result on some level, but for a team that is way ahead of where most expected they would be in this rebuilding season, this should just be a setback for a team, on the road, missing a bunch of starters. You want to win them all, but they just didn’t have it this time around.

Would you believe it, LA will be back in action on Wednesday at the same venue, but against a different opponent, in Real Salt Lake? We’ll find out soon enough.

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