Crumbled by the Quakes: LA Galaxy 2, San Jose Earthquakes 3

Another match day, another rivalry match for LA Galaxy. After a rough 3-2 loss on the road to their cross-town rivals last time out, and in the midst of a tough run having lost three of their last four, they hit the pitch at home against their original rivals, San Jose Earthquakes.

Midweek madness was peak from the very start. San Jose were awarded a penalty before the ten minute mark, and were given the chance to take an early goal. Cristian Espinoza stepped up and took the chance well to give the visitors the lead. As if it couldn't get any worse, Galaxy had some sloppy passing that ended up falling right to San Jose. After some quick passing, Jeremy Ebobisse found himself with the ball, in the box, with plenty of space. He only needed one shot to get the goal and double the lead before we even hit 15 minutes.

The match settled a bit, and it looked like the Galaxy were waking up. They began to find more opportunities on goal, and came close to cutting the lead in half on several occasions. Unfortunately they not only failed to score a much-needed goal in the half, but gave up a third goal just before the break.

Good news was the thumping seemed to have woken the team up at the half. Within seconds of kickoff for the final 45, the team were celebrating a goal. Kevin Cabral, who came on as a halftime sub, got space, turned on the pace to get past defenders, stopped to take the soul of another defender, didn't panic and found a running Dejan. After a great pass, Dejan slammed it home upper corner to pull one back for the home side.

Dejan wasn't going to let his team lose if he could help it. Late in the match he found enough space to put on another shot form distance, and again he hit a rocket into the top corner for a goal. His brace, and the second of the night for the team, pulling them within just a goal of splitting the points at home.

The second-half surge was expected, and it was really fun to watch as the Galaxy inched closer and closer to a result. However, they couldn't overcome going down three goals in the first half, ultimately coming up just a bit short. The loss is not just the second straight for the Galaxy, but it's the second straight loss to a rival which is never something you want as a team. While it feels like it, not all is lost.

This team is still sitting in seventh place, a playoff spot, and still only three points off third-place in the Western Conference. Which is what makes this recent month such a heartbreaking one. This is an incredibly talented, and capable team, they just need to find the consistency and they’d find themselves right back at the top of the conference, with a possible home match to start the postseason. First though, they need to win their next match, then the next, and slowly stack successes. It all starts this Saturday when they hit the road against Colorado Rapids.

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