Omar Gonzalez didn’t get this header to go but he did get the game winner! (Photo by Duane Barker)
By Tim Peterson
(Carson) – Omar Gonzalez scored in the last minute of the contest to give the LA Galaxy a 2-1 win over Sporting Kansas City Saturday night before 20,018 at StubHub Center.
The game was tied at one at the end of regulation when four minutes of additional time was added. In the 94th minute Gonzalez redirected a corner kick from Juninho into the net for the game winner and the celebration ensued.
Baggio Husidic got the Galaxy on the board first. (Photo by Duane Barker)
“When you play hard sometimes you get a little lucky. I thought we played well overall,” said Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena.
Gonzalez didn’t start the game but came on late to have the big impact. “We were thinking we would use Omar at the end. We used him exactly the way we should have tonight,” Arena said.
The score was tied at one at the half. Baggio Husidic scored off a rebound of a Stefan Ishizaki shot in the ninth minute to give the Galaxy a 1-0 lead. Krisztian Nemeth tied it for Sporting KC off a crisp pass from Dominic Dwyer in the 22nd minute.
Marcel de jong almost put KC up one in the 35th minute but Jaime Penedo leaped to make a palm save. Penedo later ran out of the box to make another diving save in the 39th minute. One minute of additional time was added in the first half but it ended 1-1 at the break.
Sporting KC had the advantage of shots on goal at halftime 8-4. KC also led in time of possession 53 percent to 47 for the Galaxy.
There weren’t many opportunities for either side in the second half. Penedo made a diving save for the Galaxy in the 70th minute. Luis Marin made an even better one for Sporting KC off of a Juninho blast in the 72nd minute.
Bradford Jamieson had a golden opportunity right in front of the net in the 76th minute but was again thwarted by Marin. Jamieson tried to score off of a cross but Marin came up huge.
Juninho got into a minor scuffle with Roger Espinoza in the 82nd minute and received a yellow card but no scoring came as a result.
Omar Gonzalez then ended it in the 94th minute.
Sporting Kansas City finished with more shots on goal than the Galaxy 10-9. Total time of possession went to the Galaxy 51.2 percent to 48.8 for KC.
“It was good to get the result especially with a makeshift lineup,” Arena added. LA played without Robbie Keane who is still injured and Gonzalez and Gyasi Zardes came off the bench.
The Galaxy improved to 3-2-2 with the victory while Sporting Kansas City fell to 2-2-3.
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