The LA Galaxy defeated the Montreal Impact 2-1 on Saturday night in front of 25,482 fans in attendance at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
Galaxy forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored his 27th goal of the season, scoring in six of the last seven games he’s played. Ibrahimovic also moves into second place in the MLS Golden Boot race, just two goals behind LAFC forward Carlos Vela, who has 29 goals so far this season.
The Montreal Impact came into the match without several key players: forwards Ignacio Piatti and Maxi Urruti and midfielder Bojan Krkic did not travel with the team to Los Angeles. The Galaxy were able to start the majority of their starting line up, with Favio Alvarez being the lone starter missing due to injury.
The flow of the game leaned heavily in favor of the Galaxy, who are still looking to cement their cohesion both offensively and defensively as the regular season winds down. For their opening goal, Ibrahimovic capitalized on a loose ball in the 18-yard-box to put the Galaxy ahead in the 31st minute of play. The Galaxy would carry the one-goal lead into halftime.
Montreal made a quick response as soon as the second half started, as Lassi Lappalainen found the back of the net in the 48th minute of play.
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The level scoreline did not last long, however.
Just two minutes later Galaxy midfielder Uriel Antuna scored the game winner to put the Galaxy back ahead 2-1. The play began with the Galaxy’s newest addition, Cristian Pavon, stealing the ball from Montreal goalkeeper Evan Bush and getting the ball to Antuna.
HUSTLE.
Cristian Pavon’s pressure leads to @AntunaUriel’s 5️⃣th of the season! pic.twitter.com/9HTsBKTleu
— LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) September 22, 2019
With the win, the Galaxy move up to third place in the Western Conference standings with just three games remaining in the season.
The Galaxy will travel to take on Real Salt Lake on Wednesday at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah. Montreal, meanwhile, have to turnaround for a midweek clash against rival Toronto FC on Wednesday