Los Angeles Galaxy, San Jose Earthquakes Settle For Draw At Buck Shaw (VIDEO)

Sep 14, 2014; Santa Clara, CA, USA; Los Angeles Galaxy forward Robbie Keane (7) works the ball down field during the second half at Buck Shaw Stadium. San Jose and Los Angeles played to a 1-1tie. Mandatory Credit: Bob Stanton-USA TODAY Sports

Bruce Arena’s Los Angeles Galaxy have officially hit a snag in their form. A missed penalty by Robbie Keane consigned the Galaxy to a 1-1 draw with Mark Watson’s San Jose Earthquakes on Sunday afternoon at Buck Shaw Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. Despite the draw, on head-to-head the Galaxy win the California Clasico on a win and two draws. Here are six things we learned, followed by player ratings, from Sunday’s match between the San Jose Earthquakes and Los Angeles Galaxy.

1. Omar Gonzalez continues scoring form

In the 28th minute, on a Stefan Ishizaki set piece, Omar Gonzalez scored his fourth goal of the season off a header, leaping over the Earthquakes defense. His extension and reliability on set pieces will be key if the Galaxy want to make a run at the postseason.

2. Chris Wondolowski adds to his tally

The second half saw San Jose pull back in the 66th minute, when Quakes forward Chris Wondolowski followed through on a miss from Jordan Stewart to level the match at 1-1. The goal is Wondo’s 13th of the season.

3. Keane’s penalty miss costly

In the 37th minute, Jason Hernandez was whistled for a hand ball, forcing a penalty conversion attempt for Keane, who hit the shot off the crossbar and over. It was Keane’s third miss in four penalty kick attempts this season.

“It has cost us a good number of points,” Arena admitted. “We have the two best penalty kick takers in the league, in theory. You have to make penalties, but we didn’t. It’s part of the game and that’s life.”

4. Strong defensive performance from LA

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Despite the draw, Los Angeles’s defensive performance prevented the scoreline from being worse than it was, according to the manager.

“I think we played well defensively,” Arena said. “I don’t think they had too many offensive chances on the day. You can’t complain about how we defended, but it’s not good that we gave up a goal, given the fact that they weren’t very dangerous.”

“Let’s keep doing what we’re doing,” Gonzalez added. “It’s been a tough stretch since July 28. We’ve had a stretch of 11 games in a [short time] span. Now, we move to one game a week and we can put our bodies to rest.”

5. A.J. DeLaGarza, Steven Lenhart return to the pitch

The match saw the return of two notable faces: A.J. DeLaGarza for the Galaxy and Steven Lenhart for the Earthquakes. DeLaGarza was mourning the loss of his son Luca, while Lenhart was coming back from injury.

“I think when you step between the lines,” DeLaGarza said, “you’re so focused on what’s going on in the game. I can’t say that I didn’t think about my son, but I don’t think it hampered me in any way.”

“We know what kind of player he is – he’s a big, hard-working guy,” Watson said of Lenhart. “He works every second he’s on the field and tries to win every ball. I think that [attitude] is infectious at times and he gave us a spark in the second half.”

“I love having [Steven] Lenhart’s battle, his fight,” said Wondolowski. “He comes right in and doesn’t miss a beat. It’s good to have him back.”

6. Los Angeles dominate stats but to no avail

The Los Angeles Galaxy dominated the match statistics shown below, but to no avail. The missed penalty in the 37th minute proved to be all the difference, as well as the lack of finishing touch from LA throughout the course of the game. One thing to note: this was a tightly-officiated game, with nine yellow cards to go around. Also worth mentioning: Brian Rowe started this match, which is disappointing since Jaime Penedo really didn’t need to play the third place match in the Copa Centroamerica since Panama are in the Gold Cup next year anyway. But, as the old saying goes, “it is what it is.”

Team Statistics

San Jose Earthquakes in blue, Los Angeles Galaxy in gold

San Jose Earthquakes Player Ratings

Jon Busch 6, Jason Hernandez 5.5, Jordan Stewart 7, Shaun Francis 6, Ty Harden 6, Atiba Harris 4.5, Jean-Baptiste Pierazzi 5.5, Sam Cronin 4.5, Shea Salina 6, Chris Wondolowski 8, Tommy Thompson 4, Cordell Cato 4, Steven Lenhart 2.5, Khari Stephenson NR

Los Angeles Galaxy Player Ratings

Brian Rowe 5, A.J. DeLaGarza 6, Omar Gonzalez 7.5, Robbie Rogers 5.5, Tommy Meyer 6, Baggio Husidic 6, Gyasi Zardes 6, Marcelo Sarvas 6, Stefan Ishizaki 7, Alan Gordon 5, Robbie Keane 5.5, Juninho 2.5, Jose Villareal NR