CARSON, Calif. -- The LA Galaxy looked dead and buried in their US Open Cup quarterfinal tie with the Seattle Sounders on Wednesday, but Bruce Arena’s double substitution of Gyasi Zardes and Giovani Dos Santos in the 74th minute turned the game on its head.
Trailing 2-1, Zardes and Dos Santos replaced target forward Alan Gordon and a slightly withdrawn Mike Magee respectively. Switching from a 4-2-3-1 to a more conventional 4-4-2 leading the line, the Galaxy exploded for three goals in the space of eleven minutes as LA ultimately won 4-2 at the StubHub Center Track & Field Stadium.
The Mexican international Dos Santos scored with his first involvement, intercepting a pass from Zach Scott before rounding the keeper to breathe new life into the Galaxy.
Zardes started the sequence that led to the game winner in the 85th minute and laid off the pass for Sebastian Lletget to kill the game with his second goal in the space of three minutes.
“You roll the dice sometimes,” Arena said after the match, “but the other thing you have to think about is you might be playing 120 minutes. Obviously we injected those players into the game to get a goal and obviously we got three. Dos Santos did a hell of a job and Gyasi [Zardes] and we were fortunate.”
“I think Gordo [Gordon] and Magee did a great job, but you just get tired,” match winner Lletget said after the final whistle. “They [Dos Santos and Zardes] just brought energy. They’re smart players and were just being clever. Gio getting that goal, just anticipating the play and he did well to finish it and Gyasi [Zardes] just gave me the perfect ball for the assist.”
Lletget was also praised for his two-goal performance. Before the game he had been on record as saying he was really excited to take his opportunity and he did not disappoint. The right winger was one of the Galaxy’s most threatening players all evening and capped off his performance with a tap-in for the game winner and a rasping drive to secure the victory.
“Sebastian hasn’t had a regular shift for a while,” Arena said. “So it was good for him. He did a good job.”
“It’s a good experience for him and hopefully it gives him the confidence to help contribute as we move on into the second half of the season.”
