Chicharito, with a brace, has already equaled his scoring mark from last year
The Spanish Riqui Puig played 84 minutes with the Galaxy
Los Angeles Galaxy accelerated this Saturday towards the ‘playoffs’ by winning 3-2 at the San José Earthquakes with goals from the Mexican Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandezprotagonist with a double, and the Uruguayan Gastón Brugman.
With their second consecutive victory, the Galaxy took the California Classic and moved from eighth to fifth position in the Westwhen there are only two days left for the end of the regular season.
The first seven teams from each conference will play the ‘playoffs’ and the Californian team is three points ahead of Real Salt Lake, eighth, with which it will be measured on the next day in an important direct clash.
The Galaxy were under pressure, in which the Spanish Riqui Puig played 84 minutes, and they did not fail in the appointment of San José, in which the final result does not reflect the superiority of the Angelenos seen in the field.
The Earthquakes trailed 0-3 in the 69th minute and cut the deficit to 2-3 with a penalty goal from Argentine Cristian Espinoza in minute 73 and with a goal from the Brazilian Nathan Cardoso in the last breath, but it was already too late to be able to save a point.
‘Chicharito’ only needed twelve minutes to celebrate his second consecutive goalafter the one he signed last week against the Colorado Rapids.
He took advantage of an assist from his compatriot Julián Araújo to control the ball in the area and beat the goalkeeper with a good shot from his left foot. It was the target that put the match downhill for a Galaxy that, with Puig starting as left midfielder, they extended distances before the break thanks to a great goal from Brugman.
The former Parma and Real Oviedo midfielder continued his sweet moment and, after the double against the Rapids, signed a great goal with a powerful shot from the edge of the area that ended up at the bottom of the net after grazing the crossbar.
The Galaxy played a solid match, imposing their game on the Earthquakes’ field, and in the second half they took advantage of the spaces on the counterattack to sign the third goal.
‘Chicharito’ was confirmed intractable when defining within the area and took advantage of a through pass from Frenchman Kevin Cabral to reach seventeen goals in MLS.
the mexican striker equaled his mark from last year and he still has two games, against Real Salt Lake and Houston Dynamo to improve it.
The Earthquakes, who no longer have ambitions in this campaign, showed commitment until the end and in the final stretch they closed the gap thanks to a penalty converted by the Argentine Cristian Espinoza (m.73) and a goal from Brazilian Nathan Cardoso in the last second of added time.
However, there were no options for the San José team, since the referee whistled the end of the match immediately after the target of Nathan.
The triumph served the Galaxy to give a major step toward the postseason.
