The Galaxy started off the match with strength and vigor but that seemed to have quickly passed away as the Sounders kept on pushing on offense and attacking whenever possible. Seattle was able to keep LA on their toes and made them challenge the Sounders at every turn. The Galaxy did do a good job in the first fifteen minutes of play but the Sounders were so in sync that it was already looking like an up hill battle for the Galaxy squad.
In the third minute of play Gyasi Zardes got a beautiful pass in a breakaway that put him in a spot to take a shot but unfortunately, it went wide and missed. This missed attempt made the Galaxy squad warm up a bit and they started playing faster and harder. On the other side the Sounders took this as a threat and responded with their own attempt but it was knocked out of bounds, giving Seattle a corner kick. The corner attempt was not successful and the attempted header went wide right. In the seventh minute Romain Alessandrini made and attempt but was blocked by Sounders goalie Stefan Frei. That led to the turning point where the Sounders took control of the match and forced the Galaxy to pretty much play defense until the end.
The Sounders were able to push the ball down the pitch in the eighth minute and got into attacking position. Will Bruin of the Sounders made an attempt but missed by a few feet. Then three minutes later after stealing possession away from the Galaxy the Sounders forward Clint Dempsey made an attempt but missed as well. Again the Galaxy had a chance to make it down the pitch but the ball was intercepted by the Seattle defense. Jordan Morris was given the opportunity to shoot and he took it but luckily for Los Angeles, Brian Rowe was able to make the save. In the twenty-first minute of play Dempsey was given yet another chance to make an attempt but the shot went over the net flying into the stands. Six minutes later the Sounders made another attempt, this time by NicolásLodeiro. Rowe blocked Lodeiro’s shot but the Sounders recovered the possession and after a couple of minutes of play Dempsey made another attempt. This time Dempsey’s shot went right into the back of the net putting the Sounders up one to zero.
After the first goal was made the Galaxy tried turning things up on offense but was not able to get the ball in a scoring position, due to the intensity of the Seattle defense. In the thirty-fifth minute the Sounders kept pushing to score another goal but the Galaxy kept defending until an accidental own goal. Ashley Cole trying to defend against the relentless attack from Seattle accidentally headed the ball into his goal. This put the Sounders up two to zero with plenty of time left in the first half. Cole was devastated that he caused an own goal but the rest of the team did not give up when trying to get on the board themselves. Although the Galaxy was putting in a lot of effort it was met by some great defense working in sync with one another. The forty-first second Dempsey made another attempt on goal but was blocked by Rowe. Then just seconds later Dempsey got the ball back and made another attempt on goal but it was blocked once again by Rowe. After clearing the ball the Galaxy lost possession of the ball again and in the forty-fourth minute of play Morris took a shot that sent the ball into the back of the goal, putting the Sounders up three to zero before halftime.
After halftime the Galaxy came out playing a lot better defense but it was to no avail as the Sounders were still playing great defense and stopped all attempts that were made. Although the Galaxy lost they can take away from this game that they need to play smarter on defense and keep the ball away from their goal more. The Galaxy never gave up even though they were down for more than three quarters of the match. As long as the Galaxy players can get on the same page, both on offense and defense, they can expect to win more games. Until the Galaxy can get into a rhythm with each other we could see more games like this. The fans and organization have tons of faith that these amazing athletes will bring home more win and hopefully bring home another MLS championship back to Los Angeles.
