Robbie Keane Salvages Point for LA Galaxy

Short Two Designated Players, the DP Picks Up the Slack

That’s why  you have three designated players.

Robbie Keane Celebrates

Traveling to Columbus without captain Landon Donovan and David Beckham, many questioned how the Galaxy might fare when faced with some adversity away from home. Lucky for LA, Robbie Keane was on his mark.

Fielding the so-called “championship” back line – as the Galaxy Insider Adam Serrano has coined them – of Sean Franklin, AJ De La Garza, Omar Gonzalez and Todd Dunivant for just the second time this season, LA looked under siege throughout much of the first half as the Crew put together some strong sequences going forward. Galaxy goalkeeper Josh Saunders was sharp in net and a few off target efforts saw both teams enter the half knotted at zeros with Columbus enjoying a steep 14 to 3 advantage in shots to close the half.

But having only bent throughout the first half, the Galaxy broke immediately to start the second half.

Columbus forward Jairo Arrieta opened the scoring in the match’s 47th minute cutting across the top of the Galaxy area from wide ride and angling a low drive across his body to the near post. It appeared Saunders had a beat on the shot, but as the ball trickled by, the Galaxy keeper must have seen the shot later than he’d liked or just whiffed on his save. Either way, he should have done better and the Crew held a 1-0 advantage.

But in a match with clear scoring chances few and far between, the Galaxy’s Irish DP showed himself a fox-in-the-box with a true poacher’s goal in the 64th minute.

Michael Stephens sprung Franklin down the right channel and with all the work to do, Franklin managed to slice up his man and get a teasing ball across the Crew 6-yard box. With Franklin going to work on the Crew defense, Keane took the opportunity to slip away from his man and claim the simplest of tap-ins, reappearing at the pivotal moment to roof the ball into an open net. The goal was Keane’s second in successive matches, preserving a draw for the visitors.

With the midweek match out of the way, the Galaxy will now have a week to prepare for their CONCACAF Champions League opener at home against Isidro Metapán of El Salvador on Thursday.

Playing in their first match since the death of their teammate Kirk Urso, the Crew and Galaxy both wore #15 armbands to remember their colleague. Crew supporters had a moment of silence at the match’s 15 minute mark in homage of the former Columbus 22-year-old midfielder.

Posted by: Vincent LR