Galaxy lose again at home, fall to New York City FC

By Brian Kowalski

Carson, Calif. -- The Los Angeles Galaxy have undergone serious midseason changes in order to compete for a playoff spot during the second half of the season.

Curt Onalfo was removed from head coaching duties and Sigi Schmid was brought in to change the culture in the locker room.  Schmid's first game was against his old club, the Seattle Sounders, and it resulted in a 0-0 draw at home.  Last weekend, the Galaxy were beaten 3-1 by the Timbers in Portland.

With injuries continuing to pile up this year, the Galaxy recently signed Pele van Anholt and Jonathan dos Santos to help the team.  On Saturday night, in front of a sellout crowd of 25,667 fans, LA hosted New York City FC, looking to get a first win for Schmid, and to have their new players become more involved.

LA was aggressive early with Romain Alessandrini dribbling half the field in the 15th minute and shooting on Sean Johnson from distance.  The shot was one of many deflections by Johnson on the night, as the Galaxy unfortunately could not score due to Johnson making an incredible save.

In the 40th minute, Pele van Anholt struck an amazing volley shot on goal following a free-kick, but Johnson leaped and got a finger on the ball to keep it out of goal.

The second half did not begin as LA hoped, as New York scored a goal in the 54th minute.  Jonathan Lewis received the ball at the top of the 18-yard box and juked Jermaine Jones.  Then with Daniel Steres failing to put on any defensive pressure, Lewis took a right-footed shot on Brian Rowe, who was a few steps above the goal line.  Lewis’ shot went over Rowe’s hands and hit the crossbar.  Unfortunately for LA, the ball hit the crossbar and came down inside the goal line for a 1-0 New York lead.

The Galaxy nearly equalized in the 69th minute with an Alessandrini cross that found Ashley Cole.   Cole’s volley hit the crossbar and went over the goal though.

Things went from bad to worse for LA in the 74th minute when David Villa held the ball against two Galaxy defenders.  As he approached the 18-yard box, he took a left-footed shot that found the upper corner of the goal and stunned the home crowd with a 2-0 lead for New York.  Villa is the MLS' leading scorer, as he now has 18 goals.

In the final minutes, LA was again unlucky when a free-kick was headed down by Jack McInerney, but was only stopped because the goalkeeper, Sean Johnson, was able to barely deflect the shot.  Later, Gyasi Zardes' shot on goal from a Bradford Jamieson cross was timely deflected by Johnson to keep the clean sheet.

"I thought from a soccer standpoint, we played really well," said Schmid. "We deserved to come out of that game with more. When you look at the game, I thought we dominated the game. When you look at the chances that we created and the corners we got and the possession and everything else, I thought the team played pretty well."

Although LA created scoring chances in this game, things must improve on the defensive end in order to help the Galaxy through this tumultuous season.

With the loss, the Galaxy are now 1– 7– 4 at home -- the league’s worst home record.  They next take on the Columbus Crew on the road hoping for a much-needed three points.