The LA Galaxy took an impressive result on the road on Friday, defeating the Houston Dynamo 4-1 at BBVA Compass Stadium.
The Dynamo wasted no time in opening the scoring, as a short corner kick eventually resulted in a cross into the box by Alex, with defender David Horst waiting at the back post and heading it home in the very first minute of the game.
But that lead was short-lived, as just three minutes later Giovani Dos Santos capitalized on a defensive mix-up by the Dynamo and hit a breakaway shot past Joe Willis to make it 1-1. A misplayed clearance in the box in the 21st minute then led to the next goal, when Baggio Husidic buried a ball bouncing around in the 6-yard box.
Ten minutes later, LA's two Designated Players on the field teamed up for a terrific goal. Steven Gerrard, serving as captain for the night, played a ball diagonally across the field up to Dos Santos, who took the ball down inside the box and eluded a defender with a nifty move before finishing the shot emphatically for his second of the night.
Gyasi Zardes finished the scoring just a few minutes after the break, as his tap-in off Sebastian Lletget's low cross effectively put the game to bed for the Galaxy.
Houston Dynamo (1-3-2, 5 points) vs. LA Galaxy (1-3-1, 8 points)
MLS Regular Season
April 15, 2016—BBVA Compass Stadium—Houston, Texas
Attendance: 20,563
Scoring Summary:
Houston: David Horst 2 (Alex Lima 1) 1
LA: Giovani dos Santos 1 (unassisted) 4
LA: Baggio Husidic 1 (unassisted) 21
LA: Giovani dos Santos 2 (Steven Gerrard 2) 31
LA: Gyasi Zardes 3 (Sebastian Lletget 2) 49
Houston Dynamo: Joe Willis; DaMarcus Beasley, Raúl RodrÃguez, David Horst, Jalil Anibaba; Ricardo Clark, Alex; Giles Barnes ©, Cristián Maidana (Boniek GarcÃa 57), Andrew Wenger (Leonel Miranda 57); Will Bruin (Erick Torres 57)
Unused substitutes: Sheanon Williams, Tyler Deric, Agus, Mauro Manotas
TOTAL SHOTS: 9 (David Horst, Giles Barnes tied with 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (David Horst, Raúl RodrÃguez, Giles Barnes tied with 1) FOULS: 10 (DaMarcus Beasley, Jalil Anibaba tied with 2); OFFSIDES: 2 (Andrew Wenger, Cristián Maidana tied with 1); CORNER KICKS: 3 (Cristián Maidana 2); SAVES: 1 (Joe Willis 1)
LA Galaxy: Brian Rowe; Ashley Cole, Jelle Van Damme (Dave Romney 82), Daniel Steres, A.J. DeLaGarza; Baggio Husidic, Steven Gerrard ©, Sebastian Lletget, Giovani dos Santos, Mike Magee (Emmanuel Boateng 66); Gyasi Zardes
Unused substitutes: Jeff Larentowicz, Dan Kennedy, Ariel Lassiter, Alan Gordon, Rafael Garcia
TOTAL SHOTS: 11 (Steven Gerrard 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 5 (Giovani dos Santos 2); FOULS: 15 (Baggio Husidic 4); OFFSIDES: 2 (Giovani dos Santos, Gyasi Zardes tied with 1); CORNER KICKS: 4 (Mike Magee 3); SAVES: 2 (Brian Rowe 2)
Disciplinary Summary
LA: Ashley Cole (caution) 56
LA: Daniel Steres (caution) 89
Referee: Mark Geiger
Assistant Referees: Mathew Nelson, Logan Brown
Fourth Official: Nima Saghafi
