Robbie Keane's making MVP noise again this season, and he added to his argument Saturday night with goals five minutes apart early in the second half to lift the LA Galaxy past FC Dallas and into the Western Conference lead.
Keane tallied in the 51st and 56th minutes, both headers, as the Galaxy rallied from a first-half deficit to claim their second straight road victory – after 11 months without one – as he celebrated a superb 100th MLS regular season game.
The goals were his 12th and 13th in league play this season and give him 66 in regular season outings since he joined LA four years ago, the third-highest total in MLS annals for a player's first 100 appearances.
Roy Lassiter, MLS' first Golden Boot winner, scored 71 in his first century of matches, and former Galaxy striker Carlos Ruiz netted 67 in his.
“When you're out on the field, you certainly don't think of it as your 100th game,” Keane, last year's league MVP, told media in Frisco, Texas. “I think the most important thing for me was when we came in the second half, that we regrouped.
“We didn't play well the first half -- we didn't get the ball down, we didn't pass the ball. I think you certainly saw a different team in the second half.”
LA, which rallied from behind to win for the third straight game, switched things up in the second half, moving Giovani Dos Santos to the right flank with Gyasi Zardes, better at holding the ball, joining Keane up top. It made an immediate difference.
Keane headed home a Robbie Rogers cross to pull the Galaxy even, then nodded in a little chip from Dos Santos after playing him the ball on a counterattack to go ahead 2-1.
“His positioning in front of goal is outstanding,” said Sebastian Lletget, whose give-and-go with Rogers led to LA's first goal. “And he's a great captain. He pushes you when you're down, and when you're up, he gives you confidence. He did it tonight again.”
Backline leader Omar Gonzalez said Keane was “the main drive” in the Galaxy's comeback. FC Dallas had been unbeaten this year when scoring first and when ahead at halftime.
“We weren't winning the second balls [in the first half]. We didn't probably string four, five passes together,” Keane said. “We're dangerous when we get the ball into Stevie [Gerrard]'s feet, Stevie gets it into Gio's feet or my feet, and then we make things happen. Unfortunately, we didn't do that in the first half, for whatever reason.
“Second half was a completely different side. Second half we got the ball down, we played it, we played to our strengths, which is getting [the ball] into people's feet very quickly.”
The 35-year-old Irishman has 17 goals in 20 games all told this year and has netted 91 in 144 appearances of any stripe with the Galaxy, including nine in MLS postseason matches and seven in CONCACAF Champions League play.
He has 13 goals and five assists in 16 MLS games this season, 10 goals in his last five league games. He scored 19 regular season MLS goals last year and 16 the two previous seasons.
“I always want to win, you know? I always want to be successful,” Keane said. “I keep saying every year, I always want to better myself every year. This year might be a little bit difficult [to better my numbers from 2014], in terms of I was out for two months [with a groin injury], but if you look at goals per game and assists, it's probably up there with the best I've had.
“If I can continue to do that, all well and good, and the team continues to win, which is always the most important thing. It's not about individuals. If I can help the team by scoring goals and assisting and have the team do well, everyone's a winner.”
Scott French covers the LA Galaxy for MLSsoccer.com.
