Raveloson-ary: Real Salt Lake 2, LA Galaxy 2

The LA Galaxy maintained an unbeaten record after losses this season, after going down 2-0 early to Real Salt Lake but battling back to tie the game 2-2 on Wednesday at Rio Tinto Stadium.

Rayan Raveloson has proven to be a goal magnet to begin his MLS career, scoring his third goal in three games for the Galaxy to knot up the score and ultimately split the points between the teams.

Cameron Dunbar was the big change in the lineup for LA to start the game, with Ethan Zubak making way in the XI.

RSL got off to a hot start, with Albert Rusnak scoring in the 9th minute, Aaron Herrera’s square ball into the box in space turned in on the one-timer by the Slovakian.

Samuel Grandsir had a solid half chance six minutes later, but his outside-of-the-boot attempt was just off in the angle.

Real Salt Lake got their second goal in the 26th minute, as Maikel Chang dribbled and dribbled and dribbled and the Galaxy’s defense sagged off until Chang scored on a sharp shot from distance.

The Galaxy pulled a goal back courtesy of Victor Vazquez in the 33rd minute, taking a feed from Grandsir, doing a quick cutback and hitting the shot to open his account with the club.

Zubak entered the game at halftime, replacing Dunbar, with Kevin Cabral moving to his wing position from the striker role.

RSL attacker Rubio Rubin was goal-hungry in the opening minutes of the second half, but Jonathan Bond kept him off the board, the game hanging in the balance as the next goal could prove crucial.

Vazquez nearly scored his second goal of the night in the 51st minute, but his curler this time clanged off the far post. The rebound went straight to Cabral, but his hips were not centered and he somehow missed a wide-open net.

The Galaxy seemed to hit a wall after the 70-minute mark, with Daniel Steres replacing Vazquez and Adam Saldaña entering for Grandsir, Julian Araujo pushing up to a more attacking role in the final 15 minutes.

The approach worked, as Raveloson scored his third goal in his last three games, heading in Araujo’s cross to make it 2-2 in the 78th minute.

I think this was a very good result for the Galaxy, which looked like they were about to limp to their first consecutive losses of the season but rallied and came back to get a result. Vazquez opening his account is big for LA, and Raveloson is helping to get the job done for the Galaxy with Chicharito missing a third straight game. I don’t think any of us expected he would show any kind of production like this, but long may it last.

The Galaxy are next scheduled to take on FC Dallas in Texas on Saturday evening. Dallas have been dreadful this season, but hey, this is MLS, you never know.

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