No Choke Job Last Night

It might seem like a shock to some of you, but ever since Robbie Rogers was traded to the L.A. Galaxy I’ve become a fan of the team. Sometimes they break my heart by dominating their opposition only to give up the game winning goal after the 90th minute. Other times they manage to find a way to win.

Last night against the Vancouver Whitecaps was no different. The team was already down three of their top players in Robbie Keane (hip pointer), Landon Donovan (US National Team) and Robbie Rogers (hamstring), but held their own in the opening minutes. In the 19th minute, brutal defensive coverage allowed Camilo to score on a breakaway and the Galaxy found themselves down 1-0. At that point I openly questioned whether or not some members of the Toronto Maple Leafs defense moonlighted as MLS players since this breakdown looked eerily like Dion Phaneuf and Carl Gunnarson getting caught out of position.

The Galaxy came back in the 29th minute on a disputed goal by Jose Villareal, who buried home Omar Gonzalez’s header. Initially the refs did not call it a goal, but then reversed course to make it a tie game. Not everyone agreed with the referee’s decision, including a possibly inebriated bachelor attending the game with Lakers guard Steve Nash as you can see here from this live television clip from Time Warner Sports.

The game remained tied until Gyasi Zardes broke the tie with a SportsCenter worthy goal in the 57th minute, but I don’t think I took a single breath as the teams played four minutes of injury time after 90 minutes. It was only after the final whistle blew when I relaxed, knowing that the Galaxy won the game and moved up to third in the Western Conference.