CARSON, Calif. – It was a six-pointer for the LA Galaxy and FC Dallas on Wednesday night. With three losses in a row, the Galaxy needed a result and they needed Cristian Pavon and Zlatan Ibrahimovic to produce.
Cristian Pavon Gets First MLS Assist in LA Galaxy win
The first half was evenly played with both sides getting chances. The first good chance came in the 14th minute. Santiago Mosquera got a shot off a corner right in the middle of goal. The ball took a deflection then went off the crossbar and was cleared out by Jorgen Skjelvik.
Just before halftime, Zlatan Ibrahimovic won the ball and danced through several Dallas defenders before his shot was deflected at the last second wide of the near post. The half ended 0-0 with the visitors getting more of the chances.
The teams traded chances in the second half, with Michael Barrios and Ibrahimovic leading the way, respectively.
LA Galaxy finally broke the scoreless tie in the 68th minute through Jorgen Skjelvik. On a quick sequence up the sideline, Skjelvik overlapped with Cristian Pavon. Pavon passed the ball back to the defender in the open field. He found Ibrahimovic in the middle of the box, unmarked, for a first time shot to the open corner of the goal.
With ten minutes to go, the Galaxy won a penalty. Cristian Pavon went down in the box after a challenge from Reggie Cannon. Ibrahimovic stepped up and buried it, sending goalkeeper Jesse Gonzalez the wrong way.
The match ended 2-0.
.@Ibra_official gives the #LAGalaxy the 1-0 lead! #LAvDAL pic.twitter.com/vdyNjryoYT
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 15, 2019
Three Takeaways:
Productive Pavon: Dubbed the maestro for the Galaxy by several, the club needed someone besides Ibrahimovic to lead the attack. Pavon had the pass to set up the first goal and drew the penalty to give LA a two goal cushion.
Playoff Implications: With single digit weeks left in the MLS regular season, every conference match between playoff teams is massive. The Galaxy got a big three points to stay ahead of the red line.
Just what the doctor ordered: Off a three-game lossing stream going into this game, the Galaxy needed a result against a playoff contender opponent with Seattle Sounders FC coming to town on the weekend. This was just the result the team needed.
