PORTLAND, Ore. — Cristian Pavon scored twice for the Galaxy, but Jaroslaw Niezgoda scored a pair of first-half goals and the Portland Timbers clinched a spot in the MLS playoffs with a 5-2 victory over L.A. on Wednesday night.
The Galaxy (5-11-3, 18 points) has lost eight of their past nine games and is sitting in last place in the Western Conference with three games left in the regular season.
“We have to find hope. We have to show pride. This club deserves a lot better than we’re giving it right now,” L.A. midfielder Perry Kitchen said. “There’s still a chance. Might be slim, but we have to go out and put our best foot forward and be a lot better than we were tonight.”
It is the fourth straight season the Timbers (10-5-5, 35 points) have made the postseason.
The Timbers were coming off a 1-1 draw with Cascadia Cup rival Seattle last week, conceding a goal in stoppage time for the second straight match.
The Timbers went up early on Niezgoda’s header to the far post in the sixth minute. He got his second in the 19th minute, giving him seven goals on the season. Portland captain Diego Valeri added a penalty kick in the 30th minute.
“Unacceptable start,” Kitchen said. “It’s just not good enough from us.”
The Galaxy closed the gap to 3-1 with Pavon’s first goal less than a minute into the second half.
But then Eryk Williamson scored in the 60th minute and Andy Polo’s stunning volley in the 74th padded Portland’s lead. Yimmi Chara finished with three assists.
“It’s obvious that it was our goal, not only to play in the playoffs – we want to do something more this year,” Niezgoda said. “I know we can do something more because we have the potential, we have the quality.”
Pavon added his second goal during stoppage time, giving him nine this season.Portland was without top scorer Jeremy Ebobisse for the second consecutive game because of a concussion. Meanwhile, the Galaxy was without forward Javier “Chicarito” Hernandez, who has a hamstring issue and announced on Instagram earlier that he wasn’t playing.
The Galaxy was coming off a 2-0 loss at rival LAFC last weekend. Center back Giancarlo Gonzalez received a red card during the match and wasn’t available against Portland.
It was the fourth meeting this season between the teams. The Timbers won the previous one, 6-3, in Carson for the first victory by a road team in the series since 2017.
The Galaxy hasn’t won in Portland since 2016.
Here’s the full video of GBS’ presser following tonight’s loss against Portland. #LAGalaxy #PORvLA pic.twitter.com/kMUPlrPsEN
— Delmy Barillas (@DelmyBarillas) October 29, 2020
Cristian Pavon needs π°π―ππΊ π΄π¦π€π°π―π₯π΄ to put us back in the game with his eighth goal in 2020
pic.twitter.com/p3FVXLNywM
— LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) October 29, 2020
https://goo.gl/hYDEHJ9⃣ goals in 2020 for Cristian Pavon pic.twitter.com/zXc4UzSa8q
— LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) October 29, 2020
No comments:
Post a Comment