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LA Galaxy Draw Seattle Sounders FC 0-0 In Sigi Schmid Debut

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CARSON, CA (July 29, 2017) – It was incomplete, but the defensive bleeding stopped. The LA Galaxy drew Seattle Sounders FC 0-0 in the Sigi Schmid debut against his old team. Both teams had chances, but they lacked the attacking quality.

LA Galaxy Starting XI (4-2-3-1) – Brian Rowe/Ashley Cole, Jelle Van Damme, Daniel Steres, Pele van Anholt/Joao Pedro, Jermaine Jones/Emmanuel Boateng, Giovani dos Santos, Romain Alessandrini/Gyasi Zardes

Seattle Sounders FC Starting XI (4-2-3-1) – Stefan Frei/Nouhou Tolo, Chad Marshall, Roman Torres, Kelvin Leerdam/Cristian Roldan, Gustav Svensson/Joevin Jones, Clint Dempsey, Nicolas Lodeiro/Will Bruin

LA Galaxy Draw Seattle Sounders FC 0-0 In Sigi Schmid Debut

The first half was played very evenly but was uneventful. Seattle did a good job moving ball from side to side, but lacked urgency at times. The Galaxy were more aggressive on the ball but had trouble finishing. Joao Pedro had a few chances after some good build up, but was unable to shoot on frame. Gyasi Zardes had a few chances as well, but GK Stefan Frei was well positioned to make the saves.

Seattle’s best chance came in the 43rd minute. Lodeiro sent a ball in on a set piece. Cole mistimed the clearance and Dempsey got a bicycle kick chance as a result. Rowe made the save and the play was called offsides.

The match did get a little feisty. Alessandrini went down in the box in the 31st minute. There were shouts for a PK but nothing was called. The French International and Nouhou Tolo had words after the play.

Just before halftime, Jermaine Jones and Jelle Van Damme were both given yellow cards for tackles on Lodeiro and Dempsey, respectively. Both plays led to shouts from Sounders players and coaches for a booking. Players exchanged words of contempt aftewards.

The half ended 0-0 with LA outshooting Seattle 6-5 (2-1 on goal).

Seattle started the second half with much more intent. Just seconds in, Steres messed up on a back pass. Bruin ran onto the ball and chipped Rowe, but his shot was wide. That started a sequence of back and forth chances for both sides. Boateng headed the ball just wide of goal in the 59th minute with Zardes in the area. A minute later, Seattle moved the ball well and Roldan had a shot that went over the bar.

Play turned into end-to-end action with both sides countering on each other. All the attacking players had chances but Frei and Rowe made several excellent saves.

The match turned in the final minutes. After a string of rough tackles and fouls by both sides, Jelle Van Damme was shown a second yellow card in the 86th minute for a reckless tackle. The Sounders couldn’t capitalize and the match ended 0-0.

Final Thoughts:

Both teams should be content but not happy with the result. The Galaxy were able to stop the bleeding with a good defensive performance. The shape was much better. They probably created enough chances to get a goal, but the finishing was lacking. Seattle took time to get into the game, but will be glad Frei was on his A game tonight.

Other than the red card for Van Damme, everything the Galaxy did was something positive to build on. Van Damme and Diallo will both miss the next game due to suspension.

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