LA Galaxy stun New England Revolution with two stoppage-time goals

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:29 am

Two stoppage-time goals gave the LA Galaxy an unlikely 3-2 victory over the host New England Revolution on Saturday night at Gillette Stadium.

Down 2-1 headed into the added time, the Galaxy found their equalizer in the 92nd minute when defender Dave Romney headed in a corner. Just a minute later, the Galaxy took its first lead of the entire game when Chris Pontius collected a pass that went through the legs of a New England defender and buried his shot for the winning score.

The finish was an appropriately wild ending to an aggressive game that saw both sides combine for 21 fouls and eight bookings. Two of those yellow cards went to Galaxy defender Ashley Cole, who was ejected in the 85th minute. The Revolution played much of the game down a man, after Cristian Penilla was shown a straight red card in the 23rd minute for kicking back at the Galaxy's Romain Alessandrini following a hard foul.

New England responded to Penilla's red card by dominating play in the next 10 minutes, highlighted by the game's opening goal. In the 28th minute, a nice passing play within the box between Diego Fagundez and Luis Caicedo led to Fagundez putting the final touch into the net for his sixth goal of the season.

Chris Pontius
Chris Pontius
Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

The Galaxy equalized in the 38th minute, as Pontius converted a well-placed cross from the left side from Cole.

Just before the half-time whistle, an excellent pass from Andrew Farrell outside the box found Caicedo for the go-ahead score. Caicedo's header marked his first goal in a New England jersey.

The victory extends the Galaxy's unbeaten streak to six games, and they are now 5-1-3 over their last nine league games. New England had a seven-game unbeaten run in league play snapped with the heartbreaking defeat.

The Galaxy won without star forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic, as the club's leading scorer didn't make the trip to New England. The cross-country travel from Los Angeles and Gillette Stadium's artificial playing surface were cited as the reasons for Ibrahimovic's absence.