Miguel Berry scored his first goal of the season deep into second-half stoppage time and the LA Galaxy rallied from two goals down to earn a 2-2 draw against visiting Real Salt Lake on Saturday night.
Brazilian attacker Gabriel Pec added his third goal in MLS earlier in the second half for the Galaxy (5-2-5, 20 points), who maintained their unbeaten home record despite failing to earn a victory that could’ve vaulted them above Salt Lake into the Western Conference lead.
Riqui Puig assisted both Galaxy goals to bring his season total to six after he missed last weekend’s 0-0 draw at Seattle while serving a card accumulation suspension.
Cristian Arango scored his 10th and 11th goals of the season for RSL (6-2-4, 22 points), which maintains a two-point lead in the West over the Galaxy and Minnesota United.
The Colombian pulled into a three-way tie for the MLS goal-scoring lead with Miami’s Luis Suarez and D.C.’s Christian Benteke.
With seven assists as well, Arango has been involved in 18 of Salt Lake’s 20 goals this season.
But he could only watch from the bench after his removal for a defensive-minded substitution as Berry scored the tying goal late in the match.
Puig set up the opportunity with an early cross from the right that dipped before it reached Salt Lake goalkeeper Zac MacMath. And Berry made a sliding, foot-first lunge to reach the ball before MacMath could, poking it into an open goal from several yards out.
The Galaxy scored their first goal thanks to a transition opportunity in the 54th minute.
Maya Yoshida created a turnover near midfield, and Joseph Paintsill reached the loose ball and quickly pushed the ball forward to Puig on the break.
Puig slotted the ball to his left where Pec met it in the penalty area and struck a low shot that overpowered MacMath on its way across the line.
Arango scored his goals in the 20th and 40th minutes.
On the first, Alexandros Katranis sent in an early cross from the left, and Arango outmuscled Yoshida to win the aerial duel and send his header into the top right corner.
On the second, Andres Gomez dragged his cross toward the penalty spot for Arango to meet with a first-time finish.
–Field Level Media
