In a match where Ashley Cole collected two yellow cards in 30 seconds, the Los Angeles Galaxy escaped a 1-1 draw at Sporting Park on Sunday night.
Here are how the Los Angeles Galaxy players fared against Sporting Kansas City.
Defense performs okay, with the exception of Ashley Cole
Brian Rowe (6): Let in Sporting’s only goal in the first half. However, he was in the right position, was at full stretch on his attempt to keep the ball out, but the shot was just too good. Other than that, Rowe did well catching dangerous crosses and coming out to collect through balls.
Ashley Cole (4): Had a nightmare of a match. Cole started out shaky, looking flustered with the attack going down his part of the pitch. Then, in the second half, Cole accumulated two yellow cards in 30 seconds and was given his marching orders; one for time wasting, the other for a late challenge on a Sporting Kansas City player.
Daniel Steres (6): Steres continues to provide stable play in the center of the defense. The 25-year-old was solid once more, while not making any kind of egregious errors.
Jelle Van Damme (6): Van Damme gave away a couple of free kicks around the edge of the box. But other than that, Van Damme played good defense, letting Rowe have a comfortable night between the sticks.
AJ DeLaGarza (5): The Guam international did not have the best of matches for the Galaxy. He did put in a decent shift on the defensive side of the ball, but Dom Dwyer caused him several fits.
Midfield invisible throughout most of the match
Emmanuel Boateng (6): After a stellar debut in the starting eleven, Boateng barely saw any of the ball. Sporting Kansas City defended him well and made him irrelevant.
Mike Magee (6): Magee is becoming somewhat of a utility man for Bruce Arena this season. He was used as a utility man, being deployed in all sorts of different positions. Against Sporting, Magee played the role of a holding midfielder, situating himself in front of the back four and did an adequate time.
Baggio Husidic (6): Husidic did not provide much of an impact on the match. He was solid when tracking back and helping with the defense, but did not prove to be clinical venturing further in the final third.
Sebastian Lletget (6): Lletget returned to the starting eleven from a brief rest after picking up a slight knock. He did not do much, however, rarely providing dangerous passes that he is known for.
Gyasi Zardes and Giovani dos Santos steal precious point from Sporting
Gyasi Zardes (8): While Zardes did not do much throughout the night, he was instrumental in the goal. He slipped by Graham Zusi before firing a pass downfield that dos Santos chased down in space.
Giovani dos Santos (8): dos Santos has been in fine form since returning from injury. He chased Zardes’ through ball and placed an immaculate chip over Tim Melia to level the match at one.
Subs
Jeff Larentowicz (Came on for Sebastian Lletget in the 56th minute, 6): The veteran midfielder slotted into Mike Magee’s role in the formation allowing Magee to move up to the final third of the pitch. He was solid in his 30 minutes of work, shielded the back four well.
Robbie Rogers (Came on for Mike Magee in the 72nd minute, 6): Rogers came on Magee to fill the void on the left following Cole’s dismissal. With 18 minutes remaining the match, Rogers did not do too much to cement his name in the occasion.
Jose Villarreal (Came on for Giovani dos Santos in the 90th minute, 7): Did not have much time to introduce himself as he came on in the last minute of play. But Villarreal did make a great play down the right before running to the byline. Villarreal tried to play a ball back towards the middle of the area but it got cut out at the last moment.