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L.A. Galaxy Defeated By VAR, Two Awesome Goals From Portland

The L.A. Galaxy are in a major rut and everyone is piling on, from opponents to technology. In a 3-1 loss to the Portland Timbers on Sunday, the Galaxy were one of the first MLS clubs to have a goal disallowed by video review. Then the Timbers slammed home two of the best goals of the weekend to rub it in and spoil the debut of Jonathan Dos Santos. 

L.A. thought it had scored in the 12th minute when Gyasi Zardes poked home from short range. But the officials checked the tape and discovered Zardes had handled the ball prior to the goal.

 

Zardes wasn’t the only player to lose a goal to VAR, which began usage in MLS on Saturday. FC Dallas’ Maxi Urruti had his goal canceled out by video review of a foul on the Philadelphia goalkeeper. Zardes received a yellow card for his incident, which kept L.A. from going up 2-1. With momentum shifted, Diego Valeri fired this thundering rocket past Galaxy goalie Brian Rowe to make it 2-1 Portland. 

Early in the second half, a clever backheel from Fanendo Adi set up Alvas Powell to make it 3-1. Adi’s fantastic assist came at a price as he pulled up with a leg injury resulting from the pass. 

 

Powell’s strike effectively ended the match. The Galaxy, who have six wins in 22 matches, couldn’t mount a comeback despite bringing in new signing Jonathan dos Santos in the 64th minute. The lone bright spot for L.A. was a goal from Emmanuel Boateng in the sixth minute to cancel out an early opener from Portland’s Liam Ridgewell. 

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