Marco Reus and Justin Haak each scored goals Wednesday night and the LA Galaxy took a big step towards making the MLS playoffs with a 2-0 blanking of the visiting Portland Timbers.
LA (10-11-9, 39 points) jumped over Colorado to eighth place in the West table, while Portland (9-14-6, 33 points) remained in 10th, five points behind the Rapids. The Galaxy won for the third time in four games.
Reus gave LA the only marker it needed in the 17th minute when he ran unmarked down the middle, took Robert Taylor’s pass inside the 6-yard box and converted for his 8th goal of the year.
In the 80th minute, Reus set up Haak’s goal on a set piece. He crossed from the right side into the middle and Haak rose above multiple defenders with an authoritative header for the clinching tally.
It added up to a bounceback effort for the Galaxy, which were coming off a 6-2 stomping Sunday night at St. Louis. LA conceded three times in the first 21 minutes and trailed 6-1 just 53 minutes into the match, albeit against a side that became just the second one in MLS history to put together 20 straight unbeaten fixtures across all competitions.
The start of the match nearly presaged another tough night for the Galaxy. The Timbers appeared to have scored in the sixth minute on a header by Vincent Janssen but it was negated by an offsides flag.
That was as good as it got for Portland, which couldn’t punch holes into the LA defensive shape and over time, gave up control of the match. The Timbers were fortunate to not go down 2-0 but Reus’ marker in the 19th minute was cancelled by offsides.
The Galaxy boasted 55% possession in the first 45 minutes and took their one-goal advantage into halftime. Portland did create more chances in the second half but JT Marcinkowski delivered four of his five saves to keep it off the board.
–Field Level Media
