Galaxy pull off tie with little to spare
Alessandrini, who has an assist on Boateng’s goal, scores near end of stoppage time.
GALAXY 2 HOUSTON 2
The stoppable object met the movable force Saturday at StubHub Center. So it was fitting the Galaxy and Houston Dynamo played to a 2-2 tie.
Mauro Manolas and Alberth Elis scored for Houston, and the Galaxy got goals from Emanuel Boateng and Romain Alessandrini, the second coming four minutes into stoppage time to earn the draw.
The Dynamo (7-6-3), the stoppable object, haven’t won on the road since September. The Galaxy (5-5-4), the movable force, came in with a league-low one MLS win at home. Neither of those skids ended Saturday, nor did the Galaxy’s unbeaten streak, which reached seven games, eight in all competitions.
Houston struck first, with Manolas slipping between defenders Dave Romney and Hugo Arellano to boot in the rebound of a wicked leftfooted shot from ageless defender DaMarcus Beasley.
The hard shot from outside the box stood up Galaxy keeper Clement Diop, who did a good job just to knock the ball down. But his teammates couldn’t clean up the ricochet, leaving Manolas with an easy finish.
It was the fifth time in seven home games the Galaxy conceded first. They have led once in those seven games, for a combined 75 minutes.
They didn’t wait long to equal things, though, with Boateng getting his first goal at home, and his first MLS goal against a team not from Salt Lake, on a breakaway in the 35th minute.
Alessandrini made the play, holding the ball up and drawing three Houston players to him before launching the speedy Boateng straight up the field with a beautiful pass. With Boateng well behind the Dynamo defense, keeper Tyler Deric came off his line to meet the Galaxy midfielder, who easily rounded the goalie at the top of the box, then left-footed the ball into an open net.
Alessandrini was rewarded with his team-leading seventh assist of the season.
Elis, a second-half substitute, then ended the tie after the Galaxy’s Jose Villarreal coughed up the ball in the midfield, starting a counterattack going up the right side that the Honduran ended with a clean finish.
Houston was just seconds away from making that stand up for the winner when Alessandrini, sliding in from the left, deflected in a Bradford Jamieson cross for his team-leading seventh goal.
Playing at home for the first time in six weeks, the Galaxy were greeted by an announced crowd of 25,667 at StubHub Center, which has undergone significant improvements since they left, with the addition of a 20by-54-foot video board above the south stands and new bleachers on the north berm. The renovations were necessitated by the relocation of the NFL’s Chargers from San Diego to Carson for the next three seasons.
The Galaxy lineup also underwent substantial renovations for Saturday’s game.
With defender Bradley Diallo tweaking a hamstring late last week, the Galaxy were missing eight starters to injury, suspension and international duty.