Los Angeles put nine shots on Clint Irwin. They out-shot Colorado 21 to 5 and put nine shots on the Rapids’ goal. LA kept 63 percent of the ball, yet the only thing that differentiated them from their guests was a Drew Moor mistake and a penalty conversion from Bradley Cooper:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koybmjgSTx0%5D
I guess I shouldn’t proceed as if you know the joke. Galaxy midfielder/forward Mike Magee, who leads Major League Soccer with four goals in this still young campaign, looks like the Silver Linings Playbook star.
Here’s Mike versus the Oscar nominee:
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It’s a little disturbing (the un-canniness of the resemblance), but in our defense, we can’t take credit for this idea:
[tweet https://twitter.com/SachaKljestan/status/315672674565230592%5D
Sacha isn’t the first to come up with the comparison, so hopefully nobody took him up on that bet.
Back to the game. It’s hard to draw too much knowledge from a match which, even before an early second half red card, was lopsided, but while the game was in doubt, there were a couple of things worth talking about:
- What was Drew Moor thinking? I’m trying to look at this from the player’s point of view, hoping to come up with the most generous interpretation possible (given the video is pretty indicting). The only idea that comes to mind supposes Moor was trying to give Marcelo Sarvas a shot across the chest. Instead, he ended up punching Sarvas in the face. The only thing in doubt about Moor’s offense is how long he’ll be out. A suspension’s coming.
- Clint Irwin almost made this worthwhile – Matt Pickens is out with a broken arm, leaving the Rapids’ goalkeeping job to the unproven Clint Irwin. But that label (unproven) won’t last for long if Irwin can replicate Saturday’s performance. Drew Moor wouldn’t have been left to decide this one had Irwin been proved mortal before the 50th minute.
- Juninho as a focal point – We speculated about this in preseason, but particularly with Robbie Keane gone and Landon Donovan in Wisconsin, the Galaxy needed their emerging midfield general to guide them. It’s subtle and other it’s not that even influential, but if you’re familiar with the Galaxy you can see the little ways Juninho, now playing without David Beckham, is becoming a player LA leans on, somebody who can guide the attack when it’s out of idea. His night may have been more steady than stellar, but only 24 years old, Juninho still looks like a future all-star. His expanding role will get him there.
