CARSON, Calif. – Deadlocked at 1-1 after 90 minutes and forced to play down a man for roughly 70 of them, the LA Galaxy had to turn up the heat on their unheralded US Open Cup Fourth Round opponent, La Maquina FC.
Dave Romney duly dialed up the game-winner off a free kick that had everybody talking.
After Jose Villarreal won a free kick deep just outside La Maquina's penalty box roughly five minutes into the first period of extra time, Baggio Husidic stepped up to the ball while everyone on the field seemed to be waiting for Villarreal to get up off the turf.
Husidic asked the referee for a quick restart and passed the ball over to a wide-open Romney, who – despite his initial confusion – finished easily past the La Maquina goalkeeper to put LA up 2-1. LA would end up advancing after an early scare prompted by , winning 4-1 after extra time.
La Maquina were outraged and confused by Romney’s goal. The crowd was upset, both coaches got vocal and even the Galaxy were a bit surprised.
“‘Am I allowed to shoot this, is this really real?’” recalled Romney when asked postgame about his thoughts during the play. “But I got it on my right foot and just tucked it away.”
Husidic explained his point of view, saying he saw the opposition seemingly not paying attention.
“I just saw that everyone was just talking, and no one was paying attention to the goal,” said Husidic. “The goalie wasn’t even in the goal. I actually scooted the ball to the right like a yard, and the referee made me put it back. And then I made eye contact with him again and said, ‘no whistle.’”
It took a few minutes for the official to confirm the goal, causing a bit of confusion in the stands and on the field, including with Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena.
“I had no idea what was going on,” Arena told reporters.
Husidic noted that La Maquina could have easily stopped it before it began.
“Maybe step over the ball, hand the ball over to the referee, make sure that we ask for a whistle,” he suggested.
In the end, Husidic credited his squad’s craftiness on the play.
“We were a bit more clever than they were,” said Husidic. “Obviously, it sucks for them, but you've got to play to the whistle.”
