Chicharito scores twice, misses panenka in stoppage time in LA Galaxy draw

The Los Angeles Galaxy squandered a golden opportunity to close the gap between them and the Western Conference playoff spots when they were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw against Sporting Kansas City on Sunday.

In front of their home fans, Galaxy got off to a flying start when Chicharito collected a superb ball from Victor Vazquez to put it one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and he made no mistake with it. his finishing hard and low on goal.

It was Chicharito's 200th club goal of his career, and his 33rd for Galaxy after joining the club in 2020.

It would be the only goal of the first half, but a 67th-minute Sporting penalty changed the face of the competition, with Johnny Russell equalizing.

The visiting Kansas City team would have liked their chances to escape with the three points after Felipe Hernandez gave them the lead in the 76th minute, but there would be another twist in the story as Galaxy received a penalty in the final minutes. .

Chicharito stepped in from the spot and hid his high penalty in the top left corner of the goal, giving it 14 in 26 games this campaign, and he had a chance to make it 15 when another penalty was given in downtime.

Trying to secure his hat-trick and the game, Chicharito opted for the daring panenka penalty, but remained red-faced as John Pulskamp in Sporting goal stood firm, catching it easily.

Elsewhere in California, Los Angeles FC had a much easier time in their 2-0 win over Real Salt Lake to cement their position atop the Western Conference standings.

After a scoreless first half, LAFC dominated after the break, with Ryan Hollingshead finding the back of the net in the 49th minute and Cristian Arango doubling the advantage in the 68th.

Carlos Vela also missed a penalty for the home side in stoppage time, but his side were good value for the win, producing an expected 3.16 goals to just 0.29 for Salt Lake.

The victory puts LAFC nine points clear of the chasing pack in the West, while at the other end of the standings, the Houston Dynamo were relegated to the bottom after a 2-1 loss away against the Seattle Sounders.

Houston struck first, Daniel Steres breaking the deadlock in the 26th minute, and that score would hold until Nouhou Tolo equalized in the 59th.

A 75th-minute missed penalty from Nicolas Lodeiro seemed like a wasted chance for Seattle to secure all three points in front of their home fans, but less than a minute later a terrific cross from Tolo found Fredy Montero in second post. winner's head.

With Houston losing again, the San Jose Earthquakes took the opportunity to shake off last place with a 2-0 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps, courtesy of goals from Jeremy Ebobisse and Jamiro Monteiro in the first half time.

Despite holding just 35% of the ball and finishing with an expected 0.36 goals, New England Revolution gave their fans a 3-0 win at home to New York, with Jon Bell, Noel Buck, 17, and Thomas McNamara provide the sheet music.

In the game with the most goals of the day, CF Montreal came away with a 4-3 victory despite two goals from Lorenzo Insigne of Toronto.

The Portland Timbers took advantage of two penalties to beat Atlanta United 2-1, and DC United played the only 0-0 draw of the day against the Colorado Rapids, Christian Benteke missing a penalty for DC.