HEREDIA, COSTA RICA (BDCi) — The Los Angeles Galaxy and Herediano played to a scoreless draw Thursday night in the first leg of the CONCACAF quarterfinals, a clash almost as tight as the scoreline.
Both teams hit the crossbar, Herediano did so twice with, Ismael Gomez smacking the horizontal on an 87th minute penalty kick and benefited from fine backline play in a game mostly played between the boxes, with the Costa Ricans creating better chances despite seeing less of the ball.
Yedrick Ruiz nodded Elias Aguilar’s corner kick off the bar in the 43rd minute for Herediano and Mike Magee knocked a Robbie Keane cross off the bar seven minutes into the second half. Magee found the net 15 minutes later but was flagged on a tight offside call.
The Galaxy’s backline, the usual group with A.J. DeLaGarza sliding back to the middle until Leonardo came on an hour into the match and LA reverted to the group they used in the MLS opener against Chicago repelled most of Herediano’s opportunities with Omar Gonzalez’s height proving to be a big advantage.
The second leg between these two teams is Wednesday at The Home Depot Center with the winner likely facing Monterrey. They defeated El Salavador’s Xelaju 3-1, Wednesday night.
Source: lagalaxy.com
Photo: mlssoccer.com