It certainly was not easy. But in the end, the Los Angeles Galaxy clawed past the Seattle Sounders winning 4-2 in the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals. The Sounders took the lead twice, in both halves, before succumbing to three late LA goals.
Sounders strike first; Los Angeles equalize soon after
Seattle scored in the fourth minute of play thanks to a gift from the Galaxy defense. Leonardo attempted to clear the ball but instead, passed it straight to Michael Farfan. Farfan took a couple of steps before firing his shot past Clement Diop.
Giving up that early goal seemed to wake the home side up as they started applying pressure. In the 12th minute, Emmanuel Boateng floated a cross to the far post where two Galaxy players were waiting. Initially, Alan Gordon got his head on the delivery but headed it straight at Tyler Miller.
Five minutes later, the pressure came to fruition. Baggio Husidic slid a ball towards the middle of the penalty box. Then, Gordon proceeded to smash an effort into the top right corner of the goal.
For the remainder of the half, there were just a couple of half-chances from both sides. Herculez Gomez hit a low shot from outside the 18-yard-box but the rolled into the arms of Diop harmlessly. Daniel Steres made a good run towards the byline for putting a ball back across the box. Mike Magee was in a good position to get a shot away, but could not control the pass in the end.
A freak goal gave Seattle the lead in the 58th minute. Gomez found himself alone in the penalty box but in a strange position. Nevertheless, he hit the ball towards the frame, it bounced off of Diop and found the back of the net.
Zardes, Dos Santos, Lletget change the game
Gyasi Zardes and Giovani Dos Santos entered the fray in the 74th minute as the Galaxy hunted for an equalizer. Three minutes after the duo came on, Los Angeles found that second goal. It started with Zardes’ pressure on Sounders center back Zach Scott. Scott, in turn, gave possession straight to Dos Santos who made no mistake with a well-placed finished.
The next two goals belonged to Sebastian Lletget. Zardes started the move with a pass out wide to Baggio Husidic. Husidic played a ball back towards the middle where Lletget managed to give the Galaxy the lead for good. Zardes, in the 88th minute, squared a pass to Lletget who finished the move off through traffic to put the game to bed for good.
Coming up
Both sides return to Major League Soccer action this coming weekend. Los Angeles continues its tour of Cascadia teams as they travel to face the Portland Timbers on Saturday. The Sounders face Sporting Kansas City on the road Sunday afternoon.