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Yawns then Gasps: LA Galaxy draw Colorado Rapids 2-2 in exciting second half

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CARSON, Calif. (August 14, 2018) – The LA Galaxy draw midweek after an exciting second half against Colorado Rapids. The final score was 2-2 with both teams having defensive issues and injuries to deal with.

Yawns then Gasps: LA Galaxy draw Colorado Rapids 2-2 in exciting second half

The first half was relatively uneventful. Ola Kamara put the ball in the back of the net 16 minutes in, but it was ruled that Ashley Cole was off-sides as part of the build-up. The teams traded half chances the rest of the half. Dillon Serna got the best chance for the visitors in the 23rd minute, sending a rebound off a sprawling David Bingham.

In the 36th minute, Tim Howard parried a shot away from the far post on a header by Kamara. The half ended 0-0.

While the game wasn’t that exciting, both teams were forced to make early substitutions. Jonathan dos Santos appeared to hurt his groin in the first half and had to be subbed out. Michael Ciani walked off the field gingerly at halftime and did not return to the match. Kellyn Acosta threw up just minutes into the second half and could not continue.

The scoring finally opened in the 59th minute when Chris Pontius found Ashley Cole in space, who cut inside and shot over Howard to score. In the 74th minute, Cole’s foil Edgar Castillo cut inside on a run from out wide to get past Dave Romney and fire a hard fast shot past Bingham to tie the match.

Sebastian Lletget appeared to have the winner just four minutes later. The midfielder was late-arriving in the box on a cross that was knocked down and he caught the Rapids by surprise, bending a first time shot past Howard. Four minutes later, Nikki Jackson scored out of nowhere, catching Bingham off guard with a shot that got deflected to the top of the net.

The match ended 2-2 with Kamara getting called off-sides on a goal in the final minute.

Three takeaways:

A tale of two halves: The first half was boring and slow. The second half featured four goals in just over 20 minutes. The offenses came alive after the Cole goal.

Defensive issues on both sides: Mistakes were made defensively on all four goals. Man-marking off the ball by the Rapids was poor on both goals they gave up. The back line did not manage the gaps well against Cole and no one cleared the ball nor picked up Lletget on the second. Bingham was caught off guard on both goals and Romney could have done better marking Castillo on the first goal.

Injuries: Three players had to come off with injuries in this game. With Jonathan dos Santos hurt, the Galaxy are now potentially down all three of their DPs. Ciani did not impress in this LA Galaxy draw and this could be a chance for someone else to play. Acosta appeared to be sick more than injured, but to try and play after this couldn’t have been fun.

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