CITY kept the positive momentum rolling last night in LA, topping the Galaxy 3-1. Let's take a look at the night's opening goal, a Lukas MacNaughton header off a corner from Marcel Hartel.
Marcel Hartel's initial chip into the box is headed too hard by Wallem for Becher to handle and Jansen Miller collects the ball, seemingly steering it away from danger.
As MacNaughton begins his run, he's marked by LA's Justin Haak, but he runs Haak directly into the back of the Galaxy's #5 Jakob Glesnes. Glesnes' stationary position causes Haak to have to cut inside to try to get around his teammate, losing MacNaughton in the process.
The other Galaxy defender at the top of the 6 yard box is Marco Reus, who is slow to react as MacNaughton moves past him and into a perfect position to rise and angle a header which banks off the far post and in.
Nice movement by MacNaughton, a well-placed corner from Hartel, and a subpar lack of movement from the Galaxy all added up to a great chance which MacNaughton turned into an excellent headed goal and a 1-0 lead for CITY.
CITY's 2nd goal came off what was seemingly a nothing play from Tomas Totland and Marcel Hartel in stoppage time of the first half. Nice interplay between Totland and Hartel here, as Totland's movement after his pass created space behind himself for Hartel to dribble into.
Despite 4 Galaxy defenders immediately between Hartel and the goal, none of them stepped to him, and Hartel's horizontal movement towards the center of the pitch kept enough space to shoot.
His shot wrong-footed Galaxy keeper JT Marcinkowski in goal just as he had moved slightly left, leaving him frozen and unable to dive back to his right. Hartel's strike dipped over the makeshift Galaxy defensive line and gave CITY a 2-0 advantage.
CITY picked up an insurance goal from Simon Becher, who shook off a couple of high-danger missed chances earlier to convert on a breakaway and give St. Louis a 3-0 advantage.
A nice one-on-one defensive play by Polvara, who stepped to challenge a poor touch by LA's Harbor Miller. Polvara's pass to Santos was one-touched to Durkin, who then one-touched it to Hartel.
Hartel turned to see Becher beginning his run upfield, and he played a perfectly weighted ball to the CITY #9 which split Galaxy defenders Julián Aude and Justin Haak. Becher outpaced both and plays a nice flicked shot over the top of JT Marcinkowski for his second goal of the year.
This was exactly what a good counterattack does - take a turnover and quickly go the other way with it to create chances. 2 one-touch passes, Hartel's vision and Becher's run all combined for a really nice 3rd goal from CITY.
LA did get a consolation prize late in the match, with Troy Elgersma picking up his first ever MLS goal. Jaziel Orozco found himself in a bad spot along the sideline, surrounded by 4 Galaxy defenders. He had a split second to pass out of trouble to an open Daniel Edelman, but wasn't able to pick out Edelman in time and turned the ball over.
LA's Harbor Miller turned upfield, beating Durkin and nutmegging a rotating Timo Baumgartl. Durkin looked like he wanted to take the foul, but up 3-0 there was really no reason to risk taking a yellow here.
Polvara, the last CITY defender, moved to close off Miller but his deflection bounced off Durkin right to Elgersma, who hit it first time past an outstretched Roman Bürki, closing out the scoring in a 3-1 CITY road win.
Did Orozco over-dribble and get into a bad spot? Yes. Did Timo get undressed here? Yes. Did CITY get a bit unlucky with the deflection? Yes.
Credit where it's due, however - Miller showed good speed and Elgersma's shot was perfectly placed. But in the 86th minute, up 3 goals, you can excuse a bit of a defensive breakdown/mishap in this case.
