Editorial (April 7, 2017) – The LA Galaxy finally won a home game. They defeated the Montreal Impact 2-0 on Friday night, even though the Impact were down a man. Here’s three things I noticed.
LA Galaxy Beat Montreal Impact: Three Things I Noticed
Alessandrini Is Fulfilling Gio’s Expectations
As I wrote this week, Romain Alessandrini has been putting the Galaxy on his back this season. He scored the game winner against Montreal when both teams still had eleven men. LA has scored seven goals this season. Alessandrini has been directly involved in five of them, with three goals and two assists. wo
In the meantime, Giovani dos Santos continues to struggle. Similar to LA’s last No. 10, Landon Donovan, he floats in and out of games. He’s either in Ghost Mode or Beast Mode. In 2017, it’s been all ghost. The Galaxy let go of Robbie Keane in the off-season because they wanted to build around Dos Santos. He did just come back from injury, so maybe he’s playing hurt? Regardless, the Galaxy need Dos Santos to play better if they’re going to do anything this year.
Emmanuel Boateng As A Setup Man
Emmanuel Boateng broke into MLS last year with his speed and devastating finishes against Real Salt Lake. In the last two games though, he’s got two assists on goals to Alessandrini. He’s still using his speed to get open. But he’s drawing defenders in to create space for teammates. He set up Jones perfectly in the tenth minute against Montreal.
He’s not getting a lot of touches, but every time he gets the ball, something good happens. He’s well known enough in the league now, that teams are scouting to close him down quickly. When defenders do that, they create space somewhere else. Boateng is getting the ball to his teammates in that space.
MLS Could Really Use VAR
The Galaxy have been at the center of controversy this year. Dave Romney was suspended for embellishment after drawing a PK in the opening game of the season. Jelle Van Damme had two yellow cards in less than five minutes against the Portland Timbers. Marco Donadel was given a straight red card for an elbow to the upper body Jermaine Jones.
It’s tough to tell on the replay what the official had a view of. Regardless, Jones probably made a meal of it. That’s a yellow card at most if you ask me.
This is another instance in a Galaxy game this year in which the official could have used a VAR review on a critical call. Fans and pundits have been bagging on PRO and MLS officiating for years. But the preseason showed that VAR had a positive effect on MLS officials. The league could use it sooner rather than later. I’d argue MLS should prioritize VAR over goal line technology.
