CARSON, Calif. – D.C. United's terrific start in their MLS opener was trumped by the LA Galaxy's strong second half, and an early lead forged through Lamar Neagle disappeared in a 4-1 defeat Sunday night at StubHub Center.
Neagle, making his club debut, scored on a superb shot in the fifth minute, and D.C. permitted LA virtually nothing until after the break, when Mike Magee came on to score twice, and set up two more.
“I can sit here and say it's not a 4-1 game, but it is a 4-1 game,” head coach Ben Olsen said during the postgame news conference. “And I feel that, overall, there's a lot to build from this game with this group. It's disappointing, and it hurts to give up four goals, but there's a lot of chances out there for us.”
Olsen gave starts to four newcomers – midfielders Marcelo, Patrick Nyarko and Luciano Acosta, who played in the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal series against Queretaro, along with Neagle -- and was pleased with the energy and interaction over the first 45 minutes.
Nyarko, who had to come off at halftime because of "mild concussion symptoms," looked strong in the first 45 minutes, getting one shot off and helping sustain United pressure, while Marcelo played 90 minutes for the second time in 3 matches for the Black-and-Red.
Neagle, who was cap-tied to the Seattle Sounders in the CCL, fired past diving LA goalkeeper Dan Kennedy and inside the right post after Chris Rolfe stripped the ball from Steven Gerrard and it ricocheted straight to him after an A.J. DeLaGarza tackle.
“It feels good to finally get in a game,” Neagle said. “I wasn't able to play in the CONCACAF [matches], so to finally get on the field and then score early was good. Obviously, I would have liked the final result to be a little bit better for my debut, but definitely some good stuff. We can take a lot of positives from it, we just have to get better. Benny said we have a lot of new pieces, a lot of moving pieces, and we'll get better in time.”
“The unfortunate part is they get two set-piece goals, and that's something we pride ourselves on,” Olsen added. "We're a work in progress, but there's a lot of good to this group. The spirit's right, and we'll respond in the right way. We'll take the good, we'll fix some of the bad and move forward. It's a long year, [LA is] never an easy place to play, and we'll lick our wounds and get back out there next week.”
