This was one of those matches where a draw felt like a loss for both sides. Los Angeles Galaxy and the San Jose Earthquakes were both hoping for a win to move up the Western Conference table, but neither was successful. The match ended 2-2 with most of the action in the match happening in the first half.

Galaxy was dominating possession in the first half, but that did not stop San Jose from scoring its first goal. Chris Wondolowski opened up the scoring in the 17th minute. He dribbled the ball against the run of the play and took it to the net himself. It was impressive and gave Galaxy a rough start at home.

Throughout the entire match, Galaxy struggled to finish. San Jose’s defense was on the top of its game, and it wasn’t letting Galaxy score easily. Lucky for Galaxy, that it was able to take advantage of a scuffle around San Jose’s goal. Robbie Keane took a shot that was blocked, but rising star Gyasi Zardes was in prime position to fire the ball. It was a perfect shot that Jon Busch had no way of stopping.

San Jose newcomer than took his chance to make quite the debut. Matias Perez-Garcia did not do much at the beginning of the match, but in the 31st minute, he made what could have been the match-winning goal. The goal quickly answered Zardes goal, which had Galaxy fans nervous once again.

Galaxy did not let it stand however. In the 49th minute, Galaxy won a corner kick, which Stefan Ishizaki took and made a perfect play. Omar Gonzalez made a straight header and made the goal. The score was even once again, and unfortunately for both sides it would end with that score.

It was a physical match on both sides, but nothing grueling. Galaxy players were on the floor a lot, but none were pulled out of the match because of injury. San Jose however did have to take out Victor Bernardez, because of an accidental clash with a teammate.

Galaxy did not play an ideal match. With the announcement of Landon Donovan’s retirement, the team hopes to make it to MLS Cup, but if it continues playing the way it did tonight it will suffer. It did not play too terribly, but it could have done a lot better. It lost many balls in the midfield and failed to finish. Both teams will need to play better moving forward if they hope to advance.

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About the author
Jackee Arce
Writing is my life; soccer is my passion; everything else is just a bonus.