The Los Angeles Galaxy has had a history of not taking the U.S. Open Cup as seriously as other competitions. Except for a Quarterfinal berth last year, the Galaxy usually bowed out in the early rounds in recent years, mostly to the NASL’s Carolina Railhawks. Last night was looking like it could go the same way if not for a bit of trickery in extra time.
Against amateur side, fifth league La Maquina FC, the Galaxy was struggling after Rafael Garcia got an early red card and was down a man. Already up 1-0, the Galaxy were hoping that would be enough but it wasn’t as La Maquina’s Edwin Perez equalized in the 28th minute.
It took until extra time, the 97th minute, before someone would take the lead. After catching La Maquina off guard, David Romney scored the go ahead goal after La Maquina were waiting for a free kick. Even the LA Galaxy twitter account was a bit underwhelmed with the goal.
— LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) June 15, 2016
It seemed like LA took the free kick without La Maquina knowing and scored before they even realized it. This is entirely legal. Yes, La Maquina needs to give 10 yards but if the ball is placed on the free kick spot and the referee signals that the Galaxy can take the free kick, they can take it any time they want regardless if they get the 10 yards. It might be argued to be a bit underhanded but it was perfectly legal and a way to earn the win.
Once the Galaxy scored, the wheels kind of fell off for La Maquina and never recovered. Sebastian Lletget scored a brace afterwards and the Galaxy won 4-1 in extra time. So while LA won big, they kind of had to take the scenic route to do that and it almost cost them an embarrassing defeat.
It should be noted that LA wasn’t playing their best XI last night. The big stars that would usually headline the team weren’t there and had mostly bench players and youngsters in order to give them some playing time, as many MLS teams do in the early rounds. However, even a weaker lineup than usual should be able to easily defeat an amateur team. The Galaxy may be able to get away with this against La Maquina but they probably won’t get too much farther in the tournament if they keep leaving the games late against weaker opponents. But as history suggests, that seems to be okay for the Galaxy.
