The LA Galaxy on Sunday revisited a couple of themes from last season, conceding a 90th-minute goal to fall behind, then battling back to pull even in stoppage time through their No. 1 weapon off the bench.
Alan Gordon's 93rd-minute header forged a wind-blown 2-2 draw at Portland, giving LA a share of the points from a match in which they felt like they were clearly the better side.
“I think it would have been tough to walk off this field without a point ...,” head coach Bruce Arena told media at Providence Park. “We played well today. It would have been awful not to get a point out of this game. Our team was very good over the last 60 minutes today.”
Gordon came up big again, answering Fanendo Adi's go-ahead strike with a looping header off Stefan Ishizaki's corner kick inside the left post. It was Gordon's fifth goal off the bench – three of them equalizers, another a winner – since LA acquired him from San Jose last August.
“I said to him, 'It's probably a game for you, so be ready,' ” Galaxy captain Robbie Keane reported afterward. “Thankfully, he came on and got the goal. It was just bad circumstances. You can see it, the second [Portland] goal, we didn't deserve it. It was against the run of play, but full credit to us. We kept battling.”
The Galaxy needed most of the first half to find their footing, then took charge after Adi provided the Timbers a 31st-minute lead. When Gyasi Zardes finished Jose Villarreal's cross to even things midway through the second half, LA thought they were in good shape.
But they've too often given up soft goals late in games, sacrificing enough points the past two seasons to lose the Supporters' Shield, and Adi hit them again at the end.
Darlington Nagbe caught up with a long ball from Liam Ridgewell at the Galaxy box, beat left back Todd Dunivant – just off the bench three minutes earlier -- toward the byline, then squaring the ball for Adi's finish.
“After the 1-0, I think the second half we played pretty good, created some chances, and then we got the 1-1,” said Finnish midfielder Mika Vayrynen, who had an impressive MLS debut off the bench. “Then they got the 2-1 in the end, and then we were like, 'Oh, this can't be happening.' ”
It was, but Gordon, stationed near the penalty spot, came through when Ishizaki lobbed the ball into the middle from the right corner.
“I think they got outnumbered, and they had kind of a smaller guy on me,” said the 6-foot-3 Gordon, who was marked by 5-9 Jorge Villafaña. “So that was a favorable matchup for me, and I was able to take advantage of it. ...
“It's a great sign early [in the season] to come back and show character, but this is a team that's been here. We've been together, so we're kind of used to these situations, but to show this kind of heart late in the game is really good for us moving forward.”
Said Keane: “I told the lads before the game that we're probably the best footballing team in the league, one of, but sometimes you have to show a little bit more than that. Sometimes you play under difficult circumstances ... and it's about battling through and showing some heart, and we certainly showed that today.”
