Tale Of Two Halves As Los Angeles Galaxy Stun Colorado Rapids (VIDEO)

Aug 20, 2014; Commerce City, CO, USA; Los Angeles Galaxy forward Landon Donovan (10) and Colorado Rapids midfielder Nick LaBrocca (2) battle for the ball in the first half at Dick

If you wanted goals, and lots of it, Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo. was the hot ticket in the Rockies on Wednesday night. In torrential conditions, Bruce Arena’s Los Angeles Galaxy rallied from a 3-1 halftime deficit to upend Pablo Mastroeni’s Colorado Rapids in a 4-3 goal festival. The win ensures the Galaxy remain in the top five in the MLS Western Conference heading into their weekend clash with the Vancouver Whitecaps at StubHub Center in Carson, Calif.

Plenty of goals and highlights to share here, folks. Let’s take a look at the six things we learned, followed by player ratings, for the match between the Colorado Rapids and Los Angeles Galaxy.

1. Marlon Hairston opens his scoring account

In the 14th minute, Marlon Hairston opened up his scoring account off a save by Jaime Penedo on Deshorn Brown. The cleanup was enough to give Hairston his first goal of the season. Take a look.

2. Edson Buddle makes history

At minute 17, Edson Buddle, a former Los Angeles Galaxy front man, scored his 100th goal of the season off a sequence orchestrated by Colorado’s leading provider, Dillon Powers. What better way to make history that against his old team. Buddle has a long ways to go to reach Landon Donovan’s all-time goalscoring mark, but to be in elite scoring company? That’s pretty much good enough for him.

3. Robbie Keane adds to his tally

Meanwhile, the Galaxy needed a spark, and Dan Gargan provided the spark, finding Robbie Keane for his 13th goal of the season in the 20th minute. Like the Buddle goal, it was a cross to header, and let’s face it: neither Clint Irwin nor Jaime Penedo deserved to cover themselves in glory on Wednesday. There was just too much offense on either side.

4. Marc Burch puts LA on the ropes

Here’s a potential Goal Of The Week nominee: Marc Burch opens up his scoring account delivering a rocket that came off the crossbar and in. At this point, Los Angeles just wanted to get back in the change rooms and regroup. The regrouping would end up being invaluable.

5. All Los Angeles Galaxy in the second half

More from Colorado Rapids

In the second half, Los Angeles took over and played the type of football worthy of a serious MLS Cup contender. In the 55th minute, Landon Donovan found Omar Gonzalez wide open and Gonzo was the next to open his scoring account. Boy, a lot of veterans were cashing in on a Big Wednesday, Robeks Juice pun intended.

At the 65th minute, Alan Gordon came in for Stefan Ishizaki, and three minutes later, Gordon was back into scoring form on a sequence initiated by Gonzalez and Marcelo Sarvas. For Gordon, it’s a massive confidence booster, and you can expect more from this Long Beach, Calif. born-and-raised target forward in future matches this season for the Galaxy.

In the 80th minute, if there was one player that deserved to complete the comeback, it was Donovan in his final game at Dick’s. Keane’s through ball found a streaking Donovan for Goal No. 139 of his career in Major League Soccer. Grant Van de Casteele, who came in off the bench to replace Jared Watts, was the guilty party here. A freshman mistake on the veteran of veterans. Landon Donovan may be retiring from the game this season, but when the Iceman cometh, the Iceman cometh, and the Iceman…still has it. The end.

6. An even match, through and through

If you take a look at the team statistics for this contest, Colorado won a number of categories such as duels won and tackles won, while the Galaxy peppered the net with corners and crosses and were a little sharper in their passing. Again, this was a tale of two halves, and the even team statistics below are simply a testament.

Team Statistics

Colorado Rapids in burgundy, Los Angeles Galaxy in gold

18	Shots	18
9	Shots on Target	8
5	Shots off Target	6
4	Blocked Shots	4
4	Corners	11
16	Crosses	25
6	Offsides	4
9	Fouls	5
0	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0
403	Total Passes	358
76 %	Passing Accuracy	79 %
52.2 %	Possession	47.8 %
33	Duels Won	32
13	Tackles Won	6
4	Saves	6
29	Clearances	25

Colorado Rapids Player Ratings

Clint Irwin 3, Chris Klute 3, Jared Watts 2, Marc Burch 4, Marvell Wynne 3, Dillon Powers 4, Jose Mari 3, Marlon Hairston 5, Nick LaBrocca 3, Deshorn Brown 4, Edson Buddle 5, Grant Van de Casteele 1, Vicente Sanchez 2, Gabriel Torres NR

Los Angeles Galaxy Player Ratings

Jaime Penedo 6, Dan Gargan 7, Leonardo 4, Omar Gonzalez 9, Todd Dunivant 7, Baggio Husidic 6, Landon Donovan 10, Marcelo Sarvas 7.5, Stefan Ishizaki 6, Gyasi Zardes 5, Robbie Keane 9, Alan Gordon 7, Juninho 5, A.J. DeLaGarza 4

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