The morning after: Wrapping up the Galaxy’s 5-1 win over New York City FC

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Photo by Steve McCrank/Staff photographer

Photo by Steve McCrank/Staff photographer

The L.A. Galaxy took over the top spot in the Western Conference and first in the race for the Supporters’ Shield with a clinical dissection of New York City FC at StubHub Center. The defending champs continued their hot streak Sunday and have a trip to San Jose on the horizon this week. Here are some links and thoughts to wrap up the Sunday’s victory:

Let’s start with links from the 5-1 shellacking of NYC:

 

Defense dominates

The Galaxy back line deserves major props for its performance against NYC. When the offense started slowly, the starting back line — Omar Gonzalez, AJ DeLaGarza, Leonardo and Robbie Rogers — held firm, winning one-on-one matchups against some of the biggest names in the game. DeLaGarza and Leonardo especially were strong minimizing David Villa’s impact on the game. Villa did finish with 10 shots (three on goal) with the one NYC goal, but he was trying to be a one-man show, which obviously didn’t work out too well. Leonardo had a great pick-pocket on Villa around the 25th minute, which I remember as a major turning point in the game.

Steven Gerrard also had praise for the 27-year-old Brazilian.

“I thought Leo was the man of the match today,” Gerrard said. “It might surprise a few people, but he’s been growing every week and I thought he was very calm on the ball tonight and made some very vital interceptions. He’s a young man who is learning the game and I was really impressed.”

Apparently, Gerrard wasn’t the only one who thought highly of Leonardo’s performance. He was named the LA Riot Squad’s Man of the Match.

From that fateful moment Leonardo beat Villa one-on-one, the Galaxy really grabbed momentum and unleashed their full attack. The late penalty kick Dan Gargan conceded was the one blemish on the defense’s mark, but overall, the Galaxy defense had a spectacular game on one of the biggest stages of the year.

(This is not pick-pocket I was alluding to earlier, but still an impressive play)

Home sweet home

There’s something about StubHub Center that really just sets the Galaxy’s offense in motion. Maybe it’s the fans, the grass, or the Southern California sun, but it’s pretty startling how much more effective the offense is at home compared to away. In three of its past four home games, L.A. has scored five goals, including the five-spot against NYCFC on Sunday.road vs. away scoring

Midfielder Sebastian Lletget told me a few weeks ago that the pitch’s actual dimensions at StubHub Center could be a reason why the numbers are so high at home. The field at StubHub Center is 120 yards long and 75 yards wide (9,000 square yards), which makes it one of the larger fields in MLS in area. Only eight MLS fields are 9,000 square yards or larger (the biggest is 9,240 in Montreal). Lletget, the team’s second-leading scorer in only 13 games, said the larger size of the field helps the team with spacing.

For those wondering, the smallest field in MLS is NYCFC’s at Yankee Stadium.

 

 

King Keane

robbie keane comparison

Here’s a look at how Keane’s performance so far this season has stacked up to his MVP-winning production of a year ago:

Not many other things can be said for Robbie Keane. The reigning MLS MVP is in full form coming down the stretch of the season after missing time earlier in the year due to injury. He has scored 15 goals in the past 10 matches across all competitions. His 15 MLS goals is tied for third in the league and, among players with more than 1,000 minutes, he’s the leader in goals per 90 minutes (0.94 goals per 90 minutes after Sunday’s brace).

 

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